Old Yeast

[HB2112]

Couple of things first off Rogue Valley Brewing in Grants Pass has become a bar instead of a brew supply store. This really sucks and other than Blackbirds in Medford, which has yeast that expired months ago, we don't have a brew supply store worth a sh!@. So I ordered some yeast from Williams and paid the extra for the ice pack and fedex shipping. Opened box yesterday, yeast still cold woo hoo. Then I look at the date use before June 25, 2023. WTF! I'm leaving for a vacation Sunday wanted the primary to be done when I got back. Should I go ahead and use it?

 

[HB2112]

FYI it's Wyeast 2308 Munich lager for a Stienlager clone recipe.
Thanks

 

[Dog House Brew]

No issue with that date IMO

 

[Dog House Brew]

Brewing a lager, I’d make a starter anyway. That is depending on the size of your batch.

 

[HB2112]

Yes making a starter for sure. Called Williams this morning and they gave me a refund. At least someone has good customer service. The guy was apologetic and said to go ahead and smack them to see if they start up or not. So if they start up I'll go ahead and try them out. We really need a homebrew store in Southern Oregon.

 

[lumpher]

It should be fine. There's always a little padding on the "Use Before" date. An experiment I saw a while back showed Wyeast was still viable 6 months after date.

 

[HB2112]

Thanks Lumpher I had a bad experience with a White Labs yeast that was 3 months past due. Had some really off flavors and dumped the batch.

 

[IslandLizard]

You should always make a starter when using liquid yeast:

1. Proves viability.
2. Increases vitality. Grows more cells to obtain a proper pitch rate. One pack is simply not enough for a 5 gallon batch of Lager, even if it was packaged last week. Homebrew Dad's Online Yeast Starter Calculator
3. Overbuild your starter, so you can save some out to make another starter from for a next batch, which you also overbuild, etc.

I had a bad experience with a White Labs yeast that was 3 months past due. Had some really off flavors and dumped the batch.

Probably because the (old) yeast you pitched wasn't viable enough to get a foothold before some other microorganism(s) did. Hence making a starter, see above.

I've made pitchable starters from (liquid) yeast that was over 6 years old, always kept in the fridge. Took a few rounds, but came out as good as new.

 

[HB2112]

Thanks Island Lizard. How long can you keep a starter going for? Is there a limit?
Thanks

 

[IslandLizard]

Opened box yesterday, yeast still cold woo hoo. Then I look at the date use before June 25, 2023. WTF!

At least it's cold!

The best by (or use by) date is 6 months after production.
Today is only about 2 weeks past her June 25 use by date. So 6 months or 6.5 months is not a big difference.
However, the age itself, whether it's 6 or 6.5 months, is the issue.

How long can you keep a starter going for? Is there a limit?

Well, that depends on her viability.
I've had tardy starters go for as long 7-10 days, before cold crashing and harvesting.

Do you have a stir plate? 2-, 3- or 5-liter flask?

You can start with 1-1.5 liter of 1.037 today, and see how's she's progressing by tomorrow (Saturday) evening.
If she's showing positive signs, let her rip, and start cold crashing before you leave, on Sunday.

If nothing much is happening you can let her spin for the rest of the week while you're away.
Then when you get back, re-evaluate, and hopefully there's enough slurry for a cold crash.

Enter stage 2, building her up to a good pitchable amount, when you return.