Fressness

A couple of years ago I brewed my first two batches but stopped brewing due to the distance of the local brew shop, it was over an hour away. A coworker wanted to brew and told me of a shop a lot closer to home that opened last summer. The first shop I dealt with was great to deal with. At the new one the owner is very nice to deal with but does not make his own kits like the first shop does. The new shop only sells Brewers Best kits. The other shop would grind the ingredients and package up everything fresh as you order them. We brewed a couple of weeks ago and bottled today. I tasted my brew and it did not taste fresh, may have been mantle but it just didn’t taste fresh.

also the yest was kept in the box on the shelf instead of in the fridge like the first shop did.

My question is should I avoid the new shop or am I over reacting?

Sounds less than great. I would definitely never buy yeast that has been stored anywhere but a fridge.

There are a lot of online suppliers that sell “kits” that are packaged as you order them and they pride themselves not only on solid, tried-and-true recipes but also packing up the freshest ingredients they have. I’m a big believer in supporting local suppliers but only when I know that my beer is not suffering because of it. Personally, I don’t think a poorly run brewshop deserves my money. Midwest, Northern Brewer, More Beer, Williams and Austin Homebrew all have a wide selection of kits to choose from. Eventually, you will become comfortable enough to see recipes online and just order the ingredients you need to make a few of them as opposed to ordering just “the kit”. Kits can be expensive and extract is expensive in general. Where are you located? Another great online supplier is Rebel Brewer. I don’t look to see if places sell kits anymore but Rebel is a great place with excellent prices, a wide selection, very good customer service and uber-fresh products. Good luck & don’t give up… it gets better.

+1. Warm yeast? I would never return.

Thanks for all the quick reply’s, I’m in southern R.I.

I’m not saying the new shop is a bad shop just different then I have dealt with before and I may be a little pariniod.

If they don’t store their liquid yeast cold, I have no problem calling them a “bad shop”.

If they don’t store their liquid yeast cold, I have no problem calling them a “bad shop”.[/quote]

The Yeast was not liquid it was a powder in a packet, does this make a difference.

most manufacturers say dry yeast can be stored at room temperature because it’s freeze dried

Should I be using liquid yeast?

Liquid yeast has more variety but dry yeast makes great beer, too. It’s easy to handle and you don’t need starters. With US-05, S-04, Nottingham, and 34/70, I have enough yeast for most styles of beer.

Thank you everyone for your help you are the best

If they don’t store their liquid yeast cold, I have no problem calling them a “bad shop”.[/quote]

The Yeast was not liquid it was a powder in a packet, does this make a difference.[/quote]

Oh yeah. Big difference. Dry yeast is fine at room temp if unopened. Liquid yeast needs to be stored cold. Like someone else posted, dry yeast is fine, but limited in varieties. Liquid yeast is more expensive, but with such a broad range of varieties, you can really customize your brewing by trying different strains.