I have a vial of 4 month past expire White Labs yeast, and I was just wondering if I should skip it and use dry yeast or give it a go. Other than it not working, is there anything bad that can happen as a result? I was thinking use it, if it doesn't work after a couple days, use the dry yeast. Any problems with it? Thanks!
Expired Yeast
- Thread starter Bordy
- Start date
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Depends how fast you need. If I were going to use expired yeast I would make a small starter say about 500ml then step it up from there. But that can take a few days. If your short on time just go with dry. And save the liquid yeast for another time.
Brewskii
Well-Known Member
Always do a starter.
As long as you do, you're assured there will be no problems and, even if the yeast health in the vial is poor, it won't be after the growth phase of a properly made starter.
That said; I've made several starters from vials well past their expiration date and never had an issue. I would not direct pitch a vial of yeast past its age if the beer was important to me (which is all of them
)
As long as you do, you're assured there will be no problems and, even if the yeast health in the vial is poor, it won't be after the growth phase of a properly made starter.
That said; I've made several starters from vials well past their expiration date and never had an issue. I would not direct pitch a vial of yeast past its age if the beer was important to me (which is all of them
)Thanks for the suggestions, I went with the dry yeast because I've never done a starter and am not sure if I had what I needed for one. I'll keep the White Labs in the fridge and maybe use it for the next batch. Now I'm dealing with with my airlock overflowing due to very active fermentation.
