white labs noob yeast questions

[jspangler1110]

im brewing my 3rd batch and decided to try liquid yeast from white labs i had it shipped to my house i live in a cold region and im not sure if it froze or not the yeast seems to be the consistancy of jello with liquid around it i was expecting it to look like my yeast slurry in the bottom of my primarys from my last two batches is this normal consisitancy for liquid yeast? if the yeast froze during shipping will it still work?

 

[HOPCousin]

You should make a starter from it 48 hours in advance to bring up the cell count and ensure its healthy before you pitch it. Hard to say what you mean but I just brewed in 20 degree weather outside and my yeast also became slightly frozen but it took off after we brought back up to temperature in the house for a few hours before pitching and it's bubbling away.

 

[earwig]

Its normal for cold liquid yeast to look like that. I'd recommend making the starter 5-6 days in advance, let it ferment out and then put it in the fridge to separate/decant. If the beer is a lower gravity beer you might be fine pitching it without a stated; I've gotten away with this a few times with good results.

 

[midfielder5]

Make a 1L starter.

 

[Stauffbier]

What strain was it? Some strains like wlp002 have a very congealed look to them...

 

[jspangler1110]

it is wlp004 irish ale yeast i plan on making a 1l starter should i use an airlock on my flask or foil method?

 

[Malticulous]

A starter will prove if the yeast are still viable. A starter does not have to take long. By the time it's producing CO2 most of the cell growth is finished. That can be in as little as two hours.

If your doing an extract batch you can just use some of the extract to make a starter. Once you see the starter is working you can safely brew knowing you have good yeast and pitch the whole active starter.

it is better to just pitch the entire active starter within about 6 to 12 hours of pitching the yeast into the starter.

Here is a good video by Wyeast.

 

[pabloj13]

it is wlp004 irish ale yeast i plan on making a 1l starter should i use an airlock on my flask or foil method?

Foil, since it allows gas exchange which gives the yeast the oxygen they need to effectively reproduce. Then swirl it every time you get a chance.

 

[Stauffbier]

If it was me I would make a 2L starter. Cold crash it, decant the spent wort, wash it, save half of what you washed in a sanitized jar for a future brew, then make a quick 1L starter with what's left to pitch into your current batch. Whenever I buy liquid yeast I do this 2 or 3 times during the week to get a bunch of extra, free, viable yeast for the future....

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

If it was me I would make a 2L starter. Cold crash it, decant the spent wort, wash it, save half of what you washed in a sanitized jar for a future brew, then make a quick 1L starter with what's left to pitch into your current batch. Whenever I buy liquid yeast I do this 2 or 3 times during the week to get a bunch of extra, free, viable yeast for the future....

yeah, that's a great way to stock up on yeast. i do the same thing whenever i buy a pack of yeast that i haven't used before, or have run out of. big $aver in the long run!

 

[Stauffbier]

yeah, that's a great way to stock up on yeast. i do the same thing whenever i buy a pack of yeast that i haven't used before, or have run out of. big $aver in the long run!

Yeah I'm doing it all this week with Wyeast Thames Valley.. I always run a little extra wort from my mash/sparge and freeze it to save on starter wort, as well....

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Yeah I'm doing it all this week with Wyeast Thames Valley.. I always run a little extra wort from my mash/sparge and freeze it to save on starter wort, as well....

that's a really good idea! i may have to start doing that. i'm doing the same thing with Bell's from bottles and some s-05 i washed out of the partigyle i did from my RIS this week. i used the Thames in my RIS, and wanted to save some, but that cake is kinda raunch and 5+ weeks old, so i think i'll just buy a pack of that to save.

 

[kraypd]

Use Mr Malty.com to get tour starter size right. I would advise using a stir plate. I make mine the night before I brew so that I am pitching the starter active.