Try out this yeast or chuck it?

[toddo97]

I was going through my beer supply room and opened up a 3 gal better bottle that I ordered, but had no use for, about 6 months ago (early Feb). Alongside the carboy, I found a back of Gigayeast Sour Cherry Funk GB150 liquid yeast that I had the brilliant idea of ordering, but completely forgetting about. It's in my fridge right now, but is it even worth trying to make a starter for a liquid yeast that's been non-refrigerated for 6 months?

 

[ccous]

Try it. I do not believe that yeast needs to be refrigerated all the while it’s stored, especially wild yeast. Think about it, yeast is everywhere and doing just fine.

 

[probablynotnick]

Definitely keep it! If you're nervous about the first use, make a 1 gal small beer (1.030-1.040) first and let the bugs play a bit. You'll end up with more in the end and a good idea of what to expect from the fermentation.

Just make sure to sanitize everything really well. You're aiming to grow a few specific bacteria, not the billion that may be creeping around your home/garage/etc. Particularly if you want to re-pitch the culture multiple times.

 

[MrPowers]

If it was a regular yeast, I would probably say just to pitch it and get fresh, but since it was a wild yeast it couldn't hurt to do a starter and see if there is anything alive in there. The blend of brett and lacto could be way out of whack at this point though.

 

[toddo97]

Would it be worth co-pitching with something like US-05 to make sure I get something enough to ferment with?

 

[Miraculix]

Aren't those wild yeast packs always mixes of multiple strains? With a starter you will definitely change the ratio of those organisms included, so I would think about what I would expect from this pack and if it would be beneficial for this purpose to do a starter or maybe just to co pitch it with another yeast or maybe just to throw it in all alone.

 

[Cyclman]

Experiment with a 1 gallon batch, if it comes out good, ramp it up.

 

[probablynotnick]

It's a brett/lacto blend. Yes, making a starter or small beer with it first will be different than pitching directly into 5 gallons, but so does leaving the vial in open storage for six months!

Might as well see if there is anything fun and alive in there if your other consideration is tossing it in the trash!