Wyeast sloooow start

[Iamjacksbrew]

Hi all, Last weekend I went to start a Belgian quad that I had sitting around for months. The wyeast was in the fridge. I initiated the slap pack but it never inflated. I decided against the brew. I just planned on reordering the yeast. Now six days later the bag is puffed up and looks like all systems are go. I’ve never had one take so long. (Of course I never stored a yeast that long either). Good to go or should I reorder it? I’m not sure how long it sat in fridge.

 

[day_trippr]

Date code is just under that flap...

 

[Iamjacksbrew]

It’s about a year old. But will it work. It appears to be good. It puffed up tight

 

[day_trippr]

Given it took so long for the survivors to chew through the nutrient pack one has to expect the viable cell count is down quite a bit. I would plug the born on date into any decent yeast calculator to see how many starter steps would be needed to get a useful cell count. Otherwise you're asking for a troublesome fermentation...

Cheers!

 

[yourlastchance89]

What is your projected og? A quad is a pretty big beer. I would definitely recommend a starter even if you had a fresh wyeast pack

 

[day_trippr]

With year old yeast I expect multiple steps would be required. Heck, the Brewers Friend pitch rate/starter calculator thinks year-old yeast is 100% dead

Cheers!

 

[Blackdirt_cowboy]

I’ve used year old yeast. Definitely make a starter. The one time I did, it took 5 days before I saw any activity in the starter. A few step ups later and we were rocking and rolling.

 

[Iamjacksbrew]

Thanks all. I guess I’ll just order another and pitch em both