[phbern]

Hi,

In my last two brews I've used the smack-packs - Wyeast London Ale 1028 and Wyeast American Ale 1056. I refrigerated them as soon as they arrived and used both well within the use-by date (the London ale use-by was July 2021). I smacked them and got no expansion of the pack. I went ahead and tried making a starter for both, neither produced anything after even 24 hours. I've used other Wyeast packs before with no problems. I'm a bit perplexed as to why the last two did not work. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[BrewBama]

I vote: they were mishandled in shipping or storage.



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[Megary]

Did you order them packed in the insulated ice-pouch thingy?  Did they arrive relatively cool?

If yes to the above, then if both were ordered from the same supplier, I would assume the supplier has some very questionable yeast handling practices.

[roger]

Most likely, they got too hot somewhere between Wyeast and your fridge and were DOA. They are living organisms and are not heat tolerant. When you said "they arrived" I am assuming that meant you got them via mail. Even with cold packs this occurs all too often. Many keep a couple of sachets of dry yeast to use when this happens.

If you bought them from a local shop, this should not have happened, but still can (and has). If this is the case, I'd go back to the store and request replacement. Not all shops will replace them, but you may have success.

I'd wait another day or so before declaring failure.

[majorvices]

Ive had to wait 48 hours before for starters to start when the packs were on the low viability end. Just a couple weeks ago I made a starter from two 14 month of WYEAST 2124 packs. And even with 2 in one gallon it took a while (witrh seemingly  no activity). But when I tested the starter beer they fermented and took right off in a lager the next couple of days at 48 degrees. So yeah, give it another day or two before declaring it dead.

[Oiscout]

Samething happened to me recently with a pack of wyeast belgian Ardennes strain. It was 72 hours with no activity so I tossed it

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[RC]

Same thing with me with a recently bought and very fresh pack of WY2007. It was less than one month old, I ordered it with an ice pack, and used it right away. No inflation or activity in the starter after 5 days. I like that strain a lot and I'm still in mourning.

[waterbull66]

  In some more "remote" areas which are lacking a LHBS and are quite distant from the online warehouses, liquid yeast just isn't a realistic option. The record for shortest in transit order I've ever received was 5 days on my most recent order, which means every order spends at least one weekend either in a truck or a warehouse. Even if I was willing to pay for half a dozen ice packs the yeast is still going to arrive either totally DOA, or at the very least only marginally viable. Being the cheapass I am I refuse to spend more on the yeast to ferment my brew than I did on the grain. If the folks packing the order could put the insulpak with the yeast and ice in the middle of the box surrounded by 50# of insulating grain it might still be cold when it got here, but then again maybe not.

[BrewBama]

  In some more "remote" areas which are lacking a LHBS and are quite distant from the online warehouses, liquid yeast just isn't a realistic option. The record for shortest in transit order I've ever received was 5 days on my most recent order, which means every order spends at least one weekend either in a truck or a warehouse. Even if I was willing to pay for half a dozen ice packs the yeast is still going to arrive either totally DOA, or at the very least only marginally viable. ...

This describes my situation fairly well.



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[pete b]

So how do homebrew shops get it fresh? Overnight delivery maybe? Or do they just get6 it in the mail like we do and puit it in their fridge.

[jeffy]

So how do homebrew shops get it fresh? Overnight delivery maybe? Or do they just get6 it in the mail like we do and puit it in their fridge.

Ours gets it shipped in bulk insulated with ice packs in Styrofoam, probably fast shipping.

[denny]

So how do homebrew shops get it fresh? Overnight delivery maybe? Or do they just get6 it in the mail like we do and puit it in their fridge.

Wyeast ships overnight in foam and foil lined boxes with ice packs.

[phbern]

Thanks, everyone! I had ordered from the same place a couple times before with no problem, but things change. I think from now on I'll just get my yeast from my LHBS. BTW, they did come packed with little freezer packs and were cool tot he touch when they arrived. I suppose they could have been compromised before shipping.

[majorvices]

So how do homebrew shops get it fresh? Overnight delivery maybe? Or do they just get6 it in the mail like we do and puit it in their fridge.

Yes, it is overnighted. Same as commercial breweries. It arrives cold, even in the dead of summer.

[majorvices]

  In some more "remote" areas which are lacking a LHBS and are quite distant from the online warehouses, liquid yeast just isn't a realistic option. The record for shortest in transit order I've ever received was 5 days on my most recent order, which means every order spends at least one weekend either in a truck or a warehouse. Even if I was willing to pay for half a dozen ice packs the yeast is still going to arrive either totally DOA, or at the very least only marginally viable. ...

This describes my situation fairly well.



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I usually order enough yeast in March or early April to get me through most of the summer. Three pack of yeast can usually get me through "most" of the hot months. Dry yeast limbs me through some styles. But I have ordered yeast on Monday and have had it delivered by Thursday in the middle of the summer and was able to use it without any problems.