This yeast pack still viable for my next brew?

[Turfgrass]

Hey! I plan on brewing a New England IPA this weekend using Wyeast London Ale III that has a mfg date of May 2018. Can it still be used correctly or with a starter? My estimated starting gravity will be 1.064

Thanks for any advice.

 

[kh54s10]

This calculator says your yeast has 23% viability: http://www.yeastcalculator.com/

You should be making a starter with the liquid yeast anyway, so use the calculator to determine the size of starter needed.

 

[day_trippr]

The Brewer's Friend calculator says "It's Dead, Jim"
But I've resurrected stored/overbuilt starter yeast that was 11 months old in the jar, so I don't buy the 100% mortality thing.
Plan on at least one good sized starter and perhaps two steps...

Cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

This calculator says your yeast has 23% viability: http://www.yeastcalculator.com/

You should be making a starter with the liquid yeast anyway, so use the calculator to determine the size of starter needed.

That ^ as long as the yeast has been stored cold (fridge). You may need to give it a few days to a week on the stir plate. Once the starter turns light and creamy you know it's getting there. I'd give it another 24-36 hours after that point.

 

[Dog House Brew]

Just brewed a batch with resurrected 14 month old Kolsch yeast. It took 3 days to really get going in 800ml of 1.020 wort

 

[day_trippr]

Hah! Coincidently tonite I'm spinning up some 2565 from last May. Just got it on the 'plate...

Cheers!

 

[Turfgrass]

Hah! Coincidently tonite I'm spinning up some 2565 from last May. Just got it on the 'plate...

View attachment 596538

Cheers!

Mind sharing your steps? I’m pretty new to making beer/starters and the calculators doesn’t offer much when the viability is zero. I have a 1 and 2 liter flask.

 

[RM-MN]

Mind sharing your steps? I’m pretty new to making beer/starters and the calculators doesn’t offer much when the viability is zero. I have a 1 and 2 liter flask.

The yeast viability calculators make some assumptions that are not correct in all situations. Properly refrigerated yeast keeps far longer than the calculators show. Take a peek at this article.

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

 

[hottpeper13]

OH, that ones going to blow over. That yeast needs a blow off every time.

 

[BrewMan13]

Yeast are pretty hardy - you're fine. Just setup a properly sized starter and give it enough time to do its thing before brew day. I've used properly stored yeast that was nearly a year old, and it came back to life just fine.

 

[day_trippr]

OH, that ones going to blow over. That yeast needs a blow off every time.

~19 hours later and this step is pretty much done. 3 drops of Fermcap = zero drama...

Cheers!

 

[cactusgarrett]

OH, that ones going to blow over. That yeast needs a blow off every time.

I disagree. On a stirplate, i NEVER get a krausen on my starters; fermcap isn't even used.

 

[LittleRiver]

A few months ago a friend asked me if I had any US05. I told him yes, because I knew I had some in a jar in the back of the fridge. What I didn't remember was that I put that jar in there about 3 years ago -- it was almost black.

I went ahead and put a tablespoon of it into a starter, along with some yeast nutrient. After the first day on the stir plate I was not too hopeful, it was pretty dark and discolored. The second day I thought the color was changing, getting lighter? The third day there was no doubt, it was clearing up. It ended up making some perfectly healthy looking yeast, which he used to brew a brown ale, which came out fine.

 

[kh54s10]

I save yeast frozen with 5 ml glycerin, 5 ml yeast and 10 ml water. I have resurrected yeast as much as 6 years old. I do a 1.025 1/4 liter step. Then a 1.035 -1.040 .75 liter step. Then figure that as a fresh package of yeast. I then make a proper sized starter for the recipe. The first step doesn't create any krausen, the second usually foams to the foil. The third step usually shows no krausen. I have no idea why the second step does.

 

[Turfgrass]

I save yeast frozen with 5 ml glycerin, 5 ml yeast and 10 ml water. I have resurrected yeast as much as 6 years old. I do a 1.025 1/4 liter step. Then a 1.035 -1.040 .75 liter step. Then figure that as a fresh package of yeast. I then make a proper sized starter for the recipe. The first step doesn't create any krausen, the second usually foams to the foil. The third step usually shows no krausen. I have no idea why the second step does.

Any articles on how to go about the steps, or how do you go about it. all new to me. Thx

 

[Turfgrass]

~19 hours later and this step is pretty much done. 3 drops of Fermcap = zero drama...

View attachment 596589

Cheers!

Did you activate the smack pack for a period of time first or just add straight to the starter?

 

[day_trippr]

No smack pack smacking. This started with yeast grown in May 2018 that's been sitting in the fridge...

Cheers!

 

[kh54s10]

Any articles on how to go about the steps, or how do you go about it. all new to me. Thx

I can't find the thread or article that got me started, but a Google search brought up a lot of hits.

I make 4 vials from a starter of a yeast I want to save. I make the original starter a little bigger than needed for the beer I am brewing. This give me the yeast for freezing. If I made another 4 vials each time I used one, for just 4 generations, I would have yeast for 256 brews. Right now I am making new vials from the last vial so in 4 generations I get 17 brews from the purchase of one pack of yeast.

I boil a cup of water. Sanitize my vials, a measuring syringe, etc. Some use a little oil lamp to create an up draft to work next to in an effort to keep bacteria etc away. I work next to a range burner.

I settled on 25% Glycerin, 25% yeast and 50% water. I saw some other ratios.

Use the medicine syringe to suck up 5 ml glycerin and add that to each vial.
suck up 10 ml water and add to each vial.
suck up 5 ml yeast and add to each vial.
I use 20 ml vials, a lot of the articles made bigger vials.

Shake the vials to mix up the solution and put them in the refrigerator.
The next day shake them up to mix the solution well and put them in freezer. I have a styrofoam box that I surround with ice packs to counteract the defrost cycle of the freezer.

When I use them I put a vial on the counter so it thaws. When at room temperature I pitch that into a small 1.025 starter - about 1/4 liter. I let that run on a stirplate for a couple of days. I then make a .75 liter starter at about 1.035. Sometimes I add the 1/4 liter starter, sometimes I chill and decant the spent beer first. I run that for about 2 days. I then consider that as a fresh package of yeast and make an appropriate starter for my recipe.

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

Call me crazy but my motto when in doubt throw it out it's only $10

 

[kh54s10]

Call me crazy but my motto when in doubt throw it out it's only $10

Or make the starter with the old yeast. But have a backup plan..... In other words - new yeast.

 

[Turfgrass]

Wyeast web site guarantees their yeast for 6 months, so a starter might do it.

 

[yourlastchance89]

Hah! Coincidently tonite I'm spinning up some 2565 from last May. Just got it on the 'plate...

View attachment 596538

Cheers!

I like doing higher volume lower gravity starters in my 5L too. Is there a reason you're using an airlock? Kinda defeats the purpose of promoting aeration

 

[yourlastchance89]

I like doing higher volume lower gravity starters in my 5L too. Is there a reason you're using an airlock? Kinda defeats the purpose of promoting aeration

Scratch that. I feel dumb. Didn't realize it was foam

 

[RedlegEd]

Any articles on how to go about the steps, or how do you go about it. all new to me. Thx

Hi. Have a look at this video. Really pretty simple. As others have said, and I've done it myself, these yeasties are tough little buggers and will last a whole lot longer than folks give them credit for...especially if you kept them nice and cold. Good luck to you. Ed

ETA. BTW, you can start with a 1L flask and move to a 2L. The important thing is to use a gravity of about 1.030 - 1.035 to get them started, then move to 1.040 to build them.

 

[Nathan Hassey]

So i just had a Wyeasy pack of 1099 that was dated 4 june 2018. I made a starter on a stir plate and NOTHING happend for 48 hours. I woke up that morning and there was a 2" Krausen and it was super milky. I decided to do another stage just to ensure yhe health of the cells but it came fermented as usual. My point is, you should be good but dont give up on the starter too early.

 

[Turfgrass]

I wasn’t sure how to the starter gravity, so I just went on the wyeast site and followed their recommendation for building a starter.

After the 20 min boil and the yeast addition the slurry is a tad under 800ml. I have it on a stir plate now.

 

[Turfgrass]

Not sure how the above will work out.....without ready anything yet on stepped starters, I assume that you start with a lower gravity to build yeast numbers without exhausting and then move to a second step with a higher gravity.


Separate yeast question. I want to do a sweet stout with dry us-05. Is one package okay for a 5 gallon batch with an est starting gravity of 1.060?

 

[z-bob]

I once used a Wyeast pack (3333 German Wheat) that was a year old. It had been stored in the fridge the entire time, so I knew it *might* be okay.

It took almost a week after I smacked it before it swelled up. I should have made a starter at that point but I just pitched it into 4 gallons of 1.048 wort and it fermented just fine. The lag time was not even very long, overnight I think.

 

[RedlegEd]

Separate yeast question. I want to do a sweet stout with dry us-05. Is one package okay for a 5 gallon batch with an est starting gravity of 1.060?

That should be fine. I'd recommend hydrating the yeast before pitching. Here's how Fermentis (makers of US-05) recommend hydrating your yeast: "sprinkle the yeast in minimum 10 times its weight of sterile water or boiled and hopped wort at 25 to 29°C (77°F to 84°F). Leave to rest 15 to 30 minutes, gently stir and pitch the resultant cream into the fermentation vessel." Obviously, when you stir it, use a sanized spoon. You can also search this site...there are lot's of threads on hydration. Some folks feel pitching it dry is more than enough. I've done it both ways, and I've found hydrating gets a faster start. Hope this helps. Ed

 

[kh54s10]

One of the dry yeast manufacturers is now recommending that you do not hydrate. They say to pitch dry.

This may apply only to their dry yeast though.