Activated Wyeast Yeast 'Smack Pack'

My first Flanders red ale was the first time I used a Wyeast 'smack pack' or any liquid yeast for that matter.  It made me nervous that the 'smack pack' didn't inflate very much. I had purchased the yeast sooner than I should have and this may have been the reason for lack of inflation, also I might not have waited long enough for it to do its thing. I made web searches using phrases like "smack pack inflation", "wyeast activator swelling", etc but I couldn't find any images. I found text descriptions of the inflation disappointingly vague, e.g. "you'll know." While "you'll know" is a very factual statement it didn't help me much when I "didn't know." Below is an image of activated / swelled / inflated Wyeast activator 'smack pack' versus one that hasn't undergone the change. I would have found this useful.

It's coming out of its shell.

 Note: the yeast on the left (Wyeast Lambic Blend 3278) is the same one I had trouble with before. It had been smacked at the same time (~ 4hours) as the one on the right (Wyeast Roeselare Ale Blend 3763). I didn't wait to see if inflation would occur and ended up mixing the two together. Unfortunately I have been too anxious to see if it is 'good' either time I have used it.

Update: So, um, maybe there is a video on the Wyeast site. I hope it wasn't there forerver.

I drank this...

More like I will drink this.  This post's title is in reference to Infinite Jest a novel by David Foster Wallace.  There is a scene where a child eats some vile-looking mold and goes up to his mother and says something akin to "I ate this" whilst his face and mouth are covered in green.  Its funny to me, but I am not sure if its supposed to be funny.

So why I am talking about this novel? Well, when I see this stuff alive in my beer I think that it looks fantastic.  This is what I imagine the child in the book was thinking too.  How can I not consume this? I can only imagine that the lay person (or adult) would think that this looks like trouble. I like to think of the "trouble" as flavor crystals adding awesomeness to the beer. Now I just have to wait, again.

Some pictures:

Camera One, Camera Two:
I think that's a pellicle (white) forming on the left- I hope the other gunk is from the cherry concentrate
On the right there is no visible activity

A little closer

Updates: Homebrew log

Update:
5/9/2010: Floaters in the Cherry'ed Flanders Red


Update:

5/14/2010 - added additional 14.5 oz cherry to brown ale
5/14/2010 - added additional 10 oz cherry to Flanders Red


Update:
5/15/2010 - Pellicle forming in Flanders Red with cherry?

Floaters in the Flanders Red

Flanders Red with Cherry and Floaters

After I added the cherry to the one half of the Valentine's Day 2009 Flanders Red these appeared:

It appears now, one day after adding more cherry that a pellicle is forming pictures to come...

There's actually one more bucket going now ...

L -R: Cherry Brown, Cherry Flanders Red 09, Flanders Red 09, Flanders Red x2 10

Latest Happenings in the Brewery

4/8/2010 - Flanders Red A
4/8/2010 - Flanders Red B

4/16/2010 - Cherry Brown Ale
4/16/2010 - Witbier

4/29/2010 - Bottled Witbier

05/02/2010 - Racked Cherry Brown to secondary; added cherry (31 oz by weight)
05/02/2010 - Racked Flanders Red (brewed 2/14/2009) into two PET water bottles; half with cherry (15 oz by weight)

05/03/2010 - Racked Flanders Red A & B to secondary

More details to come . . .

Kentucky Common Revealed

I bottled the Kentucky Common on about March 15th, 2010.  The FG was 1.008 ~ 5.08% ABV

I think it tastes great, it is sour and crisp. A great summer brew.  It doesn't pack the lactic punch of a berliner weisee, but the sourness within provides that 'sumtin' that makes it quite enjoyable.  Here's to brewing an extirpated piece of America.

The recipe which I neglected to include before, see souring procedure here:

.75 oz Glacier Hops 7.4 AA @ 60 min
Wyeast American Ale

22%	2	4	American Six-row Pale
19%	2	0	Flaked Corn (Maize)
18%	1	14	American Two-row Pale
13%	1	6	American Two-row Pale
5%	0	8	Sugar, Table (Sucrose)
5%	0	8	American Crystal 90L
5%	0	8	Belgian Aromatic
5%	0	8	Crystal 10L
4%	0	6	Caramunich Malt 20
2%	0	4	Special B Malt
2%	0	3	Carafa II