Not So Fresh Yeast

[Quench]

It seems like forever ago that I ordered two activator packs of Wyeast 1010 - American Wheat with the intention of pitching both of them into a 5 gallon batch of Apricot Wheat. FedEx lost my package, and finally delivered it 14 days after it had been shipped. It is winter, so there is a chance that the viability of the yeast didn't suffer too much, but I can't be sure (not to mention wheat strains aren't very hardy). Will I be able to save the yeast and increase its viability if I make a starter instead of straight pitching? If so, how big should the starter be? Do I pitch the entire starter at high krausen, or do I let it ferment completely and just pitch the slurry (will a low flocculating wheat strain even settle out?)? Thanks for the help.

[chrishw]

you could just smack the packs right?

If they swell your OK- if they don't....

Saying that I always suggest making a starter for almost everything!

Whats the O.G. of the beer your looking at?

[Sent From My iPhone]

Welcome to the forum Quench. You can smack the packs to see if they're still viable, but that doesn't guarantee the cell count. I would plan on making a starter several days before you brew, areating the wort as much and as frequently as you can. This way the yeast will multiply without necessarily fermenting the starter wort. If you have a stir plate even better. Cold crash the starter for a few hours, decant off the wort and just pitch the slurry. Good luck.

[BDawg]

I'd consider making the starter several days before, then cold crashing it, decanting the liquid, and then pitching that slurry into a second starter.

[Quench]

you could just smack the packs right?

If they swell your OK- if they don't....

Saying that I always suggest making a starter for almost everything!

Whats the O.G. of the beer your looking at?

I'm targeting an O.G. of 10.50.

[BrewerB]

Like Sheen and BDawg, I'd recommend creating a starter.

Something in the 1-2L range would probably work, depending on your level of aeration. If you're like me and intermittenly shake your starter to aerate it, mrmalty.com recommends 1.06L (fermenting 5.5 gallons).

That way you can get by just using one pack and save the other for a future brew.

[chrishw]

I'm targeting an O.G. of 10.50.

I think if the packet swells within a day or two a one liter starter will be perfect! I usually use a old growler- so you could even do about 2/3 of that and that would be a perfect starter for 1.050!