Storing yeast

How long can I store yeast for in my fridge? I have a package of Wyeast 1272 American Ale II.

You can store it for quite a while. The yeast will lose viability even being stored cool in the frig. A starter is almost always needed for liquid yeast. The older the yeast the larger the starter or even a two step starter depending upon the OG of the beer being brewed.

This is the starter/pitch rate calculator I like to use. Put some numbers in based on the packaging date of the yeast and different OG beers to see how it works. When starting with fresh yeast you can overbuild a starter and save a portion of it to have yeast that has not undergone the stress of a fermentation to have fresh yeast for your next starter. This calculator has an over build option built in.

Thanks flars. I’ve never done a starter before, so this will be interesting lol. I’m a noobie. Only have brewed 5 batches so far. My next one will be Friday. A 5 gal pale ale. I wanted something more sessionable for the summer.

I have 2 liter Erlenmeyer flasks for starters and 1.5 gallon pickle jars also. Some use a flask to boil the starter wort on the stove top. Almost inviting a volcanic boil over due to the shape of the flask. I boil the water for the starter wort in a kettle. the boiling is to sanitize the kettle. Remove the kettle from the heat and stir in the DME. You can use a stir plate to keep the yeast in suspension for the starter or use the “shaken not stirred” method for growing yeast cells.

I have a collection of yeast in mason jars in the fridge. I too make a starter to insure more viable cells. Before I began making starters I would just repitch harvested yeast and I had success with year old yeast but it was slow to take off.

Same here, I’ve used yeast that’s been in the fridge for over a year. Online yeast calculators will tell you that the yeast has 0% viability, but start small and you can usually coax it back to life. But best not to let to go that long.

I have no concerns about using a vial that is 6 months old. Just make a starter, maybe 1.010 wort just to get it going, and then step it up to a standard starter. Then again, I pitched a jar of Kveik slurry that was over a year old into last fall’s cider. The Kveik took an extra day, then barked at that cider and tore through it like a boss. Have faith in yeasts’ ability to survive under fridge conditions… that stuff survives in nature through the winter and manages to make it to spring.

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Hey Pork Chop, do you think I should over build my new Kviek, or, is it going to be just fine harvesting it… Summer coming, I hope to have enough yeast around for brewing… Sneezles61

The Kviek is super hardy. Boy is it a fun Yeast. There are pictures of people inoculating with wooden necklaces (yeast Ring) here…

All thing Kviek on this blog

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It might not be necessary, but it’s cheap insurance in case something gets messed up down the line. Just make sure you yell at it when you pitch the yeast.

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It sure seems to be some crazy yeast! I think I’ll start my Saison journey with this yeast… After all, isn’t it a farm house type yeast from the Scandahoovian area? Sneezles61

Maybe we need a thread for kweik to discuss it’s merits and the types of beers people are brewing with it???

I’m planning to try it in an IPA in the next week or 2.

OK I started a new thread

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This will not give you a Saison it’s too clean.

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