White Labs Yeast Vault

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Irrelevant. Must have been swiped, nothing in the mailbox.

Hopefully theres more at white labs.
 
Shipment didn't arrive until late Friday, as Thursday was a holiday and the post office had
ba-brewer said:
wlp009 is one I wanted to try, I am hoping the same thing.
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Shipment (4 yeasts) didn't arrive until late on Friday, as Thursday was a holiday and the post office had to deliver twice as much on Friday given the holiday. The temps of the icepacks were ~85F. Shipping during a week with a holiday isn't smart.
 
Just wanted to clarify my last post about hoping the same.

I had been on the fence about ordering WLP009 and WLP059 and figured it would not hit the production target by july 1 deadline. I was watching the vault for signs of a moved and either I missed a surge in orders or they pulled the trigger early and missed my shot to order.

I reached out to whitelabs to see if I could still order somehow and they so no, but check in after 7/8 as they may be some available. So I am hoping they still had some left after filling orders. SanPancho was hoping there was more and so do I.
 
Received my Southwold Ale this morning. It's a long way from San Diego to NY and the yeast tube was at a balmy 87F. Did a yeast count and the viability was 93%. So not too terrible, all considering. That said, I'd still make plans to use these yeasts soon then later.
 
bierhaus15 said:
Received my Southwold Ale this morning. It's a long way from San Diego to NY and the yeast tube was at a balmy 87F. Did a yeast count and the viability was 93%. So not too terrible, all considering. That said, I'd still make plans to use these yeasts soon then later.
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I would think they would do all orders for a particular strain at once, mine is still a no show. Would think an order to be delivered in California would arrive before an order to NY. Would be nice if they updated the order status in the account page too, all of my past orders show pending.

There was a few week delay between the credit card change and shipment of my WLP075 Hansen Ale yeast but it seemed like everyone orders were sent about the same time.

Has anyone else who ordered WLP025 received their yeast?

How about WLP026?
 
Oops. Sorry, mean't to say I received/tested Thames Valley, not Southwold. They accepted my payment for the Southwold and Burton last Friday, has not shipped yet.
 
Still a good data point on viability.

I have had my amazon cart filled with stuff to do cell counts a few time but I keep getting cold feet when I see the final price. One of these days I will go for it.

I know there are people who have got dud packets it seems, but you would of thought WhiteLabs had done some testing to figure out how well shipping via USPS worked before offering the service to people. Your measurements seems to follow that assumption.
 
deere322 said:
Will these strains be available through home brew shops?
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I heard a rumor they were going to change the structure of the vault. It is not like there is a shortage of interesting yeasts out there, but I have been willing to buy some of the Vault strains...but really don't like the idea of a warm pack of yeast showing up on some random day a year or more from now. I would be more willing to buy them if they were on a seasonal schedule and I could pick them up at a local shop...or at least order them from a closer online retailer where I could plan a brew day around the yeast.

BTW, I saw somebody post info about a notice from Adventures in Homebrewing offering vault strains. Is this something new or has White Labs always had seasonal offerings? https://www.homebrewing.org/White-Labs-Vault-Yeast_c_274.html
 
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They've always done seasonal releases, they announce the schedule in a blog in January each year :
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whitelabs did get back to me and they had extra wlp009 and wlp059. My order is being sent via their normal 2 day service, a little more expensive but more predictable than USPS.

I am assuming they may have other vault strains available.
 
Found a message today (Friday July 12) in my spam that Chris White (the man himself) has handed over a package to USPS, Parcel Select Ground. Message was from CHRIS WHITE instead of White Labs like previous emails. This will be the WLP518 Opshaug Kveik Ale Yeast. My card was charged last Friday 7/5/19. Last time the package was also shipped on a Friday and was delivered the following Wednesday to Georgia in the condition that we all have come to expect for these mid summer shipments. I also spoke awhile back to Omega about whether the Kveik strains might withstand summer shipping better than conventional yeasts and they would not commit to whether that might be the case, so fingers crossed.
 
I got an email stating it was shipping today, of course there is no information on tracking. What the hell are they thinking pushing all the Vault orders in the summer?
 
Hoppy2bmerry said:
I got an email stating it was shipping today, of course there is no information on tracking. What the hell are they thinking pushing all the Vault orders in the summer?
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Well it is coming from California where they also have 'gas taxes', 'excise taxes' and then 'sales taxes' all on fuel but never fix the roads so you end up spending more money repairing your vehicles and the prices of everything else that is shipped cost more to cover these higher fuel related taxes. Shipping yeast in the summer just means you'll need to buy more yeast to replace the yeast that gets cooked.
 
Mutant said:
Well it is coming from California where they also have 'gas taxes', 'excise taxes' and then 'sales taxes' all on fuel but never fix the roads so you end up spending more money repairing your vehicles and the prices of everything else that is shipped cost more to cover these higher fuel related taxes. Shipping yeast in the summer just means you'll need to buy more yeast to replace the yeast that gets cooked.
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I think that if the yeast is not viable when I get it I’ll want my money back/make a PO claim.
 
I contacted WL three separate times after I got my cooked yeast to complain and given suggestions for improvement (obviously ignored). And each time, the email ended with an offer to send me a replacement vial overnight. Perhaps this is some kind of very inefficient scheme to kill yeast? Sure enough, latest vial is being shipped via tortoise service with temps in the mid '90s across the nation. I have to believe management knows what they are doing. This is what we told ourselves in DOD when ordering the $900 hammers.
 
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I've gotten two of my five strains so far. I was able to nurse both back with starters and both have fermented out fine. One of them is a lager strain so I figure if it could survive the shipping temps I'll be okay with the rest. I didn't do counts straight out of the vial unfortunately. I did finally put the plates I did last week under the microscope and so far everything is looking good.
IMG_20190713_160149_000.jpeg
 
Chris White emailed me on 12 July, but USPS tracking only shows that shipping labels were printed. Not that anything has been shipped.

This morning got a separate note that Opshaug has been released from the vault, and my past experience is I'll get this about 3 weeks later.

Anyone have an Opshaug recipe?
 
kmarkstevens said:
Chris White emailed me on 12 July, but USPS tracking only shows that shipping labels were printed. Not that anything has been shipped.

This morning got a separate note that Opshaug has been released from the vault, and my past experience is I'll get this about 3 weeks later.

Anyone have an Opshaug recipe?
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I don't think the tracking info ever got updated, part of the crappy USPS Parcel Select service they use. But I did get notified with Informed Delivery on the morning of the day of delivery. Since they did give us a tracking number, it may be possible to ask for it to be held at the post office if the mailbox is going to be a problem. I recently got two emails with two separate tracking numbers this time and I only had one vault order in.
 
My shipping label was printed out last Friday 7/12/19, but it appears actual shipping of WLP518 Opshaug is happening now, got another email from Chris White yesterday (7/17/19) to that effect. Last time it was shipped out on a Friday, I got it Wednesday, so mid next week is the ticket. I think I'm going to request that they hold it at the post office so as to not be having to hang out at the mailbox in bathrobe and slippers waiting for the mailman/woman.


Hmmm....I actually got two different tracking numbers, one on Friday and one on Monday, but I only had one yeast in the vault! We'll see how this develops...
 
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kmarkstevens said:
What's up with that BS? Chris White is ghosting me or something. Bastard never writes anymore...
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My theory is that he is too busy doing research into how to kill yeast using inefficient shipping services or shipping during historic-level heat waves. There are a number of variables to consider here if you want to optimize yeast fatality rates, though I'll admit he has done a pretty good job at it to date. I anticipate the development of even slower shipping times using linear programming techniques that predict peak shipping times by other vendors such as Amazon (Prime Day, anyone?) and inserting the packages into the process to ensure the longest possible lag time between actual shipment date and receipt. I wouldn't rule out a program whereas high school students on their summer break are recruited to insert barriers and tripping hazards between customer doors and the mailbox to further extend shipping times. The guy is smart and resourceful, I'll give him credit there.
 
my order of wlp025 Southwold ale was in the mailbox for about hour (mailman was early on tuesday) before I received the email from Chris White that the order had shipped. The tracking link in the email did let me know the mail was early so a late email was still helpful.

4 days in transit with a final vial temp of 80F. I put the vial in the fridge and did a starter the next day with it. It was starting to foam on top in 3 hours. Yeast growth seems normal today after about 18hours.
 
I also got my wlp025 Southwold today...5 days in transit to South Florida. Quite warm but chilled in fridge and made a starter this afternoon. It was warm from the mailbox but seems to be doing well already. My wlp006 (Bedford) was similar and seemed to thrive. So maybe not so serious a problem...( I haven't brewed with either yet, though).
 
Most yeast will continue to ferment in the 80 or higher so they can survive those temps while active you would think they can or should be able to survive a higher temp while in a dormant state like they are in the vials. It probably shortens the shelf life some as the best use by date is for cool storage.

The viability of the two samples @bierhaus15 posted where both in the 90s, but I do recall seeing people have bad vials too maybe it is still a crap shoot as how your vial was handled.
 
It is worth noting that most ale yeasts can ferment maltose up to 37C (98F) and that is one test used to distinguish ale v. lager; they tend to start to die off at 120F and are completely killed by 140F.

That said, viability at elevated temps is short and is dependent on glycogen reserves. Boulton shows most stored yeast depleting their glycogen reserves by day 8 when stored at >68F and viability starts to drop significantly after that. Even though I got high viability in the vials, given the duration and temp of shipping, I'd imagine the yeast are pretty starved. I would not store hot-shipped vials for long after you receive them.
 
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bierhaus15 said:
It is worth noting that most ale yeasts can ferment maltose up to 37C (98F) and that is one test used to distinguish ale v. lager; they tend to start to die off at 120F and are completely killed by 140F.

That said, viability at elevated temps is short and is dependent on glycogen reserves. Boulton shows most stored yeast depleting their glycogen reserves by day 8 when stored at >68F and viability starts to drop significantly after that. Even though I got high viability in the vials, given the duration and temp of shipping, I'd imagine the yeast are pretty starved. I would not store hot-shipped vials for long after you receive them.
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How long do you think would be a safe amount of time to store the vials before making a starter?

In the past I have pretty much made a starter within a day or two of getting the vials, but if I get a few at once I am not sure I will be able to do that.

I plan to slant the vault yeasts, if the yeast is potentially depleted of reserves would be better to slant from the starter vs from the vial slurry?

I know there is potential for contamination by using the starter as the source but the yeast would be better shape.
 
Chris White doesn't write but he did deliver on the Opshaug yeast. Just checked the mailbox and it landed sometime in the past 24 hours along with an ice pack. Given that between san Diego and Seattle, it hasn't exceed 80F, I think this should be fine to toss in the fridge and fire up in a few weeks when the thermometer breaks 80F here in Seattle.

No word on the other 4 yeasties I have on order from the vault purge. I was charged on 9 July for English ales: 13, 17, 26 and 85. I have an English AK ready to go tomorrow, so hopefully a Saturday delivery is in my cards. Otherwise, the back up plan is Southwold from my yeast library.

Opshaug yeast vial.jpg
 
ba-brewer said:
How long do you think would be a safe amount of time to store the vials before making a starter?
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It's hard to know exactly, but I'd use them within a month, or two at the most, if they they were shipped hot. Regardless, you should definitely be making stirred, oxygenated starters with these yeasts. I am also slanting these yeast; my process is to pull a loopful of slurry from the vial, propagate in 10 ml sterile wort tubes and make slants from that. I am also plating the yeast to check the colonies, but that is not really necessary.
 
Thanks @bierhaus15. I did my slants from the vial slurry, but a little starter seems like it would be a better starting point from a possible compromised vials.

I do the small 10mL starter for re-slanting as I think I read something in the yeast book about using yeast that had been propagated in wort.
 
Has anyone received their vials of WLP665, WLP611 or WLP076 from the Vault clearance? I never received a shipping notification for those. All of the other orders have arrived.

I did email White Labs for an update. Have not heard back yet.
 
I ordered 9 vault strains, and I am still waiting on 5 strains (WLP022, WLP026, WLP033, WLP038, and WLP076); I have been charged for these remaining five but have not received any information from Chris White/White Labs since the charge.

Now of course I leave for vacation for 10 days next week-- probably exactly when these things will arrive, Murphy's Law and all that!

Quite frustrated now really... the first five strains I thought got to me in a fairly expeditious manner, all things considered. These last four though...

Edit: actually only received 4 of 9 strains so far! Also, I emailed white labs and zero communication/update as of this moment.
 
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I talked to a CSR at White Labs earlier this evening. Their next target for shipping Vault orders is 7/29. I do not know if that is all remaining orders. WLP076 is on the list to ship on or around 7/29. Over all they are back logged with Vault orders. Their exact words were "Trying to get them all out is a little much :)"
 

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