Not Happy: Shipped Yeast DOA

[Bowtiebrewery]

Long Story Short...

Ordered my yeast from an online retailer (not going to name names) they forgot to add the ice to keep the yeast cool. It was only a 2 day ship and I figured well it wasnt too hot, maybe this yeast will be OK. Created a starter and added on the stir-plate...

Come down the morning after look for visible signs of fermentation. No kreusen ring. Ok... Figured well it might have been just a little one. Start brewing...

First mistake there.. Should have taken a gravity reading of the starter.

Its now 2 days and no sign of fermentation. Pretty sure I'm boned... Not even a layer or bubles or cloudy wort... I ordered more yeast but if it doesnt get her by tomorrow, I may have to buckle and use US-05...

Hate to have to do that since this is not what I was going for.

Anyone out there pitched days later with good results?

 

[bruteforce]

I have a few times. Worked out just fine. Maybe 4 days, after a similar situation. Grabbed a pack from a LHBS, looked at the date. Oh, hey, great, it was packed 3 days ago. Nope... 3 days ago, last friggin year.

Got a refund, they were chill about it, pitched new yeast, everything turned out just fine.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

Yeah I read a post where a guy pitched 7 days later and it turned out fine... I'm just angry that I can't get that yeast locally. So I literally just paid $20 for this to be shipped to me for one packet of yeast.

 

[bruteforce]

Yeah I read a post where a guy pitched 7 days later and it turned out fine... I'm just angry that I can't get that yeast locally. So I literally just paid $20 for this to be shipped to me for one packet of yeast.

That blows. Have you talked to customer service from the shipper? Hoping they'll do something to make it right, thats a lot of money for it to be DOA.

 

[unionrdr]

I've ordered the smack packs online, with the ice packs. They still sometimes arrive bloated, not to mention near or past their expiration date. I just had that happen with my Mumme & the WY1275 packets I had in the fridge that were bloated when they arrived. DOA in wort. I had to go to Cleveland with my son for something, & stopped at Cleveland Brew Supply when I found it in Ohio City. They only carried White Labs, so I got the WLP023 Burton Ale yeast at his suggestion of it's being similar.
Those new packs that they grow the yeast in are great! The 2 packets started fermenting in a couple hours after being pitched. so going local with liquid yeasts in hot weather is better, imo. I also saved the big stack of those ice packs to freeze as flat as I can get them, then use a Velcro belt I found at Home Depot to strap them around the fermenter to keep it cool with a tea shirt over all. A cooler bag would work better in that scenario, though.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

That blows. Have you talked to customer service from the shipper? Hoping they'll do something to make it right, thats a lot of money for it to be DOA.

Inquiry pending

I'm probably just going to go to my LHBS grab some US-05, grab some wort, and pitch it. I'm sure it will be fine... I was seriously looking forward to seeing how Conan yeast tastes in one of my HomeBrews... Guess I'll just have to brew this one again. lol

 

[Spartan1979]

I had a beer last month where I pitched some yeast I got from a friend and then went away for the weekend. When I got back three days later, nothing. So I pitched some dry yeast and the beer is fine. As long as your sanitation is good, you should be fine.

 

[unionrdr]

Good point. I for one had made sure that everything was scrubbed clean & sanitized to a fault! So far the Mumme is going fine for a strong ale.

 

[Aristotelian]

The first step up can take time to get going, and can also be the hardest to see visible signs. Only two days, I would say be patient and give it time. Maybe start stepping up slowly. Hopefully you have a pack of dry yeast on hand to save the batch in case you need it.

 

[Homercidal]

Got yeast from a place about 2-3 hours from me. Flat rate for in-state orders. They packed it with an ice pack, but the USPS took about 3 days to get it here.

We'll see what happens. It was a high gravity wort, but a small volume, so I think it should be fine. Mead takes a bit to get going sometimes.

Smack pack wasn't broken when it got here, but who knows how hot the trucks got on the way to me.

 

[mxstar21]

Got yeast from a place about 2-3 hours from me. Flat rate for in-state orders. They packed it with an ice pack, but the USPS took about 3 days to get it here.

We'll see what happens. It was a high gravity wort, but a small volume, so I think it should be fine. Mead takes a bit to get going sometimes.

Smack pack wasn't broken when it got here, but who knows how hot the trucks got on the way to me.

I usually make a starter, but always when I have questionable yeast to make sure the yeast shows activity and to increase the amount of yeast. Some times I will step it over a few days. Works pretty well for me.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

So the yeast in question was the Giga-Yeast Vermont IPA Double Pitch. It was not swollen when I receieved it so figured it must be OK... well I was wrong.

I am happy to report, well I guess sort of happy to report, that I went to my LHBS, grabbed 2 sachets of US-05.

Got home took off a sample to verify no movement on gravity, and bloomed and conditioned in the wort on my stir-plate for about 30 mins. Aerated the wort while doing that, and pitched at 67*. Yes I know thats a bit hot, but I wanted it to start off quickly. Checked this morning and I have a good fermentation going, put in my fermentation chamber set to 64. Should turn out OK, bu I'm still pissed that I won't be getting the flavors and profile that Conan Yeast produces.

Just have to brew this one again I suppose.