Liquid yeast in the mail

[pmatson]

I am a new brewer and I just received a pale ale kit from Northern Brewers with which I ordered the wyeast 1065 with an ice pack. I opened the box and the ice pack was warm and the yeast pack seemed to be fully inflated. Am I correct in assuming that this is not standard operating procedure? It is after business hours, so I have not been able to contact their customer service yet. Has anyone else experienced this? I live in Santa Barbara, CA, so it isn't exactly overly warm or isolated. Any feedback from the community is appreciated. Cheers.

 

[passedpawn]

Don't worry about it. If you can't "smack it", just cut it open and pitch. It's not totally normal, but not abnormal either. Hang around this forum enough and you'll learn that yeast will live through just about everything.

 

[kh54s10]

The yeast are probably fine even though the pack came inflated.

If you are ready to make your starter you can pitch the pack as is, or you can break the nutrient pack if possible. If you can't break it you can use sanitized scissors to open it and add it to the starter.

If you are not ready to make your starter, throw it in the refrigerator until you are ready.

 

[pmatson]

So is it not worth calling NB and requesting a new package? Is the inflating on due to the nutrient pack opening during shipping or is this just a temperature issue?

 

[passedpawn]

So is it not worth calling NB and requesting a new package? Is the inflating on due to the nutrient pack opening during shipping or is this just a temperature issue?

Probably just a temp issue. If it hasn't gotten over about 100F, it's not a problem.

The nutrient pack in the middle is a bit of marketing fluff. It does let you know the yeast were viable, and it does get the yeast moving, but not necessary at all. Pitch and be happy.