Yeast - Bad or No?

[Kulprit]

Ok so this is our fourth brew day - and just when I thought I could move up from posting in the beginners forum I come to this confusion.

The problem starts with the fact that we bought these two kits months ago and unfortunately due to crazy schedules we haven't been able to use them (Probably something like 4-5 months ago) I have stored the yeast vials (liquid yeast) in my fridge since the day they arrived from AHS

So on friday I am all excited to make the starters and I shake up the yeast vial for our Saisson beer to get all the yeast mixed and off the vial and when I open the vial it sort of explodes like a shaken soda can - and it smells really bad like skunked beer.

Now when I did this 20 mins before with the Hefe yeast this didn't happen. No explosion and no skunky smell.

So anyways the starters have been sitting at room temp (~70ish) since friday evening - and it's sunday morning now - I have great activity from the Hefe and she's ready to go for today's brew - but I am seeing little to no action from the Saisson.

Now I know beer is pretty hardy and more then likely I need to just relax and have fun - but I am curious if this is normal - is a saisson yeast always fragrant and slow starting etc?

We plan to brew the batch and pitch they yeast anyways as we don't fear a bad batch - we do it for the fun - but anything we can do to assure success would be good as well.

And lets say the yeast is bad - and we see no action after a week in the primary - would I be able to order another vial of the yeast and when it arrives pitch it without the taste of the beer being ruined?


Thanks for the time guys.

 

[Reno Homebrewer]

Saison Yeasts should have a peppery/spicy aroma, and normally take off quickly if the temperature is on the warmer side. I would be suspect of this tube.

 

[Brett0424]

Well, you did the right thing by making a starter. Saison and hefe yeasts are both known for quick starts (although saisons sometimes crap out early). If it was pressurized it means that at some point the yeast warmed up, got to the nutrient in the vial and went to town. If they did this 4-5 months ago you may have a problem. If they did it that day then you should be fine. Pitching new yeast later won't hurt anything as long as the wort doesn't get real oxidized or infected in that time frame.

 

[Kulprit]

Well I woke up this morning to two carboys full of activity. In fact the Roggin Bier (Hefe yeast) overflowed out the airlock - first time that has happened to me. The saisson is fermenting away just fine.

Not sure why it didn't take in the start as it sat for like 40 hours with barely any activity - then in the carboy it takes off in less then 12.

So despite the mess from the Hefe we were really happy to have two new batches to look forward too.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Well I woke up this morning to two carboys full of activity. In fact the Roggin Bier (Hefe yeast) overflowed out the airlock - first time that has happened to me. The saisson is fermenting away just fine.

Not sure why it didn't take in the start as it sat for like 40 hours with barely any activity - then in the carboy it takes off in less then 12.

So despite the mess from the Hefe we were really happy to have two new batches to look forward too.

The carboy could have been warmer. Saisons will start quick, but will thrive in higher temps. If you can, get that bad boy up to 80+ degrees to really get the peppery notes out of it.

Additionally, this is why most people make starters from older yeast. Your cell count could have been really low in that vial due to age and when you made the starter, you woke up what was still alive and you gave it enough room to grow.

 

[Austin_]

A similar thing happened to me last week. My yeast (White Labs 060 American Ale) sat in a UPS truck over the holiday weekend. The minute I got the order in I made a starter fearing that the yeast had been hurt in the heat. The starter didn't do anything for 2 1/2 days, but, like you, I decided to pitch it anyways. It took off within a couple of hours and is just now slowing down.

I think it had actually started, but I just couldn't tell. I don't have a proper starter vessel and noticed that my plug and airlock would fit perfectly in to a a gallon milk jug. I sanitized that puppy and made the starter in it. After a little research, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I wasn't able to see the effects of fermentation because the surface area of the starter was so large.

 

[david_42]

Growing yeast doesn't produce much CO2. It's only when it runs out of oxygen and/or nutrients that it switches to producing alcohol and a lot of CO2. Ideally, a starter gives the yeast plenty of both, so you'll end up with greatly multiplied cells counts.

 

[Kulprit]

Cool - I love reading that I did something right - haha.

These two beers should be a nice switch from the usual ales we have been making - one is the saisson and the other is a roggen bier? That roggen is using a hefe yeast so it should be interesting.