Buying liquid yeast online in summer?

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MrBJones

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I'm in Dallas where outdoor temps routinely go to high 90s every day in the summer. If I order yeast (or other homebrew supplies/ingredients) from Austin HS early one day, they arrive the next. The package won't be on the porch long at all but, still, that's 24 hours in transit...the last time, the freeze pack was completely melted when it got here. What do you think?
 
Are you able to put a cooler full of frozen water bottles on your porch and leave a note for the delivery driver to put the package in the cooler?
 
Are you able to put a cooler full of frozen water bottles on your porch and leave a note for the delivery driver to put the package in the cooler?

I could do something like that; it would only need to stay cold for an hour, if it arrived while I was out for lunch. I'm more concerned though with the time it spends in shipping, on the truck etc.
 
Just make a starter with it. Im sure even if it sat for 48hrs on your hot porch there would still be enough viable yeast cells to get rolling in a starter
 
In the Summer season, we generally suggest ordering dry yeast, or make a starter with the liquid yeast that you order.

That being said, most suppliers are putting cold packs inside each order with liquid yeast. Some suppliers charge for this service, but ours is complementary, and we will replace any activated/unviable yeast pack that may get damaged by the heat this Summer.

Happy Brewing and Cheers! :mug:
 
In the Summer season, we generally suggest ordering dry yeast, or make a starter with the liquid yeast that you order.

That being said, most suppliers are putting cold packs inside each order with liquid yeast. Some suppliers charge for this service, but ours is complementary, and we will replace any activated/unviable yeast pack that may get damaged by the heat this Summer.

Happy Brewing and Cheers! :mug:

That is awesome customer service! Kudos
 
yeah, I live like 70 miles east of big D & I cannot recommend ordering liquid strains online from April (maybe May) til November...way too hot.
if you live in the metroplex you should have a lhbs (LOCAL homebrew supply).
I'd go with the local option...
now, when you get your yeast... build a starter to twice the size you need, pitch half & save the rest. that way you'll always have your favorite liquid strain on hand regardless of the season.
 
I live in Canada, but the concern still applies (granted only for 3 or 4 months with some breaks in between.. but I am a 4 hour drive to the nearest LHBS in Toronto, so the yeast spends at least 3 or 4 days hanging out with the postal service if I am lucky).

What I have done is to use the brulosophy yeast harvesting method.

For about $2 or $3 of DME I build a larger starter with about 1 liter of extra liquid, and save that 1 liter of it in a 1 liter (1 quart?) mason jar in the refrigerator.

Next time I want to brew, I use that to make the starter. I keep a little spreadsheet and track when I used it last. If I don't use it within 120 days, I do a small 1 liter starter to regenerate it. I also track the total generations on the spreadsheet.

I am currently maintaining WLP060, WLP860, WLP006, YB Vermont Ale, YB Wallonian Farmhouse and WY 3711, so I have a little ranch of yeast to draw on during the summer. I make a point of turning them over during the cold months. Its super easy, cheap and effective. Critically, it works really well and I have a variety of yeast on hand. I am going onto my 8th pitch of a tube of WLP060 and its just gotten better.

Check out the method here - http://brulosophy.com/methods/yeast-harvesting/
 
Same thing here I am in Texas . Even back in April I ordered from Austin and it wasn't even that hot then and my ice pack was completely warm when I opened my package . I came straight to my house as soon as it arrived as well . How long does those ice packs usually last in the summer heat ? That being said my Hefeweizen yeast from white labs still did amazing
 
I have a bigger transit problem. I buy from Northern in MN and live in very hot NV. It takes 5 days to get to me. I order Mon to receive Fri and that avoids being in a truck all weekend. I always add a note to NB that if they can't get the order out on Mon, wait until the following Mon.

Dry yeast is an option but I prefer liquid packs because you can check their viability but I now make a starter for all brews regardless of OG. I just think of it as insurance.

Wyeast web site has a lot to say on this subject. Just because a pouch is partly inflated doesn't mean it's unusable. But it does make them harder to smack.

One option is to buy packs, that you know you're going to use, in the cooler months but they do have a shelf life.

Or buy the yeast locally and the dry ingredients from your preferred supplier. But your local brew store has the same shipping difficulties.

I never had a failure with Wyeast. If it's not fully inflated (like they are 12hrs after smacking) just keep calm and carry on:mug:
 
Same thing here I am in Texas . Even back in April I ordered from Austin and it wasn't even that hot then and my ice pack was completely warm when I opened my package . I came straight to my house as soon as it arrived as well . How long does those ice packs usually last in the summer heat ? That being said my Hefeweizen yeast from white labs still did amazing

My last delivery was a week and a half ago; was shipped Thursday and arrived Friday. It was on my porch for literally a minute or so (I work form home). The ice pack was completely melted and the Wyeast package was warm to the touch....I put it in the fridge right way. Fortunately it seems OK; brewed this past Saturday, and it's fermenting and bubbling nicely as I type this. But I may not be so lucky next time...
 
My last delivery was a week and a half ago; was shipped Thursday and arrived Friday. It was on my porch for literally a minute or so (I work form home). The ice pack was completely melted and the Wyeast package was warm to the touch....I put it in the fridge right way. Fortunately it seems OK; brewed this past Saturday, and it's fermenting and bubbling nicely as I type this. But I may not be so lucky next time...

Curious to know at what temperatures and for how long at those temperatures do the cells start to die . I'm sure there is information out there somewhere . I know white labs has information in this area on their website
 
The yeast are MUCH hardier than most of you realize. Right now, I have a wort fermenting vigorously with yeast that had been frozen since August 2014.

I get liquid yeast shipped to me all the time during the summer and have never had a problem. Earth doesn't really get hot enough to kill yeast at a rapid rate.

It will be fine. Just make a big starter if you are worried.
 
There is always a lot of talk about liquid yeast dying or not being as viable after shipping in the summer months. I want to start this conversation by pointing out that White Labs and Wyeast are very good at their jobs. I have been brewing since 1991 and have never had a dead pack of liquid yeast. I still prefer liquid yeast over dry yeast for the wide array of strains available. Just some food for thought when deciding if you can still order liquid yeast in the heat of summer.

Let's start with how long yeast cells will live. Home brewers will regularly build starters from bottles of beer. Often these bottles are Belgian style beers that have been shipped to the USA. A basic time line would include all of the following. The beers are brewed in Belgium and shipped to the USA. They are then sent from a distributor in the US to a local distributor who then dispatches them to your neighborhood store. Most of this will happen without any refrigeration. After this extended time out of a refrigerator, an adventurous home brewer will take this bottle, decant off the beer, and build a small yeast starter from the dregs of the bottle– Most will find live yeast cells. Moral of the story– Yeast are far more hardy than they are often given credit. The six months that Wyeast and White Labs guarantee their yeast is just the tip of the iceberg when talking about how long yeast will live.

Now the question at hand– How hot is too hot? I have seen reports that state 140*F for several minutes will do the trick and temps as low as 103 for several days. Texas heat for several days may kill your pack of yeast but sitting on a porch for four hours is not likely to do the trick. Viability may be an issue but building a yeast starter should remove any concern. Three years back, I decided to test the extremes. I took ten vials of yeast and put them in my garage. I planned on making one starter a month knowing that they would freeze in the winter and get up to the 100* mark in the summer. Results– Ten months in a row, I had every vial of yeast start in its starter. I was excited to report my findings to Chris White at White Labs. He simply shrugged and said this is exactly what he would have expected;)

What to do when shipping liquid yeast in the summer? 1) Build starters to confirm your yeast is viable. 2) Order liquid yeast on Sundays and Mondays to ensure you receive it during the week. 3) Upgrade shipping if you have concerns that it will sit in a truck over the weekend. 4) Make notes on your order to hold your yeast until Monday if you are ordering it late in the week. 5) Most importantly, “Relax, have a Homebrew”

Full disclosure, I am just a home brewer. I have never been trained in brewing microbiology. The above is what I have witnessed in my 20+ years of brewing experience. At the end of the day, your yeast is far more tolerant than you might expect:)

-Old Ale Jay

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