TOPIC:

Hello all,
First post to the forums, I do the odd brew here in Galway but I'm wondering if I have a dodgy pack of yeast - in the past I've always used dried yeast. This time I was planing to use a pack of wyeast for the brew but I'm not sure if all is well. Basically, it didn't swell as I expected after bursting the internal nutrient bag. I got the yeast about 3 weeks ago, it's manufacture date is July 07. I kept it in the fridge since delivery and took it out yesterday morning with the intention of making a starter last night. I did the smack at 6pm but there was no (or very little) sign of life. I went to bed at midnight and by this morning nothing drastic had happened. I brought in with me to work to keep an eye on it.

The pack did swell a little and this is how it looks:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="frink.nuigalway.ie/~stephen/wyeast/Webcam-1190814252.jpg">frink.nuigalway.ie/~stephen/wyea ... 814252.jpg
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="frink.nuigalway.ie/~stephen/wyeast/Webcam-1190814266.jpg">frink.nuigalway.ie/~stephen/wyea ... 814266.jpg
but going by pictures on the internet and the demonstration video on wyeast's website I was expecting a much more dramatic increase.

Anybody have any suggestions? Should I go ahead with this pack or return it to the seller? Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Stephen.

(100th member. What does he win?)

Hi Steve, welcome.

Hi Steve,

I've had older packs, or packs that were not stored well take 3-5 days to swell appreciably. It still did it in the end, so I'd preservere. The first one that had this problem I chucked after a couple of days, but the second one was smacked, wasn't swelling, and I just left it as I was away for a couple of days. When I came back it was like a baloon! Just might take a little longer.

(no prizes unfortunately, we're saving for member 1000 <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->)

I've heard a rule of thumb is to give it a day per month after manufacture. It should be OK, give it another day or two, make sure you leave it somewhere warm.

If you look on the pack too, it should tell you that it's fine with an inch of swell (I just used Wyeast on sunday, and seem to remember reading that on the pack somewhere)

It doesn't need to swell to huge proportions, it may, but if it swells up to an inch or more, it means you're active

&amp;quot;VaBrewer&amp;quot;:1kqk1b1p wrote: It doesn't need to swell to huge proportions, it may, but if it swells up to an inch or more, it means you're active[/quote:1kqk1b1p]
Must. Resist. Taking thread off topic.