A Question I am sure has been asked before

Like I said, I am sure this has been asked but when I searched the forums was unable to find the exact information I was looking for.

in a few months, I would like to brew a Bitter or ESP. But I am having a real hard time finding the yeast that I want to use. Whitelabs has it on their website but states that it is only avaible Jan. and Feb. I did find it on another homebrew store site that said it was only avaible March and April so I technically still could get it from them. But I do not know when I am going to be able to brew again so I was wondering if I went a head and purchased the yeast while a store has it. How long would it last if I froze it. Is there a better way then freezing it?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Oh, the yeast is Essex Ale Yeast WLP022

Go ahead and buy it. Don't freeze it unless you're planning on using glycerine - you'll kill the yeast. The vials are supposed to be good for 6 months, and I bet you could get a decent starter out of one up to several years down the road.

As with any liquid yeast, you should make a starter before pitching. The older the vial is, the more important making a starter becomes.

One thing I've done is to "empty" the vial and the put in about 10-15ml of areated sterile wort, cap it with aluminum foil and leave upright (the tricky part) for a day. Then screw the cap on loosely and put it in the fridge on its side. The large surface area helps keep autolysis down, and you can make a small starter to step up form even months down the road.
Nowadays I just put it on slants. They keep much better.

Thanks, I may go ahead and get two then, one for my ESB and another for my ordinary Bitter.

Forrest said:

Thanks, I may go ahead and get two then, one for my ESB and another for my ordinary Bitter.

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No need to spend the money on two.

Buy one, do your brew and harvest the yeast cake out of the primary. Store it in the fridge in a sterile container with some sterilized water on top and you'll have enough yeast to do two brews.