Strangeness in yeast propagation..

[sherwicf]

Hi all. 6 months ago I won 15 vials of yeast from a homebrew website and I ordered all 15 straight away. Unfortunately life got in the way a little and 1 house move and renovation and 1 baby later, I've finally gotten around to using them.

As I only brew once per month I've tried to keep as much yeast alive as possible(but some of the vials are 3+ months out of date). My method of prorogation is to get a 2L starter, 200g of DME and put it on a stirrer for 3 days. Cold crash and then fill vials with the bottom 200ml

I would say my sanitary practices are good so I'm a just a little worried/concerned by the photo attached. Looks to me to be trub on the bottom with a line of good healthy yeast? Or is it dead yeast on the bottom? It's WLP051 - California V

TLR - Does the yeast in the vial look at all strange? Seems like the bottom is crud and then 1 line of healthy looking yeast?

 

[IslandLizard]

Does that vial contain yeast before or after the starter?

2 liter at 1.040 is a bit high. I start weaker/old yeast with 500ml 1.030 wort for a few days until I see evidence of growth (the starter gets lighter, creamier in color). Cold crash, decant and ramp up to 2 liter @1.040.

Sometimes you can separate the live yeast from the dead yeast by running a starter for a day (or 2 if needed), let it sit for 5-20 minutes, depending on the yeast, then pour the liquid off into a mason jar for keeps, leaving the dead yeast behind. You could repeat that once if you want to save and grow more yeast from the dark slurry, or just toss it and grow from the mason jar.