Wyeast Shelf Life

[Mickcr250]

just checked beersmith and they say it is 96% viable wtf who to believe!

 

[elcarter]

II bet it's not 0% or 96%

Your glad wrap on your stater's proven it's not dead, 96% is pretty hard to get from any calculator unless you smacked it the moment it landed in Aus.

I'm sure someone with more experience with out of date starters can help you out. All I can say is that from my experience yeast are resilient little buggers.

 

[Mickcr250]

MrMalty claims 10% viability and says i need to pitch 3 packs into 3.3l of starter wort seems a bit excessive

 

[Camo1234]

Is your starter in a flask or do you have room for another 0.5 ltr? If so, feed it some more wort and grow some more. If you're still in doubt and not in a rush let the yeast settle and put it into another starter.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

MrMalty claims 10% viability and says i need to pitch 3 packs into 3.3l of starter wort seems a bit excessive

Lol.....but then again apparently MR Malty is now the "Go to" guide......

Better go stick some pubes on my face and call myself a brewer...

 

[Mickcr250]

Just split the starter into two jars and added 500ml to each. Yeast seemed pretty active so I recon this should get me enough.

Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Cannibal Smurf]

I found 2 Wyeast packs that I had forgotten about, one from Oct 2010 and the other from Nov 2010. h34r:

Removed from fridge on Wednesday, smacked on Thursday, pitched into 2 x 20L fermenters on Saturday, both @ 1.048 and they are both rocketing along :beerbang:

Was a bit of a gamble running them without a starter, but stressed yeast gives good esters... mmmmm banana :icon_drool2:

 

[Mickcr250]

Wow well that makes me feel better

Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Mickcr250]

Looks like a fair bit of yeast to me, and for reference those are both 2 litre jars. Think I Will pitch it tonight

Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Mickcr250]

Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Florian]

Proly just let the smakpack swell next time mate. I find that gives me a lot more confidence.

I don't see the point. If you know that the smack pack is old and Mr. Malty or whoever says that only 10% of the yeast is viable, then why risk killing those last 10% by letting it sit outside the fridge for a week?

Pitch it into an appropriately sized starter straight away and forget about smacking the pack.

 

[Scooby Tha Newbie]

My logic is this.
The smack pack is a sterile environment this gives the yeast the best opportunity to grow unhindered from infection.
As well when they swell it shows activity. If it doesn't swell then I don't use it.this was taken 5 Min ago both fairly old packs
I deal with around 35 kgs of yeast a week as a baker so I understand the life cycle of yeast.
Smacking and swelling before adding to a starter ensures activity. The only other way is to take a gravity reading. Another opportunity for infection and a waste of starter(I do use my refractomter if not 100%)

Just a disclaimer it's not my idea to ensure activity bf adding to a starter I read it on here. But it does make sense to me.
What others do is up to them.


Just hopped on the computer so I could link this
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/54900-basics-of-making-and-using-a-yeast-starter/

when I find the smack pack link i will post that
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/6073-wyeast-smack-pak/
Im fairly shore one of the guys in that link waited four days for the pack to swell.

 

[Scooby Tha Newbie]

uploadfromtaptalk1393833068022.jpg

Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using Tapatalk

They both look nice and healthy. Dont forget to decant the crap of the top :beer:

 

[Florian]

My logic is this.
The smack pack is a sterile environment this gives the yeast the best opportunity to grow unhindered from infection.
As well when they swell it shows activity. If it doesn't swell then I don't use it.this was taken 5 Min ago both fairly old packs

DSC_0094.JPG
I deal with around 35 kgs of yeast a week as a baker so I understand the life cycle of yeast.
Smacking and swelling before adding to a starter ensures activity. The only other way is to take a gravity reading. Another opportunity for infection and a waste of starter(I do use my refractomter if not 100%)

Just a disclaimer it's not my idea to ensure activity bf adding to a starter I read it on here. But it does make sense to me.
What others do is up to them.


Just hopped on the computer so I could link this
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/54900-basics-of-making-and-using-a-yeast-starter/

when I find the smack pack link i will post that
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/6073-wyeast-smack-pak/
Im fairly shore one of the guys in that link waited four days for the pack to swell.

Doesn't change the fact that you're leaving (in your example earlier in the thread) the yeast for 8 days outside of the fridge, so in less than ideal conditions.

If you only had 10% viable yeast left to begin with because your pack was a year or so old, chances are that it's now reduced to 3% or less. Why? Just to see that there is still something viable in that pack?

Why not try to get the most out of your 10% by adding it to a starter straight away, that way you give 10 billion cells a chance to multiply rather than putting all your money on your last not so healthy anymore 3 billion cells or less.

No need to take gravity readings either, with a bit of practice you can tell if your starter has fermented out or not just by looking at the colour.

 

[Spiesy]

Doesn't change the fact that you're leaving (in your example earlier in the thread) the yeast for 8 days outside of the fridge, so in less than ideal conditions.

Boom.

This has always bugged me also… you'd think the last thing almost dead yeast needs is to sit outside in an un-refridgerated environment for days on end.

 

[hoppinmad]

I smacked this pack of Belgian Saison 3724 about one month ago (the pack being the ripe old age of 19 months). It had fully swollen in about 3 days. I then made a 500ml starter, stepping up to 1.5L then 2L. The yeast was pitched into 20 litres of wort at 1.060 which was down to 1.005 in two weeks. Now as many people know, 3724 is a temperamental ******* at the best of times, so I think if you step up your starter a couple of times you are going to have a very fresh pitch of young healthy yeast to ferment out your beer nicely. I wouldn't ever hesitate to buy old packs of wyeast on sale, as with a little tenderness they will still get the job done.

 

[Camo6]

But what if you're proving your packs in a temperature controlled environment? I've always smacked my packs and left them in the fermenting fridge at ale temps.

Surely keeping the yeast in a known sterile environment and 'activating' its metabolism with the provided nutrients would be better than ditching it straight into a starter and expecting it to hit the ground running?

Whether you're waiting for the pack to swell or throwing it straight into a starter they're both going to need to be within their optimum temperature range to do their job. I would have thought the most effective time to utilise the nutrient pouch was when yeast cell numbers were low and needed all the help they could get.

And while they're waking up you at least get an idea as to whether to waste DME or wort on it (plus the cleaning, boiling and cooling) or buy some fresh yeast. At least that's my way of thinking on the matter.

 

[Scooby Tha Newbie]

You would still need xyz amount of days to get a healty amount of yeast .
The smack pack has a precise amount of nutriant made for the yeast in the pack , this is basicly a mini starter.
The only differance is im keeping my yeast in a sterile environment before placing in a larger starter.

BOOM, indeed

"If you only had 10% viable yeast left to begin with because your pack was a year or so old, chances are that it's now reduced to 3% or less. Why? Just to see that there is still something viable in that pack?"
Dont beleve all you read in Mr malty I've read on here its just a guide.
Not shor where you got 3% or less from.
Bottom line a swelled pack shows activity. Thats when i pitch into a starter.
Like i said bf its what i do and it works , the rest is up to others to decide

 

[Scooby Tha Newbie]

I smacked a pack of Belgian Saison 3724 about one month ago (the pack being at a ripe old age of 19 months). It had fully swollen in about 3 days. I then made a 500ml starter, stepping up to 1.5L then 2L. The yeast was pitched into 20 litres of wort at 1.060 which was down to 1.005 in two weeks. Now as many people know, 3724 is a temperamental ******* at the best of times, so I think if you step up your starter a couple of times you are going to have a very fresh pitch of young healthy yeast to ferment out your beer nicely. I wouldn't ever hesitate to buy old packs of wyeast on sale, as with a little tenderness they will still get the job done.

image.jpg

+1

But what if you're proving your packs in a temperature controlled environment? I've always smacked my packs and left them in the fermenting fridge at ale temps.

Surely keeping the yeast in a known sterile environment and 'activating' its metabolism with the provided nutrients would be better than ditching it straight into a starter and expecting it to hit the ground running?

Whether you're waiting for the pack to swell or throwing it straight into a starter they're both going to need to be within their optimum temperature range to do their job. I would have thought the most effective time to utilise the nutrient pouch was when yeast cell numbers were low and needed all the help they could get.

And while they're waking up you at least get an idea as to whether to waste DME or wort on it (plus the cleaning, boiling and cooling) or buy some fresh yeast. At least that's my way of thinking on the matter.

+5
Thing is i farm my yeast as well this one i got 5 vials and 3 starters




Works for me!

 

[Camo6]

You use it for cologne?