Is white labs yeast that is from jan 26 2013 to old to use?

[benzski]

I was gonna make an IPA a while back but never got to it so I stashed the yeast away I made a few batches but forgot the yeast was in there. Is it still able to be used?

 

[benzski]

Cali ale yeast

 

[brewkinger]

Make a small starter and see what you get; if anything then I would make at least another step starter after that.

 

[beertroll]

I wouldn't pitch it directly, but if you make a starter you might find it still has some life in it.

 

[Yooper]

Sure, you can make a starter and build it up and probably get it going. Use a yeast calculator to help decide the size of the starter to grow enough cells for a batch of beer.

 

[benzski]

So do I need like a huge starter? Says six vials

 

[brewkinger]

More importantly, what total cell count does it recommend?

 

[brewkinger]

Also how many viable cells does the calculator day you have left in the vial?

 

[benzski]

For a two liter starter it says I need 175 billion. Not sure how much it says I have

 

[benzski]

Am I doing this right?

 

[brewkinger]

I just saw the photo on my phone.

I use Beersmith so I am not familiar with mr malty.
I did a recent starter on AG Irish Red with an OG of 1.054 and needed a starter of over 200 bill, so the 175 sounds a little low to me.

 

[brewkinger]

It does tell you 10% viability, so how many cells in a vial ( never used one)

 

[benzski]

100 billion in a vial. And the calculator had 10% already plugged in and a gravity of 10.50

 

[McCoy]

It's got your growth factor around 4. So assuming that just means that you'll quadruple your yeast, and assuming that growth factor is solid over multiple starters (it'll probably go down as your pitched population increases), it would go like this:
Pitch the yeast into first starter (10 billion cells -> 40 billion)
Decant, pitch into second starter (40 billion -> 160 billion)

At that point you might be comfortable with pitching. Some people just pitch the 100 billion from the vial and make beer, though you're more likely to produce just alright beer or to have some problems along the way. My guess is that since the growth factor will decrease, you might want to do yet another starter (but probably a smaller one, like 1-1.5L).

All in all, that's a lot of work, time, and DME. Just buy new yeast.

 

[benzski]

Yep that's what I'm thinking too. Is there an easy dumbed down brewing calculator anywhere

 

[brewkinger]

Not sure I would invest in a "dumbed down" calculator.
Invest the $20 or so bucks and get BeerSmith (or an equivalent)
Watch the video turorials and ask questions and you will thank me ( and others who agree) later.

 

[atreid]

For old yeast you'll benefit a LOT of doing a 2 steps starter. You'll waste a lot less DME.

Use the calculator at yeastcalc.com and start with a 1-2 liters only first step, then see how much you need for the second one, then play around...

 

[McCoy]

Not sure I would invest in a "dumbed down" calculator.
Invest the $20 or so bucks and get BeerSmith (or an equivalent)
Watch the video turorials and ask questions and you will thank me ( and others who agree) later.

+1

Better to have more options than less. BeerSmith has a lot of useful functionality, much of which could be found elsewhere, but it would be scattered and so your mash info wouldn't talk be integrated with your recipe design wouldn't be integrated with your pitching rate, etc.

 

[fgjnxhmhhu]

I wouldn't pitch it directly, but if you make a starter you might find it still has some life in it.