Slightly Swolen Smack Pack

[Blueflint]

I do all my brewing from November thru March as I do not have time in the warmer months to do any... I have a small farm that takes all my attention at that time. I usually have a few smack packs of yeast in the fridge at all times, kept in the lowest drawer (coldest). I have a couple packs I bought last winter/spring that did not get used. One pack is 1318 London Ale III. I know these are old. I pulled them out to look at them and noticed the 1318 is slightly swollen. I thought "what the heck, nothing lost at this point since they are old", I went to "pop" the inner bag and when a little force was put on it, I felt is squirt real easy instead of the normal heavy effort needed. Now I am thinking it had a slight seep/leak already. Now the inner pack is totally empty and I have this on the counter to see what happens. I feel this will slowly build up a good population, slower than normal but still be a good pack. Any thoughts on this slightly swollen but refrigerated pack?

Tony

 

[neovox]

I think the fact that the yeast is pretty old is more an issue than the inner nutrient pack leaking. I would try growing it using the starter method. That should tell you if it's viable. If it is, you may want to do it a second time to continue to grow the population.

 

[Blueflint]

I agree, if the pack swells up, I plan on making a starter to see what happens and go from there. I have used washed 1968 that was close to a year old and i was amazed how well they grew.

Tony