Can I (should I), wash a yeast cake thats been in the fridge 6 weeks?

[boswell]

This is a cake from a simple english pale ale recipe using the NB Neobrittania yeast. I didn't even have a chance to wash it, hospital stay screwed up those plans. So this is the whole cake, trub and all, under a nice layer of beer in a sanitized jar.

Is it worth washing/using? I really enjoy the yeast, clean flocc'd well, finished fast.

 

[adam01]

I would say its worth a shot...
6 wks is not that long. You'll want more yeast than for fresh.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Give it a shot! Wash it and make a starter... if the starter works then you're in business!

 

[rjsnau]

I say wash it and then make a starter. Crash the starter and decant into a glass. Taste the decanted "beer" and see how it tastes. If decent then you can just dump the yeast into your beer or make another starter when ready to really build up the cell counts.

 

[boswell]

I'll give it a shot, see if a starter takes off, doesn't smell weird. I'm fairly certain that the yeast is in great shape, but with $4 s-04, its hard to invest the time, I know most use up washed yeast in 2-3 weeks. We'll see what happens, in the name of science/gaining knowledge.

 

[Seven]

I'd wash that.

 

[boswell]

Word? I'd watch and film if you're into it.

 

[Revvy]

If you make a starter, then the age of a yeast isn't really an issue. When you make a starter, and grow it, you're replicating more yeast to make up for any loss. You're making new, fresh yeast.

Bobby M did a test on year old stored yeast here; https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/testing-limits-yeast-viability-126707/

And my LHBS cells outdated tubes and packs of yeast dirt cheap 2-3 dollars each and I usually grab a couple tubes of belgian or other interesting yeast when I am there and shove it in my fridge. and I have never had a problem with one of those tubes.

I usually make a starter but I once pitched a year old tube of Belgian High Gravity yeast directly into a 2.5 gallon batch of a Belgian Dark Strong, and after about 4 days it took off beautifully.
The purpose of a starter is to reproduce any viable cells in a batch of yeast....that;s how we can grow a starter form the dregs in a bottle of beer incrementally...and that beer may be months old.

Even if you have a few still living cells, you can grow them....That's how we can harvest a huge starter (incrementally) from the dregs in a bottle of some commercial beers. You take those few living cells and grow them into more.

 

[boswell]

Thank you for the detailed reply, and the thread. I assumed as much, and I'll use the malty site as well. May wash, make one big starter, use for my partigyle (coming soon) brewday. I really like this yeast (granted I haven't tried as many as most), clean, less fruity than s-04, seems less ester-y, so IMO almost like an american ale yeast with a little more malt. It was handled correctly, and only 3 oz of hops in a 1.040 beer, so should be very viable.