5 years old dry yeast

[Tiroux]

Hey!

Somebody gave me about 200g of Nottingham dry yeast dated from 2008. I would not even try to ferment a beer with it, since, you know, a new pack is so cheap, and anyways, I'm really on White Labs these days.

But, it could be useful for bottle condition (I began to add some fresh yeast at bottling recently) or some experiments of some sort.

Do you think it's still viable? It have been repacked in 1oz vacuum sealed packages, stored in a fridge the whole time.

I will probably open a package and wake it up in a starter to see what's going on, but I was curious to hear thoughts on that.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Frige]

My vote its dead as a doornail lol. But hey ya never know. I wonder what the beer would taste like?

 

[Hogarthe]

you can add it to the boil as yeast nutrient, if it doesn't have enough viability to ferment. you could make a small batch and pitch a couple grams in just to test if it works, which I would do as a first step.

 

[GrogNerd]

test it out in a starter. if it wakes up and doesn't taste or smell like feet or a$$, no reason not to use it

 

[Frige]

test it out in a starter. if it wakes up and doesn't taste or smell like feet or a$$, no reason not to use it

Or could just call it stinky ass ale :cross:

 

[goodgodilovebeer]

Wait until spring and release it into the wilds of Quebec

 

[GrogNerd]

Or could just call it stinky ass ale :cross:

that's gonna have to be my next brew

 

[Tiroux]

I'll try it in a starter. If if does great, I will use it for bottle condition.
If not, I'll use it in the boil for nutrients.

 

[midfielder5]

I bet it would ferment beer just fine. Dry yeast is hardy.... for example:

A guy won a mini-comp I was in w/ dry Notty that was 5 years past expiration date. Look for Reaper's Mild in the HBT database (english brown ale cat) if you don't believe me
He took first in our side mini-comp and the HBT comp.

 

[Calder]

If the yeast has been stored in the fridge, it is fine. The date on the pack figures the yeast has been stored at room temp. Supposedly (per White and Zainasheff in 'Yeast'), dry yeast looses 5% viability per year when stored at fridge temperatures. So 5 years, that is 20% loss of viability.

If you use it to bottle, rehydrate it first. During the rehydrating process you will see if it is active.

Caution: Notty is a pretty aggressive strain, it may ferment sugars your primary strain didn't resulting in over-carb'd beers.

 

[Tiroux]

Caution: Notty is a pretty aggressive strain, it may ferment sugars your primary strain didn't resulting in over-carb'd beers.

Yhea I'm aware. If I doubt it may be more attenuative than my first year, I pitch it a few days before bottling to make sure.