Accidentally froze yeast, thinking about still using it in a low gravity beer

[BuckettOfBeer]

So I wasn't thinking and threw a packet of Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale into my freezer. It sat there over night and froze solid. I took it out, thawed it, and smacked the pack. It inflated a little bit but I don't trust it completely.

Rather than toss it I'm thinking about just using it for a low gravity extract beer. Is this a good idea or should I just abandon the yeast? Also any recipe ideas that this yeast would work with?

 

[BryceL]

You should make a small starter before pitching it. This way you will know for sure if your yeast is still viable or not.

 

[IXVolt]

As Bryce said, it would be good to proof the yeast to know if it's still viable before you use it. Or at least have a backup pack you can fall back to.

 

[BuckettOfBeer]

I've never made a starter before. Do I need flasks and a stir plate?

 

[badhabit]

All you need is a loosely covered jar larger than the size of the starter. Just shake or swirl the jar as frequently as you can over the course of about 24 hours. You should see the yeast start to grow. I froze some White Lab yeast at one time. White Labs say that as long as you did not freeze the entire thing solid you will have some viable yeast. If you got some growth in your Wyeast pack is sounds like you are OK but would need to grow what you have in a starter.

 

[rjwhite41]

You can do it a sanitized jug (as posted above) or a carboy (or bucket/better bottle, whatever you use). Just shake it as often as you can to introduce more oxygen. By the way, I saw a post like this last year and told the guy the yeast would never be any good. He made a starter and had no problems at all with it. Starters are easy, go for it and make whatever beer you planned to brew to begin with.

 

[BuckettOfBeer]

Thanks for all the replies guys! I'll be back to update.

 

[dcott]

Yeast are amazing organisms.

If a human were frozen solid, he or she would be useless the next day. Yeast, on the other hand, keep on trucking. As previously mentioned, get a starter going, maybe even a stepped starter (a starter into a second starter the next day), and your little guys and gals should be loving life.

 

[BuckettOfBeer]

Just here to give some closure on this thread. I made a liter starter in a growler and swirled it as much as I could. Pitched it on brew day, gravity dropped down just fine, and I'm currently drinking the resulting tasty brown ale! Thanks, guys.