Frozen Wyeast

[Brad Sofield]

Gday everyone- I need some help!
During my last ag, after busily adding my grain to the mash tun and upon preparing remaining ingredients for the brew I found to my surprise my Wyeast Activator had frozen. It was stored safely I thought on the top shelf of my fridge. I followed the instructions on pack which said not to use it so I had to settle for a dry Safale ale yeast. Have any brewers out there used yeast whcih had been frozen and then thawed and if so was there any noticeable effects in taste or fermentation activity. I was hoping to reuse once it was smacked to see if they yeast take off.
Cheers Brad

 

[Sammus]

I'm pretty sure it kills the yeast, something about how water expands when it's frozen, cusing the yeast cell walls to rupture... I dunno, same thing that gives veggies 'freezer burn' i imagine.

 

[Stuster]

I'm not sure if my yeast actually froze but it certainly seemed like there was some frozen parts to it. Same thing as you, just one part of the fridge which must have got colder than it should have (or than I expected it to anyway). It worked fine, though it was a bit slow to puff up. Only way is to smack it and see. If it puffs up then at least some of them are alive. I'd certainly make a starter though to make sure you have enough viable, healthy yeast.