I am a Yeast Killer, or Keep yeast refrigerated before use.

I am a yeast killer :( I feel so ashamed.

Bought the ingredients to make my Loving Brau, and due to an Air-conditioner failure at our home, I put off making the brew by one day. So the ingredients stayed on the table. I forgot to put the yeast in the refrigerator. I found this out after I had everything going, and was preparing the wort for the yeast.

It has been over 24 hours with no noticeable fermentation going on.

I had strained out the hops and any left-over grain that might have escaped the grain sock, and had it cooled down to room-temperature, when I read the instructions on the Vial (to late).

I also noticed that the Vial also had expired by a couple days. So in my panic, I sent out an email to White Labs, and to my surprise, I got a response very quickly. They (Joanne) said that even though it was past the expiration date, and that is spent the night at room temperature I may still have enough live yeast to get the party started. The folks at White Labs have been very helpful, and suggest that if you get a yeast past the expiration date, you should make a starter solution first before pitching it in. The instructions for making a starter solution are on their website at Http://www.whitelabs.com. Joanne also said that if it didn't start going after 48 to try to add another vial to save the batch. She said it might turn out a little fruiter, and that is better than loosing the whole batch.

Still waiting on fermentation, this morning I noticed that some air was being pushed out of the primary fermentation tank, and my wife said she saw a bubble a few moments ago. There still may be hope for this beer yet.

More to come, keep your fingers crossed. P.S. Joanne and White Labs told me to send them my mailing address, and she would send me a coupon for a free vial of yeast to replace the bad one I bought. They are some nice people over there!

Wish me luck