Yeast in fridge for how long?

I have not had time to brew the last kit I bought so my liquid yeast has been in the fridge for 3 weeks. How long can it stay in the fridge before I should start to be concerned? I plan to make a starter when I'm ready but I wasn't sure how long I have when using the fridge for storage.

It'll be good for months if kept in the fridge, assuming it was stored properly before you got it of course.

There is a "best by" date on the package. If you're making a starter, you can go passed that date but it might take a while to get going. I've never kept liquid yeast more than a year or so in my fridge.

I've successfully grown up yeast from vials and smack packs that are well over three years old. Patience and incremental starters are all you need.

Bobby M recently did a test on year old stored yeast here; https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/testing-limits-yeast-viability-126707/

And my LHBS cells outdated tubes and packs of yeast dirt cheap 2-3 dollars each and I usually grab a couple tubes of belgian or other interesting yeast when I am there and shove it in my fridge. and I have never had a problem with one of those tubes. I usually make a starter but I once pitched a year old tube of Belgian High Gravity yeast directly into a 2.5 gallon batch of a Belgian Dark Strong, and after about 4 days it took off beautifully.

Same with jarred yeast.

With any stored, old yeast you just need first to apply the "sniff test" if it smell bad, especially if it smells like week old gorilla poop in a diaper left on the side of the road in the heat of summer.

Then make a starter, and if it takes off you are fine. The purpose of a starter is to reproduce any viable cells in a batch of yeast....that;s how we can grow a starter form the dregs in a bottle of beer incrementally...and that beer may be months old.

Even if you have a few still living cells, you can grow them....That's how we can harvest a huge starter (incrementally) from the dregs in a bottle of some commercial beers. You take those few living cells and grow them into more.

If yeast can be grown from a tiny amount that has been encased in amber for 45 million years, 45 million year old yeast ferments amber ale we really don't need to sweat too much about yeast viability....

we just need to think in terms of making starters.

Cool. I thought I'd be safe but I wanted to make sure. This next batch will be my first AG and I have tons of other things to worry about.

One day I need to look at getting a clear container for my starter. My growler works fine but it's so dark I can never tell if the starter is working or not.

I use one of those big Gallo wine jugs... (And no, I didn't drink it. Yuck.)

My LHBS said that she has to sell old Wyeast smackpacks at bargain prices when they're near or at end of life (or Best By: date). However, with White Labs yeast vials, the company buys them back or replaces them! So she never has to take a hit on those, which is nice. She prices the Wyeast a bit higher because of that.

I just pitched a starter on Sunday made from yeast that I harvested last September. As in September '08. Sure, the starter was a bit slow to come on, but my beer is happily and violently rattling the airlock right now. As long as you are as sterile/sanitary as possible, you can keep yeast around for quite some time.

Revvy said:

With any stored, old yeast you just need first to apply the "sniff test" if it smell bad, especially if it smells like week old gorilla poop in a diaper left on the side of the road in the heat of summer.

Click to expand...

That was....awsome.

Revvy said:

...

With any stored, old yeast you just need first to apply the "sniff test" if it smell bad, especially if it smells like week old gorilla poop in a diaper left on the side of the road in the heat of summer.

Click to expand...

OK, that seriously made me spit coffee on the computer...awesome Revvy...I love your posts.