Where's the Wyeast manufacture date?

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skarz

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I don't know if Wyeast changed their packaging but I'm seeing Google results stating the date of manufacture is on the front of the pack... I only see the use by date. What am I missing?

EDIT

After mass confusion I decided to call Wyeast and the lady said that very recently they changed their packaging from manufacture date to use by date to be more in line with food-type products. So this packet I picked up today is fresh off the lot, it seems. Here's the email response I got from them:

Wyeast recently switched over to a Best if Used By date, which still guarantees our products for at least 6 months from when they are manufactured. When stored and handled correctly (never allowing the yeast to come above refrigeration temperature until ready to activate), the viability and health of the yeast is very stable. We still recommend making a starter when the yeast is within 2 months of the BB date to ensure you are pitching a robust culture.

We are familiar with the homebrew calculators that factor in the manufacturing dates, but these do not correctly reflect the quality of our yeast. Because many if not all are based on other suppliers’ information, and were not consulted or developed with Wyeast, I would like to offer the assurance that our yeast products will perform reliably following our product instructions and guarantee. When viability is incorrectly factored in and a larger than needed started is made, you can end up with too much yeast growth, too rapid of a fermentation, and negative influences on your beer.
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I wonder if they've changed recently. Every yeast company seems to have different timelines of how long they say their yeast is good for. If they were getting complaints of "old" yeast that was 4-5 months old (i.e. longer than a competitor's recommended timeline, but still within theirs) I can see putting an end date instead of a start date being the easy solution.
 
Just bought a pack of Wyeast 3068 with the best if used by date instead of the Mfg date they used to have. Is it just me or does anyone else prefer knowing how old their yeast is instead of how long it's good for? Not quite sure about the explanation on their website. From what I understand, liquid yeast doesn't stay fully viable for a given amount of time and then start losing it but is more of a steady loss with time. They used to suggest making a starter after four months. The pack I have has a use by date of 4/6/2021. Any thoughts on when that might have been manufactured? Six months prior?
 
Yes, 6 months prior.

I had my first encounter with the new dating system with a pack of 1318.
After doing the math it turned out the pack was manufactured less than two weeks ago :ban:

If they are consistent and true with the "+6 months" thing I can handle that math ;)

Cheers!
 
ddcwxman said:
Just bought a pack of Wyeast 3068 with the best if used by date instead of the Mfg date they used to have. Is it just me or does anyone else prefer knowing how old their yeast is instead of how long it's good for? Not quite sure about the explanation on their website. From what I understand, liquid yeast doesn't stay fully viable for a given amount of time and then start losing it but is more of a steady loss with time. They used to suggest making a starter after four months. The pack I have has a use by date of 4/6/2021. Any thoughts on when that might have been manufactured? Six months prior?
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It's the dummification trend.
Except, we need to be smarter now to figure out the missing manufacturing (packaging) date.

Recently WhiteLabs has also been omitting their packaging date. Listing Best By date and Lot # only.
 
ddcwxman said:
Is it just me or does anyone else prefer knowing how old their yeast is instead of how long it's good for?
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i want that for my yeast just like i want it for my beer. don't give me a stupid "use by" date, so that i need to hope that google can help me reverse-engineer the manufacturing date.

just give me the damn production date, I can decide myself if it's passed its "use by" date.
 
ddcwxman said:
From what I understand, liquid yeast doesn't stay fully viable for a given amount of time and then start losing it but is more of a steady loss with time.
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That is correct.

ddcwxman said:
They used to suggest making a starter after four months.
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Right. But how big a starter? And for what size batch? And for what gravity? There's absolutely nothing special about the four month mark, or the 6 month mark, or any specific age. i.e. the very concept of a "best by" date for yeast is flawed.
 
Not sure if the subtract 6 months is correct. Got a pack from my local shop and by using that method it would have meant it was packaged the day prior, possible, but highly unlikely. Irritating when building a starter using the brewing programs.
 
Sauls said:
Got a pack from my local shop and by using that method it would have meant it was packaged the day prior,
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As in: it's 6 months old?
That's not unusual. Most LHBS yeast is between 2 and 4 months old, on average.
A friend of mine got yeast from MoreBeer that was 5 months old. He complained, they sent him another pack. Also 5 months old...
 
IslandLizard said:
As in: it's 6 months old?
That's not unusual. Most LHBS yeast is between 2 and 4 months old, on average.
A friend of mine got yeast from MoreBeer that was 5 months old. He complained, they sent him another pack. Also 5 months old...
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No, as in it was packaged yesterday. Use by date was 5 months 30 days down the road.
 
Sauls said:
No, as in it was packaged yesterday. Use by date was 5 months 30 days down the road.
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Whoa! That's a first!
Maybe the Best By date has a grant time built in, allowing for distribution...
Fork the consumer!

I'd make a starter regardless. If only to a) prove viability, b) ramp up cell count to match the yeast pitch calculator and c) to overbuild to save some out for a next starter, and the next, etc.

Last year I had received a vial from White Labs' Yeast Vault program. The yeast looked pretty dark brown already. It also had been shipped in mid May, it was on the truck for almost a week, the most Southern route possible off course. It took a whole week for the first starter to get going. Then another week to get to my 5 gallon pitch rate and overbuild some for keeps.
 
VikeMan said:
That is correct.



Right. But how big a starter? And for what size batch? And for what gravity? There's absolutely nothing special about the four month mark, or the 6 month mark, or any specific age. i.e. the very concept of a "best by" date for yeast is flawed.
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Exactly! I have since read comments in other threads on this site as well as a few other sites and I see some differing opinions. I think the yeast propagation calculators like Mr Malty or the one in Beersmith are useful. Bigger gravity beers need more yeast and an old yeast pack will need more time to build up from it reduced viability.
 
ddcwxman said:
I think the yeast propagation calculators like Mr Malty or the one in Beersmith are useful. Bigger gravity beers need more yeast and an old yeast pack will need more time to build up from it reduced viability.
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In that light I'd like to also mention this yeast pitch calculator I've come to use mostly:
BrewUnited's Yeast Calculator
Just double/triple check your fields, some get filled/adjusted automatically and need a manual override.

There's an Excel version of it available too.
 
I picked up a package of yeast today and the best used by date is May 4 2021. Since today is November 4, and the retailer got the yeast last week, the date of manufacture has to be something more than 6 months. Maybe it's a certain number of weeks?
 
Post #1 doesn't help. Wyeast basically is just saying "trust us, we guarantee it until the printed date. If it's <2 months to the BB date, make a starter."

However, calculators show different amount of starter levels needed for 1mo vs 2mo vs 3 mo vs 4 mo vs 5 mo vs 6 mo. Are all those calculators now pointless?

Wyeast is NOT doing +6 months on their label, I can confirm that. Today is 11/12, and I just picked up a package that says "best by May 16, 2021". Well, May 16 2021 means that this yeast was produced November 16, 2020, which is impossible....

I mean, I'm fine tossing the calculators aside, but that's kind of the fun part of it.

I guess you can use some fuzzy math here. If it's ~6 months or more, then you can consider it 100% fresh.

That is, until we know more.
 
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fendersrule said:
Wyeast is NOT doing +6 months on their label, I can confirm that. Today is 11/12, and I just picked up a package that says "best by May 16, 2021". Well, May 16 2021 means that this yeast was produced November 16, 2020, which is impossible....
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are you certain it says "May", and not "Mar", as in March? if the latter, then it was produced in Sept.
 
Well, Wyeast was quoted as saying "at least" 6 months in post #1.

Dear Wyeast,
tenor.gif
 
I know this is an old post, but this is a riff on julian date coding. the last 3 #s are the day of the year it was manufactured. its early in the morning and i can't figure out the first four #s. can be references to time of day or the line it came off of.

for example xxxx307 in the example above would mean the 307th day of the year, which is november 3rd. it should be easy figuring out the year based on the "best by" date.
 
ReverendTenHigh said:
I know this is an old post, but this is a riff on julian date coding. the last 3 #s are the day of the year it was manufactured. its early in the morning and i can't figure out the first four #s. can be references to time of day or the line it came off of.

for example xxxx307 in the example above would mean the 307th day of the year, which is november 3rd. it should be easy figuring out the year based on the "best by" date.
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For most homebrew packaged liquid yeast the manufacturing date is 6 months before the printed "Best By" date.
 

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