How long does dry yeast keep in the fridge?

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BrewclearAssault

BrewclearAssault

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Hey guys, just wondering how long does dry yeast keep in the fridge for? Made a few 1-gal batches a couple months back, and I only used about half the packet, then taped off the opening so it's been (Hopefully) airtight. Wanting to make a couple more 1-gals but not sure if I can still use this stuff. Thanks in advance!
 
Personally I wouldn't use them, I'd be arfraid of the tape infecting the yeast. I've done something like that by sanitizing a ziplock and puttin the open pack in there, but even then, those baggies arent always airtight. These days I always use the whole pack, even for a gallon, and I brew on the same day as bottling so I can use the yeast cake from the first batch right away. And I only do that one or twice before using new yeast.
:off: Nice to see another metal-head brewer, Tankard kicks ass
 
Use it! I'd snip off a piece of the taped area after thoroughly sanitizing the outside of the yeast envelope. Then hydrate the yeast.

You could shake out any amount, eyeballing the volume, or into a sanitized measuring spoon, and reseal for the next time. Fold over the snipped corner and tape it off. I would store it in the freezer though, inside a ziplock/freezer bag.

There's a thread here on sealing hops where a member also repackages 1lb bricks of Safale S-05 into pre-measured amounts and stores them heat-sealed plastic pouches. He acknowledges the small potential risk of infection but claims to have had no problems so far.

Grossly overpitching by using a whole packet (11 grams) in a gallon of wort will likely give you off-flavors.
 
IslandLizard said:
Use it! I'd snip off a piece of the taped area after thoroughly sanitizing the outside of the yeast envelope. Then hydrate the yeast.

You could shake out any amount, eyeballing the volume, or into a sanitized measuring spoon, and reseal for the next time. Fold over the snipped corner and tape it off. I would store it in the freezer though, inside a ziplock/freezer bag.

There's a thread here on sealing hops where a member also repackages 1lb bricks of Safale S-05 into pre-measured amounts and stores them heat-sealed plastic pouches. He acknowledges the small potential risk of infection but claims to have had no problems so far.

Grossly overpitching by using a whole packet (11 grams) in a gallon of wort will likely give you off-flavors.
Click to expand...

+1 on using it. The odds of having something that can over take the dry yeast are rather small. Besides its a one gallon batch. Its fine. We are not talking about best practices for macro or micro brewery.

+1 on not going way over on yeast pitching. If in doubt use http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html use the dry yeast tab and viola!
 
I've (unintentionally) stored dry yeast (S-05 and S-04) in the freezer for 3 years and it was very viable. I made starters just in case and they all worked very well.
 
Well, anytime someone enables me to spend less money, I'm inclined to lean in their direction. I'll give it a shot and, like you said, its only 1 gallon. Mostly I just want to brew on the cheaps here, so I guess I'll be more happy doing it than having it turn out fantastically. Thanks everybody!

Hells yeah roastquake! Hard to imagine a more perfect band to listen to while you're brewing :D
 
:rockin:

yea I'll admit to being paranoid, but never had any yeastified off-flavors
 
Since 1 fresh sachet (11 gr) of S-05 is usually enough to ferment 5 gallons of a medium gravity ale (1.052, and even a bit higher), 1/5th is enough to do a 1 gallon batch.

From Dry Yeast Converter:
Amount : 11 grams (g of active dry yeast)
Equals : 3.88 teaspoons (tsp / active dry yeast)

So 3/4 teaspoon (3.88 tsp/5 = 0.776 tsp) should be about the right amount. Or use a precision (0.1 gr) scale.
 
I just use half a pack in a 2 gall batch (you can approx. that by distributing content evenly in pack then fold pack in 2 lengthwise then cut end off (sanitized scissors), and empty half of it). I double fold it the cut end over and tape it shut then keep in fridge. Should be no problem for a 2 gall batch. I figure these packs are made for average 5 gall brew. From what I see that is most popular home brew batch size. I use the Mr Beer 2 gal kegs though and am happy with result. I use their HME to reduce smell in the house (no long boiling of hops - maybe a couple min. only, max.) but add various malts, dry hop, spices etc. to create varied beers. Low on effort, adequate on result.
 
Dry yeast loses about 4% viability per year in the fridge according to Clayton Cone. I'm with the others that say to use it.
 

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