Bonehead mistake??

[bluelimbo]

Got a shipment from Midwest last Friday. In a rush to get everything put away I accidentally threw the two Wyeast activator packs in the freezer... Only realizing it about an hour later. Took them both out and stuck them in the fridge.
One was kind of slushy at that point (could feel it was really starting to freeze - the other seemed cold but liquid.
Am I screwed?

 

[opus345]

Making a starter should tell you if they are still viable and then cold crashing in the frig until your ready to brew. If not, then you know without the trauma of having it happen on brew day.

 

[bluelimbo]

Making a starter should tell you if they are still viable and then cold crashing in the frig until your ready to brew. If not, then you know without the trauma of having it happen on brew day.

Cool - Definitely good to know. Hoping to brew on Sunday. Having never done a starter before, but definitely excited to try, when would
I start the starter? I have read that something like 3 or 4 days in advance of brew day should be good... Right?

 

[stpug]

I believe it's the actual formation of ice crystals that hurts the yeast cells by rupturing their cell walls with the jagged points of the ice crystals, and IIRC those crystals start off not so jagged and pointy PLUS the cells still have ability to be pushed around in the liquid portion thus avoiding the ice spears. If what I say is true then I would say you should be totally fine with both packs. Then again, maybe I'm totally off the mark and remember some other kind of biological process.

 

[opus345]

Cool - Definitely good to know. Hoping to brew on Sunday. Having never done a starter before, but definitely excited to try, when would
I start the starter? I have read that something like 3 or 4 days in advance of brew day should be good... Right?

I would do it Wed/Thurs. That would give you enough time to tell if you were getting activity and if not, then head off to the LHBS on Sat.

 

[bluelimbo]

I believe it's the actual formation of ice crystals that hurts the yeast cells by rupturing their cell walls with the jagged points of the ice crystals, and IIRC those crystals start off not so jagged and pointy PLUS the cells still have ability to be pushed around in the liquid portion thus avoiding the ice spears. If what I say is true then I would say you should be totally fine with both packs. Then again, maybe I'm totally off the mark and remember some other kind of biological process.

One for sure was half way slush (which one that was... Not totally sure) but that is kind of what I was thinking. Freezing does all kinds of funky(bad) things to cells. Really hoping at least one is viable. Might be a better idea to get a starter going sooner rather than later to find out if they are dead or not

 

[bluelimbo]

I would do it Wed/Thurs. That would give you enough time to tell if you were getting activity and if not, then head off to the LHBS on Sat.

Sweet - will do and will post back on findings! Thanks for your help!

 

[Stauffbier]

I would actually start tomorrow with a starter. Just in case you killed off half (or more) of the yeast and need to build a larger amount than normal.

If you build up a large enough amount on the first attempt you can always store a starter in the fridge for a couple days without losing viability.

 

[bluelimbo]

I would actually start tomorrow with a starter. Just in case you killed off half (or more) of the yeast and need to build a larger amount than normal.

If you build up a large enough amount on the first attempt you can always store a starter in the fridge for a couple days without losing viability.

Was just trying to dig up a jug or large bottle to use for the starter. Do you guys think a 22oz sanitized bottle will work? How do I get an airlock on 22oz bottle?

 

[opus345]

Was just trying to dig up a jug or large bottle to use for the starter. Do you guys think a 22oz sanitized bottle will work? How do I get an airlock on 22oz bottle?

Like the Mead guys do, use a ballon with a pin hole in it.

Got a growler?

Surf Youtube for some videos. I think I've seen one with a milk jug. I use a 1L flask with a foam stopper.

 

[dinnerstick]

I believe it's the actual formation of ice crystals that hurts the yeast cells by rupturing their cell walls

you're right to an extent, but that's why freezing very quickly to very cold temperatures is actually better than slowly freezing; the ice crystals don't have time to build up when you flash freeze but they have lots of time to form in slow slushy freezing, and they do their worst damage to cell membranes in that situation. same is true for freezing meat, veg, etc; that's why packing plants flash freeze way below storage temp rather than just sticking something in a freezer to slowly freeze, and why labs store cell lines by flash freezing them (with glycerol) way below the eventual storage temp of (usually) -80c

 

[bluelimbo]

Update

Got a yeast starter going last night after work. Just as suspected, smacked the activator and waited an hour and it swelled a bit but not like a healthy pack does. So smack pack in the freezer will scree you.

Starter has been going all night on a stir plate at this point. Plan on crashing it and feeding it some more in a couple hours. There is a pretty strong head on the starter at his point - so much so that my home made stir plate is having a hard time getting a vortex going.

Seriously considering picking up another smack pack just hedge my bets...

 

[opus345]

Update

Got a yeast starter going last night after work. Just as suspected, smacked the activator and waited an hour and it swelled a bit but not like a healthy pack does. So smack pack in the freezer will scree you.

Starter has been going all night on a stir plate at this point. Plan on crashing it and feeding it some more in a couple hours. There is a pretty strong head on the starter at his point - so much so that my home made stir plate is having a hard time getting a vortex going.

Seriously considering picking up another smack pack just hedge my bets...

If your seeing good activity in the Starter, then I bet a step feeding would work and you would be good. If you have a LHBS close by and they have your yeast, then it might be an easy decision.

 

[bluelimbo]

Thanks for all of the advice guys!

I let the starter warm back up after crashing and there was some sediment in the bottom of the flask but not quite as much as I was hoping. Mixed up another batch of starter wort using light DME and it is back on the stir plate again. Just going to let that crank along tomorrow until I need to pitch. I am hoping those guys go bonkers over night tonight. I won't crash and decant again for pitching - thinking I need the most yeast I can possibly get.

Also, I picked up some Wyeast nutrients that I am going to add at the last 10 or 15 minutes of the boil in the hopes that it will help the little guys out. I still may run over to the LHBS to pickup another smack pack (time was too tight today to pick any up).

 

[bluelimbo]

Fermentation is going strong this morning! I wound up just pouring the whole starter in. Started fermenting pretty hard in under 12 hours. Love that bubbling sound!