Pulled a three month old packet of Wyeast 1056 out of the fridge. It was partially inflated. I figured the case of yogurt that my offspring had piled on the thing had ruptured the nutrient pouch and the package had been expanding slowly in the fridge. When I open the package to pitch it into a starter, I discovered the nutrient pouch fully intact, but extremely swollen. It was actually the nutrient pouch that was making the package swell, not the yeast.
Any idea why? Would it have been ok to break the nutrient pouch to go into the starter? I didn't. An unintentionally swollen package makes me nervous.
