The "Use by Date" on White Labs Yeast

[user 213331]

I just noted that a tube of White Labs Belgian Ale yeast that I was planning to use tomorrow indicates "Use by 10-13-2015".

Do these Use by Dates have a forgiveness period, i.e., 10 days, 14, days, etc.? Or should I toss this yeast and get a new vial?

 

[day_trippr]

The "Use By" date is four months from manufacture.
With that information you can use a "yeast calculator" to determine the likely viability - and whether it's worth building up to a solid pitch.

fwiw, there are plenty of threads where folks resurrected year-old yeast stores.
Indeed, right now I have a 3 liter starter going as the final step bringing back some wlp099 from last February...

Cheers!

[edit] fwiw, the calculator I linked shows a 15% viability for 120 day old yeast, and using Chris White's stirplate algorithm would require a 1L step followed by a 2L step to build up to a suitable pitch for 5.5g of typical ale...

 

[MaddBaggins]

I would make a starter, but that means no brewing tomorrow. It's still gonna have viable cells, but not enough to pitch without the starter.

 

[flars]

Go ahead and use it. There will be viable yeast a year after the use by date, but a starter will absolutely be required for any beer. Starters are usually required with fresh yeast also, unless your estimated OG is less than 1.040.

Good starter/pitch rate calculator to use.
http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

 

[RM-MN]

Use that yeast calculator and then read this article on yeast viability by WoodlandBrews. They seem to not correlate very well.

http://www.woodlandbrew.com/2012/12/refrigeration-effects-on-yeast-viability.html

Then read this experiment on yeast pitch rate. Note well the amount of yeast used for each batch. With the amount of yeast pitched the results should have been very different according to pitch rate calculators.

http://sciencebrewer.com/2012/03/02/pitching-rate-experiment-part-deux-results/

Then consider that Gordon Strong, a Ninkasi award winner who should know beer, has said that he often pitches a single smack pack into his lagers. What does he know that allows a single smack pack when the calculators would call for a 2 to 3 liter starter.

 

[MaxStout]

Then consider that Gordon Strong, a Ninkasi award winner who should know beer, has said that he often pitches a single smack pack into his lagers. What does he know that allows a single smack pack when the calculators would call for a 2 to 3 liter starter.

I know you like to bandy that little factoid about. But remember:

anecdote /= data​

Just sayin'.

 

[user 213331]

Thanks for the advice. I just ordered a yeast starter kit with a 1L flask.

I use mostly White Labs Yeast (tube with the yeast cake in it) and will just be making the starter to activate the yeast and get it going a couple of days before the pitch.

In the past, I have just let the tube of yeast warm up for about eight hours to about 72F, mixed it well and pitched it right into the wort, also at 72F and well shaken before and after the pitch. I usually get very active bubbling in about 18 hours and good krausen start by 24 - 36 hours.

Think, I will do that tomorrow but will pitch the Use by 10/13/2015 yeast tube and the new tube that I purchased today. That way I can still be on schedule for the Belgian Ale.

 

[MaddBaggins]

Thanks for the advice. I just ordered a yeast starter kit with a 1L flask.

I use mostly White Labs Yeast (tube with the yeast cake in it) and will just be making the starter to activate the yeast and get it going a couple of days before the pitch.

In the past, I have just let the tube of yeast warm up for about eight hours to about 72F, mixed it well and pitched it right into the wort, also at 72F and well shaken before and after the pitch. I usually get very active bubbling in about 18 hours and good krausen start by 24 - 36 hours.

Think, I will do that tomorrow but will pitch the Use by 10/13/2015 yeast tube and the new tube that I purchased today. That way I can still be on schedule for the Belgian Ale.

Years ago I did the same thing. Just pitch the vial. Then I took a class at my local HB shop on all grain. The instructor stressed the importance of starters. Been doing them ever since. Until this week, I was just doing 2L starters in a growler and agitating it every time I walked by it. Now, I have a stir plate. Made my first starter on it a few days ago.

 

[RM-MN]

I know you like to bandy that little factoid about. But remember:

anecdote /= data​

Just sayin'.

That factoid is to make people think about what they are doing and why they are doing it. If Gordon Strong can make a lager with only a single smack pack that is acceptable to his palette, why are the rest of us struggling with a large starter. What does he do differently? I'm pretty sure the answer isn't that he liked to drink swill.

 

[user 213331]

Just did my first brew with a yeast starter and all the advice regarding yeast starters was spot on.

Purchased the Stirstarter Stir Plate that was recommended and a 2L flask and gave it a shot on a Porter batch.

Wow!

Thanks!

 

[MaddBaggins]

Awesome! My brewing really leapt forward when I began making starters.