Expired S-04

Hey everybody. I'm brewing a Porter tomorrow. In the essence of being a brewer (a cheap mofo) I'm gonna just use my expired S-04 yeast. It has an expiration of 12/2011. I found many posts about using expired yeast but I have a specific question. Should I pitch more than just one packet? I have 3 packets of expired yeast so using a pack and a half or whatever isn't that big of a deal. I could throw the remaining half in at the end of boil as yeast nutrient. I just don't want to over stress the yeast so that's why I'm asking. Any advice would be great! Thanks!!

Walt
Wet Nose Brewery

dump 2 packs in and i bet it will ferment nicely, 3 if you are really paranoid.

what's the starting gravity? if it's a mild porter, 1 would be ok, regular or robust porter, i'd use 2

We're looking at Robust Porter. Estimated OG is 1.058.

i agree with east, then. go with 2 packs

How was it stored? I think the expiration dates on dry packs assume the yeast is stored at room temperature. Supposedly at fridge temperatures it will lose only 4% viability per year; that would mean you would have to be over 10 years old to lose 50% of the cells. Unlike liquid yeast which continually feeds (even on itself), dry yeast is in a dormant state.

Calder said:

How was it stored? I think the expiration dates on dry packs assume the yeast is stored at room temperature. Supposedly at fridge temperatures it will lose only 4% viability per year; that would mean you would have to be over 10 years old to lose 50% of the cells. Unlike liquid yeast which continually feeds (even on itself), dry yeast is in a dormant state.

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It was always stored in the fridge. I'm planning on throwing two packs in. I've got a good sized blow off tube so it'll contain the explosive fermentation. Any objectors?

Just to follow up with my own question cause I hate when people don't document their findings after posting. I pitched both packages of expired S-04 yeast and it took off like a bat our of hell in usual S-04 fashion. No off tastes and very good attenuation. So if you have some expired yeast, I say go ahead and pitch it. Give it a whirl. It should be noted that I oxygenated the wort for 2 min to give that yeast a healthy environment to **** out some alcohol