Is my yeast still good?

[landrer]

I received a recipe kit from Northern Brewer and put the box in the shelf. After about a week I realized that there was yeast and hops that should be in the fridge. Did I damage the yeast?

 

[dlester]

If it is dry yeast, your probably fine. However, make a "starter yeast" a few days before your brew and there you will find out if it is good or not. Brewing day is a lot of work, so don't leave it to chance, do the starter.

 

[kypher]

If it's dry yeast, which I presume it is, you're fine. Most homebrew shops won't bother refrigerating dry yeasts anyway, so it's likely all good. As long as the hops are vacuum sealed it would be a stretch for them to be in any way spoiled, too, I think.

 

[landrer]

The yeast is a Wyeast smack pack.

 

[Revvy]

Make a starter,, you should be making one anyway for any beer above 1.020, but making a starter will also let you know if your yeast is viable or not.

 

[kypher]

Hmm...well. Then definitely do a starter a couple days before brewing to make sure the yeast is active. If it's an ale yeast, I certainly wouldn't worry too awfully much about it, but if it's a lager yeast I might be a little more concerned. I wouldn't suspect any problem with that, but just make sure to give yourself a little time to get new yeast if that pack won't go.

 

[dlester]

I just recently picked up two wyeast smack packs that wouldn't grow. They were outdated and mostly dead yeast. However, I made a starter and grew the good yeast to make an adequate yeast for a lager. The starter is the key to old yeast, big gravity beers and lagers.

 

[landrer]

Thanks for the replies.