70 Day Old American Ale Yeast Blend - Starter or Toss 'er

[GHawk]

I've got some 70 day old WLP060 in the fridge.
I have good sanitation practices and the yeast cake looks very clean, free of debris under a layer of clear beer.
Should I make a starter for another brew day or toss the lot?

 

[catdaddy66]

I'd starter.

 

[GHawk]

I remember reading a long time back that anything over a few months needs to be flushed. This batch is pushing it....
catdaddy66,
A one step starter?

 

[catdaddy66]

I only say do it because not doing it will cost you $5-10 for new yeast, depending on whether you choose liquid or dry yeast. If it's liquid then you will probably need a starter anyway, unless you have a beer with OG below 1.060. I have successfully made starters with yeast 6-12 months old with great results. You would likely only need one step if you have a low gravity beer.

To me it's worth it to try before you buy.

 

[catdaddy66]

When I buy new yeast strains at my lhbs it usually is older (ie discounted) packs.

 

[ProblemChild]

I have recently resurected some WY1056 for an IPA and WY1275 for an Imperial porter. Both were collected in January. Both were extremely viable and the starters were going well within 6 hours on each. 70 days is fine if collected properly and stored well.

 

[IslandLizard]

With yeast that's 2 months old, I'd make a 1.5-2 liter vitality starter with some of that slurry on brew day, or the night before. No cold crashing, no decanting, pitch the whole starter.

You need an estimate of how many cells are in your current slurry. Use Mr. Malty, pitching from slurry tab.

 

[carloslavin]

Trying to balance the scale here

I usually save the yeast/trub (no washing) of my batches in pint jars. I get three pint jars almost full, and after a couple days in the fridge a bit over half the jar is compacted yeast+trub.

I have had good results pitchig the whole jar after decanting most of the top layer of beer, sometimes having more than just a couple months on 'em (think I've gone up to six). Can't really say I have had any issue attributable to this. As always, YMMV. Usually save 3 generations before repitching new.

I do 3 gallon batches, so take that into consideration when considering how much I'm pitching. So let's say a bit over a cup of compacted yeast+trub per 3 gallon batch. And i almost always can see activity in less than 24 hours after pitching.

 

[GHawk]

Unusual..... I collected the yeast cake after kegging 4/28/18.

Mr Malty is calling this 10% viable
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

BrewUnited is stating 58%
http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

 

[GHawk]

Trying to balance the scale here

I usually save the yeast/trub (no washing) of my batches in pint jars. I get three pint jars almost full, and after a couple days in the fridge a bit over half the jar is compacted yeast+trub.

I have had good results pitchig the whole jar after decanting most of the top layer of beer, sometimes having more than just a couple months on 'em (think I've gone up to six). Can't really say I have had any issue attributable to this. As always, YMMV. Usually save 3 generations before repitching new.

I do 3 gallon batches, so take that into consideration when considering how much I'm pitching. So let's say a bit over a cup of compacted yeast+trub per 3 gallon batch. And i almost always can see activity in less than 24 hours after pitching.

This is exactly my process. I don't go overboard with washing yeast. I go overboard on sanitation and don't use yeast I dry hopped.
If you're using over a cup of slurry in a 3 gallon batch you may want to look at some calculators. That's seems like a lot of yeast.
Most of my batches repitch about 100ml if within 2 weeks. I sanitize a measuring cup (Pirex) and fill to MrMalty specs of ml needed.
Like you said, though, YMMV if it ain't broke don't fixit.

 

[Sadu]

I would totally use this, if it smells normal and definitely with a starter. I keep a pack of dry yeast in the fridge at all times in case a repitched batch doesn't take off. I've only had issues twice and pitching the dry yeast fixed it. But mostly I've had good success with 2-6 month old slurry.

 

[IslandLizard]

Unusual..... I collected the yeast cake after kegging 4/28/18.

Mr Malty is calling this 10% viable
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

BrewUnited is stating 58%
http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

That makes no sense! Something is wrong with the viability calcs in the "repitching from slurry" tab in Mr. Malty. Yeast doesn't deteriorate that much (90%) in a trubby slurry over 2.3 months.

BrewUnited and Mr. Malty's first tab agree on 58% viability since 4/28/2018.
It tells me 229 billion cells needed for 5.5 gallons of 1.060 wort.
When I manually enter 58% viability into the "Repitching from Slurry" tab, 182 ml of yeast slurry is needed. That sounds about right.

You can move the sliders around a bit to match your slurry's thickness and non-yeast %.

[phrasing edited for clarity]

 

[GHawk]

That makes no sense! Something is wrong with the viability calcs in the "repitching from slurry" tab in Mr. Malty. Yeast doesn't deteriorate that much (90%) in a trubby slurry over 2.3 months.

I don't think Jamil keeps up with his site much these days.