10 Mins From Pitching, Dark Chunks in Yeast Vial...

[Ashevillain]

Hey quick question, has anyone ever experienced dark particulate in their white labs yeast vials? I just noticed right before about to pitch that there are a lot of small dark chunks in a platinum strain of yeast. Is this ok?

Any help appreciated!

 

[Ashevillain]

Melbourne wlp059, heres a pic. Can run to lhbs for more yeast if needed.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I'd be skeptical of using it.

 

[Ashevillain]

Pitched it! We will see what happens. My dude at the LHBS says he has xp with this yeast and has seen this before not to worry.

 

[Konadog]

Someone else reported some black specks in there yeast here recently, but I think it was in the new pure pitch pack, and I forget what yeast it was.

 

[SanPancho]

If i recall its dead yeast. If its on top or on bottom it darkens. Was told that by folks at whit kabs some time ago, might be missing some details but that was the gist.

 

[IslandLizard]

Why didn't you make a starter first? That vial is almost 6 months old...

Regarding those dark spots, maybe it's part of the cultivation/propagation medium. However, I've never seen them in yeast I've bought from any company.

I would email that picture to WL so they can shine some light on it. They're usually very responsive, and stand behind their products a full 100%.

 

[Lefou]

Viable yeast specimens in liquid packs shouldn't be brown or black....it should be a creamy off-white color.

 

[GoeHaarden]

I had some WLP800 that looked just like that recently, but it was over 3 months old so I got 2 for 1 at the LHBS. Also, stepped it up to a 1 gallon starter and it fermented just fine. However, like everyone else has stated I wouldn't take the chance on older yeast without a starter.

 

[bierhaus15]

I made a starter with the same yeast yesterday and noticed the same thing. I looked at a few of the spots under a microscope and it looks to be burnt or charred material from the starter medium, although the specs in mine were darker. Yeast took right off though.