Fridge died - is all my yeast dead too?

OK - not the full story. Had my niece house sitting and she left the freezer door open during the hottest 5 days yet this year!!! Needless to say everything in the freezer was melted. Went to pull a beer from the fridge and it too was warm. Luckily nothing of any interest in there except my dozen or so mason jars from past yeast washings

I have no clue how hot it got out there or when the door was left open. So - I'm sure the safe answer is to pitch it all (in the trash that is), start over, and never let her house-sit again... but I figured I'd ask the experts.

Does it still look like a nice and bright tan, or does it look gray and dark and sad?

Still looks tan to me. A few jars have yeast floc "dust" on the top (not hard packed like it was and should be). Fortunately I gave a brew buddy a couple jars of Pacman and WL Cal Ale a while back so I'll bum them back and probably start over...

Is it safe to try a starter with one of the questionable ones? If it takes off in due course should it be OK or will it be too stressed if not enough are viable?

Thanks for the input mojotele.

I think you're fine. The yeast may not last as long as it would've had they not warmed up, but they're fine for use in the near future.

You should be find to make a starter with the questionable ones. That is, in fact, the best way to tell if the yeast is good. If it takes off you should be fine to make beer with it.

Yeast is an incredibly hardy thing. I've been told it is the bane of a microbiology lab since, if it gets in, it is positively impossible to get rid of it. Good thing for us, though!

+1 to the previous comments. Yeasties are happiest at pretty warm temps, usually around 100F or so, so I doubt they got stressed. They won't last as long now that they've come out of hibernation, but they should still be fine for quite a while.

If it were me I would make a smallish starter with the yeast to check that they work and if all goes well id then pitch that to another then chill after thats fermented. Im not much on the science but that should leave you with a lot of healthy yeast. Theory sound good?

BREW MAN BREW. While theyre still good bust out the pot book a few days off and use it as an excuse to create the 48 hour brewday. also if you dont think you can do it all get sum other local homebrewers to take some yeast off your hands just dont let it go to waste

+1 for demonrichie :fro:

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Knew I shoulda RDWHAHB. I'll kick up a starter tonight to see what happens and report back.

well, daughter had a swim meet so i didn't get around to doing a starter. better luck tomorrow.