Wyeast Smack Pak.

[Aaron]

Thanks for all the interest fellas. Anyway 4 full days later and she's up like a football. Just needed to keep it a bit warmer and shake a bit more. I hope the rest of the liquid yeast precess, ie, the starters go as smoothly.

STEPHEN

[post="66984"][/post]​

Good to see. I have found patience solves most brewing problems.

 

[Rex]

Stephen,

You definitely burst the inner pouch? Just run your hand around to make sure.

[post="66790"][/post]​

Yeah, first pack I got was difficult to pop the pouch... I though it'd done it, and waited a few hrs with no action... Then decided to get really voilent with the pack and the pouch fianlly popped. Was only 1-2 months old and swelled withing 2-3 hrs.

 

[SJW]

Well my next problem is,
After the Wyeast swelled up like a football I made up 1.5 litres of 1030 wort, boilded for 10 min's, then cooled to 23 deg C. I used Iodophor on a 3 litre juice container and rinsed with cooled boiling water. I also hit everything else with the Iodophor too. Then I pitch the yeast and shook the crap out of it and left it a 23 deg C. I woke up this morning and not to my surprise NOTHING. Flat as a tack.
How long should this take to fire up?

STEPHEN

 

[Borret]

Well my next problem is,
After the Wyeast swelled up like a football I made up 1.5 litres of 1030 wort, boilded for 10 min's, then cooled to 23 deg C. I used Iodophor on a 3 litre juice container and rinsed with cooled boiling water. I also hit everything else with the Iodophor too. Then I pitch the yeast and shook the crap out of it and left it a 23 deg C. I woke up this morning and not to my surprise NOTHING. Flat as a tack.
How long should this take to fire up?

STEPHEN

[post="67030"][/post]​

Is there an increase in the yeast slurry on the bottom? 1.5 litres straight up may take a little longer before gas producing activity. I normally step it up with 500-700ml initial additions then bigger as the starter grows.

......Patience grass hopper.

What you can do besides shaking it to rouse it is increase the oxygen avaialbility by squezzing out the air and allow new air into the bottle (you did say it was plastic) and then shaking again. This may help.

Cheers

Borret :blink:

 

[Ross]

Stephen,

Have you got it in a sealed plastic bottle? If you have it's easy to tell when it's firing, as the bottle will become quite rigid (especially when you shake it) & you'll hear the gas escape as you loosen the lid. If you are using an airlock, then it can be quite easy not to observe anything other than an increase in yeast collecting in the bottom.

Cheers Ross

 

[Bilph]

Mine normally take 12-24 hours when kept warm and shaken regularly.
Ditto on both Borret's and Ross's words of wisdom. The larger starter make take a little longer, and sealing the top will indicate signs sooner, and most of all, patience grasshopper.
You seem to have done everything right so far, so no need for anxiety.

 

[warrenlw63]

If you put it in a PET bottle with a lid (which is a good idea). Make sure you crack the lid regularly when the plastic starts to harden. Leaving it too long may result in your yeast shooting straight out the mouth of the bottle. :blink:

Warren -

 

[mobrien]

I smacked my pack Monday night, and pitched it into 1.5L DME last night. This morning, the airlock is going crazy... 20 degree ambient temp.

I think the yeast layer on the bottom has about doubled....

Matt

 

[mobrien]

So just for reference, here is the difference between a smacked and a non-smacked pack! These are the new big packs - and the puffed is after 12 hours or so.

Also heres a photo of the culture 24 hours after being pitched - its bubbling about 1 per second, and it now has a layer of around 12mm of yeast

Matt

 

[SJW]

That very interesting MOBRIEN. I was expecting my 1.5 Litre starter to have a big krusen on it but my Czech Pils start after 30 hours looks just like yours.
Will you let this finish then go completly clear before tipping off some of the liquid? From what I understand a lot of the slurry on the bottom is just hot break from the malt, and most of the yeast will still be suspended.

 

[SJW]

This is 36 hours after pitch 1.5 litres of 1030 wort. 1 bubble every minute?

 

[SJW]

There are small bubbles too.

 

[TidalPete]

That very interesting MOBRIEN. I was expecting my 1.5 Litre starter to have a big krusen on it but my Czech Pils start after 30 hours looks just like yours.
Will you let this finish then go completly clear before tipping off some of the liquid? From what I understand a lot of the slurry on the bottom is just hot break from the malt, and most of the yeast will still be suspended.

[post="67133"][/post]​

Don't know if I'm doing the right thing, but I just give the wort a good shaking & pour the lot into sterilised stubbies. As I mentioned earlier, I am on my first 'Smack Pack', having only cultured from Coopers bottles before. Seems to work ok though. :blink:

:beer:

 

[TidalPete]

There are small bubbles too.

[post="67157"][/post]​

SJW,
I tossed my 1.5 litre solution into a 4 litre glass jar with airlock & the result looked very similar to yours. Perhaps this is because we both seem to have a lot of headspace in our containers compared to mobrien's effort? :unsure: Mine is still alive & working (very slowly), so I'm going to do what I just mentioned in my last post in this thread in about 60 minutes time.

:beer:

 

[SJW]

Tidalpete,
Sounds good mate, I guess things are fine, I was just wondering if this was the same result as other more experienced liquid yeasters? I dont know what made me think it would go apeshit and foam up everywhere with a big krusen head?

STEPHEN

 

[TidalPete]

Tidalpete,
Sounds good mate, I guess things are fine, I was just wondering if this was the same result as other more experienced liquid yeasters? I dont know what made me think it would go apeshit and foam up everywhere with a big krusen head?

STEPHEN

[post="67181"][/post]​

I'm not saying that things are fine SJW. As this is my first 'Smack Pack' I am on a bit of a learning curve as well. The proof is in the pudding or so they say, so I'll wait until I use my first starter next week before I start cheering. next time around I am going to downsize to a 2.25 litre bottle.
I am also wondering if anyone has ever added a little Wyeast Nutrient to the Wyeast\DME solution? This should give it a bit of a kick along at the start. :unsure:

:beer:

 

[Borret]

I'm not saying that things are fine SJW. As this is my first 'Smack Pack' I am on a bit of a learning curve as well. The proof is in the pudding or so they say, so I'll wait until I use my first starter next week before I start cheering. next time around I am going to downsize to a 2.25 litre bottle.
I am also wondering if anyone has ever added a little Wyeast Nutrient to the Wyeast\DME solution? This should give it a bit of a kick along at the start. :unsure:

:beer:

[post="67184"][/post]​

Hi Stephen,

Yep I have just started using the wyeast nutrient. Previous to this I had been using a little dried yeast chucked into the boil ( about the volume of a 5c piece in my hand) and it seemed to help.
Anyway used a 3 month old culture from 200ml of wyeast 1084 to make a starter on tuesday night and it was slowly active within 3 hrs. It was only 700ml and had the wyeast nutrient but I assume it helped. Next mrning it was quite active. Stepped it with another 700 last night with DME and Nut. and it was active again within 2hrs and then this morning I gave it a light swirl to rouse it and it started foaming out the airlock.( about 1.5ltr in a 2 litre flagon) I can take some shots of it's activity tonight for comparison if you like.

BTW I use 2ltr glass flagans cause I have them but I would use a bigger vessel if I could. Will get a 5ltr demijohn 1 day for this cause. The extra headspace gives me more confidence in getting more oxygen into the wort when shaking and avoids the hastles of airlock creepers upon rousing.

My 2c for what it's worth. Hope it helps.

Borret :blink:

 

[sosman]

Will you let this finish then go completly clear before tipping off some of the liquid? From what I understand a lot of the slurry on the bottom is just hot break from the malt, and most of the yeast will still be suspended.

[post="67133"][/post]​

I generally aim to settle my starters in the fridge before tossing off the liquid and pitching only the slurry. That is purely to minimise pitching wort that might have off flavours due to starter fermentation conditions. However I have pitched the whole lot before when I got the timing wrong - nothing to lose sleep over.

SJW - don't take my word for it, pour the liquid off the top into another container and let it continue to settle. You will get some yeast but most will be on the bottom YMMV.

If there was hot break in your starter wort, presumably there will be some in the layer at the bottom. Good clean yeast slurry has a distinctive (light coloured, uniform) look, the more starters and yeast you play around with, the better you get to recognise it.

 

[mobrien]

Righto - I think that helps me a bit... I'm about to step my 1.5L up to 3L. I was trying to work out whether I add the current 1.5L to another 1.5L, or whether I drain off most, and add the slurry to say 2.5L

I'm guessing drain off liquid on top of the yeast, slurry the reast, and pitch into 2.5L of new DME wort?

Thoughts?

Also, I'm guessing for storing or pitching its the same deal - drain of the liquid, slurry it up and store/pitch?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[sosman]

Righto - I think that helps me a bit... I'm about to step my 1.5L up to 3L. I was trying to work out whether I add the current 1.5L to another 1.5L, or whether I drain off most, and add the slurry to say 2.5L

I'm guessing drain off liquid on top of the yeast, slurry the reast, and pitch into 2.5L of new DME wort?

Also, I'm guessing for storing or pitching its the same deal - drain of the liquid, slurry it up and store/pitch?

[post="67223"][/post]​

It all comes down to creating the best conditions for yeast multiplication. You want lots of nutrients, food and oxygen for budding, and minimal waste products (alcohol, CO2 etc). Having said that - guess what, both ways will work just fine. If I had time I would probably try to pour some off, otherwise just tip it in.

Storage is a whole different deal. For storage you want dormant yeast in conditions that will minimise spoilage, for pitching you want randy yeast with a minimum of off flavours.