Sourcing Fresh Liquid Yeast

[GalBrew]

Hi AHBers,
For those of you who use liquid yeasts, where do you purchase them from? I have had a couple of packs come in recently around 6 months past the date of manufactuer which gives very low viability. Where do people go to get fresh liquid yeasts or are there only certain times of the year when retailers order from the US when I should buy them? What are peoples' experiences here? Is there some magic trick to this as I don't really have the time to build up ancient yeasts through multiple starters to get them going?

Cheers. :beer:

 

[bum]

Wyeast from Craftbrewer. High turnover, manufacture dates on the webpage, usually fast delivery. I think I recall that they're the importer too? Could have that arse about. Apologies if so.

 

[slash22000]

Lots of places around AU seem to sell Wyeast, but what's the best place to get White Labs? I have a few brews in the works that require yeasts exclusive to WL.

 

[tiprya]

I get mine locally here: http://www.esbrewing.com.au/

 

[soundawake]

Brewadelaide stocks White Labs. Bit far from Darwin though.

 

[mosto]

I get mine locally here: http://www.esbrewing.com.au/

ditto, but like tiprya, I'm in NSW, so freight cost / time is pretty good for my situation.

 

[Bribie G]

I think people get a bit paranoid about getting Wyeasts and Whitelabs through the mail. Especially this time of year they travel quite well, and if you buy from Craftbrewer you can get it sent with a cold pack for an extra fifty cents or something, and I'm pretty sure the Whitelabs from ESB came with a cold pack as well. Specify aus post and it's the same all over the country.

 

[Steven @ Home Make It]

Hi guys
THIS IS NOT INTENDED AS A PLUG JUST HELPFUL INFO
but we send wine,beer,spirit , fruit wine yeast and starter cultures all over the country all the time
our standard practice is to send it with and icepack and bubble wrap to insulate it
we also don't send out things Friday so it doesn't sit in a depot for 2 days
with many happy customers brewing away

with most places you should able to pre arrange delivery with a few days notice
most retailers are happy to do it

a small word on yeast, most will happily work even if you get them a couple days later
what you need to avoid is heating them excessively
to give yeast the maximum shelf life ,it is the reason why they are kept in the fridge

Hope this helps guys

S.L

 

[NewtownClown]

I received an email from Pat Casey over at Absolute Homebrew at 11.30 pm last night to advise the wyeast Forbidden Fruit I had ordered was just on 5 months since packaging. Did I still want it? If so I could have it at a discounted price, So, I ordered two...

In my view a decent retailer would have done exactly what Pat did, not send you out of date past "best before" yeast in the hope you didn't notice.

I have never experienced what the OP has, so I would think most retailers are what I described as being decent.

Don't be shy OP, name this despicable shop so we can all avoid it h34r:

 

[Bribie G]

I have had a pack of Wyeast 1968 London ESB in the fridge since January, made October 2012 so it's coming up 9 months.
Smacked it Monday night, swollen by last night, pitched into a litre of wort last night in a sanitized 2L fruit juice bottle and shook like buggery to oxygenate it.

Showing first signs of fermenting this morning but obviously still in lag phase, but after giving it a good shake I did get a slight fizz through the cap when I opened it a crack. I would expect it to be going well in the morning and likely pitch tomorrow afternoon.

 

[NewtownClown]

Hi guys
THIS IS NOT INTENDED AS A PLUG JUST HELPFUL INFO
but we send wine,beer,spirit , fruit wine yeast and starter cultures all over the country all the time
our standard practice is to send it with and icepack and bubble wrap to insulate it
we also don't send out things Friday so it doesn't sit in a depot for 2 days
with many happy customers brewing away

with most places you should able to pre arrange delivery with a few days notice
most retailers are happy to do it

a small word on yeast, most will happily work even if you get them a couple days later
what you need to avoid is heating them excessively
to give yeast the maximum shelf life ,it is the reason why they are kept in the fridge

Hope this helps guys

S.L

Nice work Steve... Nice prices, too.

Do yourself a favour (and us) and put a link to your store in your signature

http://homemakeit.com.au/

 

[Bribie G]

Good work. Answers the OP's question about where to get Whitelabs.

 

[GalBrew]

I received an email from Pat Casey over at Absolute Homebrew at 11.30 pm last night to advise the wyeast Forbidden Fruit I had ordered was just on 5 months since packaging. Did I still want it? If so I could have it at a discounted price, So, I ordered two...

In my view a decent retailer would have done exactly what Pat did, not send you out of date past "best before" yeast in the hope you didn't notice.

I have never experienced what the OP has, so I would think most retailers are what I described as being decent.

Don't be shy OP, name this despicable shop so we can all avoid it h34r:

I totally agree that getting 6 month old yeast is rather uncool. I had trouble bringing it back to life and as it was lager yeast I turfed the starter rather than risk underpitching my precious oktoberfest. If I had a microscope and hemocytometer at home I would have done some cell counting, but I do not. I would rather not name the retailer at this point as up until now the dealings I have had with them have been fine (even previous liquid yeast orders), I will just source my liquid yeasts from elsewhere. I do like the fact that Ross puts the date of manufacture on his website, transparency is a good way to do business. I don't mind getting older yeast either so long as that is my descision and I am prepared to step it up. I don't exclusively use wyeast or white labs, so I can handle using wyeast from ross and get the odd vial of white labs (I so like WLP009) when it comes in.

Thanks to all for the reponses, you have been most helpful. :icon_cheers:

 

[Rurik]

I have had wyeast come up that was years old and get a good fermentation from them. I think it comes down to storage. As to wear you get White Labs well I get mine from the Home Brew shop in Kambah ACT.

 

[beerbog]

Kirrawee Home Brew now stocks Wyeast. Pre orders and also has popular styles for retail. h34r:

 

[Edak]

I get mine from core brewing concepts... Cheapest and I can go pick up from him.

no affil.