 yeast... another silly question |
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 Aug 1 2012, 05:29 PM
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#1
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Stewart  Group: New Member Posts: 10 Joined: 2-November 05 From: co Member No.: 4,569  |
OK... so I've just taken a 2.5 year hiatus from brewing... which means the $150 I have in ingredients are now... well... old. The main topic here is the yeast: so: its Whitelabs Belgium ale yeast... expired 2010... kept refrigerated. On Monday night we made a yeast starter (3/4gal in 1 gal jar w/ 1/2cup malt extract) Today Wed AM: after ~36hrs @ ~80F it is now slowly gaining activity. my plan was to wait another day or two until the yeast appears to gain significant activity... then brew. pps. the rest of the ingredients are impressively stable... grains still smell right, extract is a tiny bit moldy, Hops... still bitter Seems good to go... Does anyone think I should hold out until I find fresher yeast??? (not readily available!!) |
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Aug 1 2012, 07:05 PM
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#2
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Brewer  Group: Guest Moderator Posts: 374 Joined: 8-January 08 From: N.C, Member No.: 11,035 |
If your not getting any weird smells or flavors from the yeast it MIGHT be ok. Personally I'd have just got a fresh one.
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Aug 2 2012, 09:09 AM
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#3
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Homebrewer Group: Members Posts: 41 Joined: 28-May 08 From: Winson-Salem, NC Member No.: 12,228 |
QUOTE(catsh16 @ Aug 1 2012, 05:29 PM)  OK... so I've just taken a 2.5 year hiatus from brewing... which means the $150 I have in ingredients are now... well... old. The main topic here is the yeast: so: its Whitelabs Belgium ale yeast... expired 2010... kept refrigerated. On Monday night we made a yeast starter (3/4gal in 1 gal jar w/ 1/2cup malt extract) Today Wed AM: after ~36hrs @ ~80F it is now slowly gaining activity. my plan was to wait another day or two until the yeast appears to gain significant activity... then brew. pps. the rest of the ingredients are impressively stable... grains still smell right, extract is a tiny bit moldy, Hops... still bitter Seems good to go... Does anyone think I should hold out until I find fresher yeast??? (not readily available!!) I would wait until the starter is finished (attach an airlock), crash cool the starter for 24hours (35deg) so the yeast will drop out, decant the spent wort, then put ANOTHER 3/4 gallon of starter wort into the bottle and repeat the finish, crash, decant. Now you can pitch your starter with enough healthy yeast. See www.yeastcalc.com |
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Aug 3 2012, 12:44 PM
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#4
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Homebrewer Group: Members Posts: 15 Joined: 13-May 08 From: Yakima, Wa Member No.: 12,127 |
I would say since all the ingredients are old I would go ahead and give it a try. As long as the yeast where stored properly and sanitation was very good when making the starter. The 2 day lag time could have been wild yeast ramping up. Anyways as long as you are willing to accept that it may be a little funkey go for it. I would probably get all new ingrediants myself as I have very little time on my hands latly and want to make sure i make something that is up to par.
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Aug 3 2012, 02:09 PM
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#5
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Brewmaster Group: Guest Moderator Posts: 2,599 Joined: 7-May 04 From: Harlem Member No.: 2,141 |
The yeast *might* be okay, but I would do several propagations of it before putting it in a beer. And don't expect it to behave like the strain you bought either. Really, if that same strain was available (which it likely is on the internet for delivery to you) I would buy it and toss the old stuff, it will not behave the same anymore.
Absolutely get rid of the moldy malt, you do not want to be ingesting mycotoxins. Do not brew with that moldy malt, throw it all away. I would also replace the hops, how do you know they are bitter? I'm guessing you're wrong. I'd say 50/50 whether or not I could pick up cheesy smells from rubbing them, depends on how they were stored, what form and what variety they are. In CompSci "Garbage In, Garbage Out" is a common phrase, and you're putting garbage into your kettle. DO NOT USE ANYTHING MOLDY! |
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Aug 3 2012, 09:39 PM
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#6
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Brewmaster Group: Members Posts: 925 Joined: 10-March 08 From: Flagstaff Arizona Member No.: 11,628 |
Just shell out the cash for good ingredients, at least if it's horrible there will be no doubt it's your fault.
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Sep 10 2012, 03:28 PM
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#7
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Assistant Brewer Group: Members Posts: 57 Joined: 14-September 04 From: Fresno CA Member No.: 2,693 |
I've brewed with really old grains before and the beer I made ended up being called the "Bug Pale Ale". Not only did it have all kinds of black weevil looking bugs, I'm sure that the moth larva were fully grown.
Save the hops for a Berliner Weisse or Lambic |
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Mar 11 2013, 04:13 PM
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#8
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Homebrewer Group: Members Posts: 31 Joined: 31-March 04 From: Raleigh, NC Member No.: 1,971 |
It seems to me that the yeast is fine. If it's alive and can reproduce, its "offspring" won't be old. The new yeast is just a new generation of the old yeast unless some sort of mutation could have occurred. That just seems logical to me, but I could be wrong.
This post has been edited by Vinman: Mar 11 2013, 04:14 PM |
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