[dons]

I did something I've never done before - ordered an AG kit.  It was sent from St. Paul, Minn to me in Florida.  It took a week to get here - in temperatures probably around 100 degrees.  There was a cold pack, but I'm sure that did not last 1 day.

The yeast I ordered was Wyeast 1056. 

Planning on brewing Saturday, I made my starter today.  It was 1 quart worth in a 2 quart jar with airlock.  I initially put it in the fridge but, after about 8 hours of no activity, I moved it to a chest at 68 degrees.  While there is separation happening, there is no airlock activity of note yet - after 12 hours.  The more I think about it, the more I'm wondering if I should bite the bullet and make a 3 hour drive to get new yeast.

Can that yeast stand a week at high temperature in the travel time?  Or am I better off making a LONG trip to get more?

Thanks.
Don

[euge]

Is it 3 hours each way?

[jeffy]

I wonder why you put your starter in the fridge.  You should keep it warm and swirl it every time you walk by to keep it in suspension.  Hopefully activity will be more apparent by the time you are ready to brew.
Next time keep some dry yeast around just for this circumstance.  US 05 is the same stuff but is more resilient.

[denny]

Don't worry about airlock activity...look to see if there's slurry building up in the container.  You could also try measuring the gravity to see of it's fermenting.

[Hokerer]

Even better, don't worry about an airlock at all.  Take it off and just cover the top with some sanitized aluminum foil.  For a starter, you want as much oxygen as you can get (the exact opposite of your main fermentation).

As for the heat, it could have set the yeast back but, since you are making a starter you should be fine.  The one thing, though, is that, because of the setback, it's probably gonna take more time.  Have patience and you'll probably start seeing a nice slurry forming.

[tschmidlin]

It really depends on how hot it got in the truck, the outside temp might be 100F, but in the truck I think it could easily hit 140F, and that's going to kill the yeast.  If you're not sure the yeast is alive, I'd toss it.  Order a few packs of US-05 or get WY1056 if you like, but pay to have them overnighted to you.  It's expensive shipping, but cheaper than driving 3 hours.

[dons]

I decided to try and see if I can figure the yeast out and, if I have low confidence, put off brewing for another week - and buy new yeast.

Again, I used .5 cup DME to a quart of water, added nutrients and pitched yeast.  Has been in there for 2 days.

There is a nice layer of slurry (whatever you want to call it - I'm hoping its billions of yeast) now at the bottom.
I took a hydrometer reading and it says 1.01.

What this says to this newb is that the yeast pretty much fully fermented out the wort and created lots more baby yeast
 - the purpose of using a starter.  And that it's a healthy go for brewing tomorrow.

Does this sound right to anyone who actually HAS a clue - key message being I doubt that I do.

Thanks.
Don

[bluesman]

I decided to try and see if I can figure the yeast out and, if I have low confidence, put off brewing for another week - and buy new yeast.

Again, I used .5 cup DME to a quart of water, added nutrients and pitched yeast.  Has been in there for 2 days.

There is a nice layer of slurry (whatever you want to call it - I'm hoping its billions of yeast) now at the bottom.
I took a hydrometer reading and it says 1.01.

What this says to this newb is that the yeast pretty much fully fermented out the wort and created lots more baby yeast
 - the purpose of using a starter.  And that it's a healthy go for brewing tomorrow.

Does this sound right to anyone who actually HAS a clue - key message being I doubt that I do.

Thanks.
Don

Good signs so far...Give the starter a healthy shake and let it sit another day or two, shaking intermittently, and then cold crash the starter to drop the yeast. On brew day remove the starter when you begin brewing, and right before you're ready to pitch the yeast, decant the beer only leaving a cup or two and vigorously shake the yeast slurry and pitch into your aerated beer wort.