Fermentis Safale US-05 Date of Manufacture

[ThaOthaWhtMeat]

I am trying to figure out the date of manufacture for a packet of Safale US-05 and everything online says to subtract two years from the "best by" date. I am slightly confused because the printed information on the packet reads as follows:

02 2020
29661 045 2032

I assume the first line is the "best by" date but if I subtract two years that makes the date of manufacture February 2018..... it's November 2017...

Am I missing something here? Can anyone provide some insight as to what the date of manufacture may be for this yeast based on the information provided above?

 

[Smellyglove]

I think they've upped the BBF by one year not long time ago. I'm not sure though, but I've seen the same thing. Suddenly all of our Fermentis-boxes from the distributer at the lhbs I work at had + one year BBF date comparing to a year ago.

 

[MaxStout]

I just checked the best by on the US-05 in my fridge that I bought only a month ago. Yikes! It says 09 2018. It was packaged 2 years ago! Maybe someone pushed the older packets to the front of the box in the LHBS cooler. I really need to do some cherry-picking next time I buy yeast.

 

[Smellyglove]

I just checked the best by on the US-05 in my fridge that I bought only a month ago. Yikes! It says 09 2018. It was packaged 2 years ago! Maybe someone pushed the older packets to the front of the box in the LHBS cooler. I really need to do some cherry-picking next time I buy yeast.

Why do you want to do some cherry-picking? The pack expires next year?

 

[RM-MN]

I just checked the best by on the US-05 in my fridge that I bought only a month ago. Yikes! It says 09 2018. It was packaged 2 years ago! Maybe someone pushed the older packets to the front of the box in the LHBS cooler. I really need to do some cherry-picking next time I buy yeast.

Maybe not. Dry yeast has an expiration date but works fine much past that date. It doesn't degrade very quickly.

 

[MaxStout]

Why do you want to do some cherry-picking? The pack expires next year?

Why buy yeast that's been on the shelf 2 years when I could buy yeast that's fresher? I want to give my beer every advantage I can.

 

[jfolks]

Fermentis staff told me in 2015 (at NHC) that they were about to increase the reported shelf life to 3 years. I believe all new packets now have this timeframe printed on them. The problem is it can be unclear which timeframe a given packet is referencing (obviously if 2 years from expiration date is in the future, then it’s a new pack with a 3 year date on it)

 

[Smellyglove]

Why buy yeast that's been on the shelf 2 years when I could buy yeast that's fresher? I want to give my beer every advantage I can.

Good point. I've always just checked for expiry date. But I think you'll be lucky if you find two different expiry dates at the store. I would think they put the yeast with the closest expiry date on the shelves, keeping the younger yeast elsewhere.

 

[MaxStout]

Good point. I've always just checked for expiry date. But I think you'll be lucky if you find two different expiry dates at the store. I would think they put the yeast with the closest expiry date on the shelves, keeping the younger yeast elsewhere.

At the LHBS I go to, it's FIFO, so the older packets are in the front, like milk in the grocery coolers. I've never seen any expired yeast there, the store is pretty good about keeping stock well rotated. But it's not unusual to find packs that are several months newer just by digging a bit.