Old WLP051 or US-05/S-04

[wherestheyeast]

I'm brewing a NBB Mighty Arrow clone right now as a 2.5 gallon batch & didn't realize that the WLP051 I bought expires 4/12/13. I plugged that into mrmalty.com and found that it only has 18% viability, which means I should've done a starter. I didn't.

But, I have a fresh pack of US-05 or S-04 available.

Suggestions on what to do?

 

[IPA-Hole]

+1 on the starter but you might be ok. When did you pitch it? Any activity? You may want ot give it up to 72 hours then hit it with the 05 if not bubbling.

Don't worry.....

 

[mkeckjr]

Not sure what New Belgium uses for this. The Anchor strain (051) is a bit more fruity at high 60s temps than Chico (US-05). I think I would probably pitch the Chico instead of the 051 if you want to guarantee the batch gets a good fermentation, but then again, it's only 2.5 G with a subpar one. In any case, if you pitch the 051, and don't see activity, I wouldn't wait 72 hrs to hit it with Chico, I'd say more like 36. 72 hrs, in my experience, if the wort is higher than 50 F, is enough time for minor sanitation flaws to result in a wild fermentation.

However, IPA-Hole is right, don't worry bout it.

 

[wherestheyeast]

I was in the middle of brewing when I realized the expiry date was so close. I would've done a starter had I paid attention

In any case, I split the difference:

I pitched the vial of 4 month old WLP051 and 3 grams of US-05.

We'll see how the fermentation goes.

-WTY