RE: WY 1084 from last May

[DSorenson]

So I found a smack pack of Irish Ale that was manufactured last may (2014). I figured I would brew a reasonable (1.051) brown ale (featuring oats!) tomorrow and use a starter made with that Irish Ale yeast.

Well I made the starter today... with less than ideal ingredients. Turns out my last little bit of DME turned to a small stone. I sealed the bag the last time I used it, (probably last april) but apparently it got moisture in it and congealed. I made the starter anyway. It's a 1L starter.

Well I am a little concerned for two reasons:
1) the smack pack didn't inflate as impressively as it should have- no doubt due to a lack of viability. Also, my "beer" (dorm) fridge seems to be 37 degrees and forms ice in some places, so I don't know if it ever froze the yeasties.
2) it's never good to have DME exposed to liquid during storage- it has adverse effects on the flavor, color, etc.

Someone tell me "everything's going to be okay".

 

[DSorenson]

I hope it's okay to bump- You guys usually have something to say by now.
at this point I'm just curious as to what people think or what their experiences are.
I'm already 10 minutes into my boil, so I figure it's too late to change anything at this point.

 

[MindenMan]

It looks like you posted less than 20 minutes ago, is your starter active yet?

 

[DSorenson]

It looks like you posted less than 20 minutes ago, is your starter active yet?

Lol, no, a day and twenty minutes ago.

Yeah, my starter was bubbling away and looked pretty good minus a darker hot/cold break than normal and a layer of yeast a little bit bigger than I am used to.

 

[shtoive87]

You're good. Nothing to worry about


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[DSorenson]

Well the yeast was plugging away this morning when I woke up. The fermentation is less aggressive, the wort isn't as turbulent, and the krausen finally formed at some point today. It doesn't seem ideal, but it did start fermenting in less than a day.