How do I know if my yeast is good

[vespabrew]

I washed an abbey yeast after my last brew and I want to use it again. I am wondering if it is possible for the yeast to go bad? Beside the obvious that it can be dead, or will not ferment - which I will find out when I make a starter - can it "mutate" into something that will give off flavors? Can you go through the whole brew process and have a foul tasting beer at the end all because the yeast has changed some how? Is there a way to know this from the beginning?

Thanks for any help.
-Joe

 

[eschatz]

Yeah, most people brew up a starter, SMELL the yeast (that's a big one), and even have a drink of the starter beer. If there's anything funky about any of those processes I'd never use it.

 

[Grinder12000]

I believe you are looking for things to worry about LOL.

I suppose it COULD mutate but as long as nothing totally whacko happened I can't seen that it would. It it is not over a year old and has been stored cold you will be all right.

 

[Munsoned]

I heard somewhere that after 4 or 5 batches that its generally a good idea to start with a new "clean" strain to avoid this issue. I doubt it should be a problem for your first time though--wouldn't the beer you made with it also taste funky? I think any mutation in the yeast strain is likely to occur slowly over time, if at all...

 

[lowlife]

Isnt that how the Hulk was created? From drinking beer with mutated yeast?

 

[vespabrew]

thanks for the replies. It all makes a lot of sense. I will check with the starter.

As for the 1st batch I made with it, it tasted okay, but not exactly what I expected (its home brew though, so it shouldn't be). I also tried it only after a month in the bottle and it is supposed to sit for at least 6 weeks. I imagine age will mellow things.

Thanks for the advice. I guess I just get nervous pitching yeast into $60 of ingredients. I think this is my last tripel, getting to expensive

 

[Yooper]

As for the 1st batch I made with it, it tasted okay, but not exactly what I expected (its home brew though, so it shouldn't be).

I hate to sound argumentative, so please don't take it that way. But, homebrew to many of us is BETTER than the commercial stuff available, that's why we do it. I admit some of my early beers weren't braggable (is that a word?) but not because it was homebrew- it was because I was learning. I would say that I can make a great tasting beer that you would swear was brewed by a microbrewery. You can do it too. If it was "only ok", there was something in the process that was wrong. Either ingredients, temperature, etc, but a "regular" homebrew is every bit as good as a microbrew.

Ok- rant over.

Triples can be expensive to brew- so how about some other style you like that is lower ABV but flavorful? A nut brown ale, stout, American pale ale, British mild? All very easy, without expensive ingredients.

 

[vespabrew]

Appreciate the input. I didn't mean anything negative by HB - actually I prefer it any day over commercial made. I guess I mean I expected one thing and I shouldn't have, each beer is going to be different even if following the exact same recipe.
Browns seem the way to go. They don't seem that challenging to experiment with either. Just did one with 1 qt maple syrup. I am hoping for a little syrup flavor to come through in the end, but I bet it most likely fermented out.
Pale ale sounds like a good idea too. Okay - way off topic for this thread. Thanks again for all the help.