A buddy of mine just got a Dead Ringer kit for Christmas and he wanted to brew today so Im lending him my equipment. He didn’t smack the yeast pack till this morning. Should we continue to brew today or wait till another day to brew its Wyeast 1056?
It’s fine for him to use it today. Smacking it helps, especially because it lets you know that the yeast is healthy, but smacking it at the beginning of the brew session is enough time for the yeast to eat the wort that’s in the pack. Good luck on your brew day!
What’s your batch size and O G? You may need a starter.
The dead ringer kit should be 5G at 1.064. Technically the cell count is far short of optimal with a single smack-pack, but a lot of people get by and make perfectly good beer in that range.
Personally, I’d go ahead and brew it, but there is some extra risk associated with the low pitch rate.
On a related note, since I assume it’s 1056 yeast, I’d always choose the dry yeast alternative of US05, which is the same strain in dry form.
It’s a great yeast and the cell count of the sachet is much higher than a liquid smackpack. IMO, making a starter with 1056 is a waste of effort when you’ve got the option of US05.
