Uh Oh......... screwed up, need some help quick!

[bergman1118]

Ok, so I decided to brew today b/c I have a rare day off, and I retardedly forgot to make a starter for my propagator pack.... for some reason, in my mind I thought I had an activator b/c that's what I had been getting (by mistake actually, from midwest), but lo and behold when I went to get out the yeast a few minutes ago, I found i had the propagator, and obviously, had not made a starter. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm already in the middle of boiling the wort...

I have read bad things about not making a starter when using the propagator packs, can anyone confirm this? Or should I just go ahead and pitch the propagator into the full 5 gallons? Is there anyway I could make the wort, cool it, add to the fermenter, and seal it off for a few days while i have a starter incubating ? Then I'd just pitch the starter into the wort after a few days.. or would this be a huuuuge risk for infection? please help!

 

[bergman1118]

c'mon, please, someone give me some insight or any ideas

 

[HighPlainsDrifter]

If by "propagator pack" you mean smack pack, I would go ahead and pitch. If it's not a huge beer you should be fine.



edit: I used the Wyeast packs alone for my first four brews with no problems at all.

double edit: I used the Activator packs NOT the Propagator packs please ignore my advice as I have no experience with those. Sorry

 

[conpewter]

Do you have any packets of dry yeast around that would be ok with the style you are brewing?

If you don't then you could do a couple things.

You could go make a starter right now and pitch it after a few hours, this will help step them up somewhat and they will already be in working mode when you pitch them into the 5 gallons. You'd need to leave your wort in the fermenter without yeast in it for several hours, but just be very sanitary and it should be OK.

Could just pitch the propagator packet and hope for the best, you may have some issues doing this though, I've never tried it.

Propagator Pack:

The Wyeast Propagator (50 ml) should not be directly pitched into 5 gallons. This package is designed to be propagated in a starter culture before inoculating larger volumes of wort. A Propagator contains 30 billion cells. One propagator in ½ gallon starter will deliver 6 million cells per ml.

 

[Kungpaodog]

I haven't used them myself, so take my suggestion witha grain of salt, but I'd let the wort sit in your fermentor until your starter is ready. As long as your sanitation was good, you ought to be alright. Just be sure to shake the bejeezus out of your fermentor to aerate well right before you pitch. And SANITIZE, SANITIZE, SANITIZE!

 

[Rhoobarb]

Go ahead and pitch it 'as is'. You may have a slower start-up to fermentation, but if you are careful with your sanitation, it should be okay.

 

[bergman1118]

any other thoughts.. seems 50-50 right now for pitch "as is" vs. make a starter and let the wort sit..

 

[KayaBrew]

What's the difference between the "Propagator" and the "Activator" packs from Wyeast? I always use White Labs, so I am always wondering about those different Wyeast packs.

 

[bergman1118]

When using the propagator pack, you're supposed to pitch the yeast (after smacking it to release the nutrients into the yeast) into a 'starter wort' a few days prior to making your brew. This serves to make sure the yeast are viable and helps increase their numbers prior to pitching into the main batch. With the activator, you just smack the pack, let it incubate for a few hours, and when the pack has expanded (i.e. the yeast are actively making CO2) you pitch it into the wort as usual.

I'm just concerned that the yeast will be stressed if I only use the propagator pack without making a starter.. I figured of course that their would be a longer lag time w/o making a starter, and if that is the only thing that'll happen then I'll go ahead and pitch.. I don't care if there's a longer lag phase. But, I'm concerned that pitching the propagator w/o starter will stress the yeast out, as they'll be small in number and will have to work harder to ferment.. and this also could pose a possible infection... i dunno

 

[bergman1118]

well, I think I am gonna go ahead and make the starter, and just leave the rest of the wort sitting while its going.. i figure this will be a good test of my sanitation skills if anything else.. I'll be back with the results

 

[Donasay]

pitch that thing, just thing of your beer as a big starter...

 

[Christian]

propagator has 25 billion cells out of the package and the activator has a minimum of 100 billion cells out of the package. I would let it sit for a bit, while making a starter, you need to get the number of cells up before pitching it.

 

[Homercidal]

I'd probably just let the wort sit for a bit while you make a starter. It's not going to take any time at all to pitch, and that way you can still use your day off for brewing. Your wort will be fine adjusting to temp.

Maybe sanitize something to stir with and agitate a bit when you add the yeast. Gets the O2 up a bit.

 

[bergman1118]

So i ended up doing what many suggested - made the starter, and let the main wort sit unpitched for a day. Fermentation in the starter commenced within 2 hours of pitching, and I just pitched it into the main batch a few mins ago as it already looked like it normally does when i pitch starters.. the main wort also had some residual foam at the top left over from sanitizing with star-san, so hopefully no buggers got into it. I shook the hell out of the carboy right before pitching and immediately after so hopefully I got sufficient aeration. We shall see in a few days (or less more likely), and I'll be back with an update!

 

[zaprozdower]

Sweet, another Boone homebrewer! Guessing you go to App state, I'm in grad school here. We should share some brews sometime!

 

[bergman1118]

Hell yeah dude! Good to see a fellow Booninite here. I do indeed go to ASU, I'm a 5th year senior trying to finish up this May. We should definitely get up some time and trade brews or something.

So right now, all appears well. I had activity in the main batch within 12 hours of pitching the starter, and fermentation is currently churning away. Smell's great, looks like most other fermentations (it's actually a bit more vigorous than most I've seen!), and obviously it took off with minimal lag time so I think this worked out purty good. All I need is a name for this winterish ale (pretty much a Sammy Smith Winter Welcome clone).

 

[dontman]

well, I think I am gonna go ahead and make the starter, and just leave the rest of the wort sitting while its going.. i figure this will be a good test of my sanitation skills if anything else.. I'll be back with the results

Terrible idea. Infection is not the only thing that affects wort while it is sitting idle. You are much better off underpitching directly and giving the wort some activity then letting it sit idle for several days.

One of the reasons that we want to get as much yeast going as quickly as possible is that we want to start consuming the oxygen and scrubbing the remaining oxgen out of the wort as quickly as possible. The fact that you are underpitching is far less damaging than the damage the oxygen will do to the wort in interim.

EDIT: Oops, I missed the last few posts. Nevermind. Hopefully the cardboard taste does not figure into your beer's future. ( And it probably doesn't. We all tend to be alarmist here.)

 

[bergman1118]

yeah it actually turned out great. no cardboard flavors, and tasted pretty close to what I expected. although I definitely will try to avoid this situation in the future, at least now I know it's doable without seriously compromising the end result. cheers!