Shipping liquid yeast in summer months

Getting ready to brew my first batch this weekend (hefeweizen). Knowing how critical the yeast is in a wheat beer, I would prefer to use a liquid yeast over dry. That said how great is the risk in shipping liquid yeast this time of year (given current heat waves). I do have dry yeast here as a back up.

Most places will offer you ice packs with your yeast for a buck or two. The yeast should be fine shipped with these, assuming it's not travelling too far.

I usually just use dry, but liquid yeasts are almost always a local purchase for me due to transport.

Buy it local. It's a bad practice to ship liquid yeast in the summer months, but the mega online retailers do it anyway. The ice packs are better than nothing, but not foolproof. After getting a screaming hot tube of yeast and ice pack the first summer I started brewing from AHS, I quit buying liquid yeast online in the summertime. That beer had a 72 hour lag time, BTW. Not good.

I agree. Even with the ice packs, all the yeast I've received (and I order regularly from four of the larger online HBS) have been very warm. Most of the Wyeast packs I've received in the last few orders have been at least partially inflated. Not good.

Most retailers will allow you to buy the kits without the yeast. Make note of the type of yeast required and buy it locally (but be sure to check the date of manufacture).

Good luck.

I recently had an order shipped to me from NB, no fault of theirs, for an IPA with two vials of WLP001 because honestly I was too lazy to go over to my LHBS that day and had to work the next. They shipped it in its own envelope and to NB's credit they packed an ice pack in it even though I forgot to ask them too. Brew day went great and made a fat starter that looked great with a thick yeast layer on bottom after chilling it. Then I pitched it and zip, nothing for three days. Only time I have ever had a yeast issue, its just too hot I guess cause they were DOA.

Williamsbrewing offers an insulated box to ship their yeast in. Best thing I've seen so far.

So then if I buy local, what is the ideal manufacture date? I assume the newer the better, but what would be considered 'old' yeast?

Knecht_Rupprecht said:

So then if I buy local, what is the ideal manufacture date? I assume the newer the better, but what would be considered 'old' yeast?

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You can use Mr. Malty to learn about viability of yeast. For example, if it was manufactured a month ago, then today it would be 75% viable. If it was manufactured three months ago, then today it would be 32% viable.

Knecht_Rupprecht said:

So then if I buy local, what is the ideal manufacture date? I assume the newer the better, but what would be considered 'old' yeast?

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I think Wyeast say six months from date of manufacture and White Labs uses four months for it 'use by' date.

Good tip on the Mr. Malty calculator. From my experience, I'm wary of anything more than three months old.