Yeast starter with old yeast

[steve123]

I’ve not been brewing for quite a while, but starting back up again and planning on brewing on Wednesday.

I’m after your thoughts on a yeast starter

I’ve had a whitelabs WLP001 yeast in the fridge for some time, I think the date of manufacture was May 2018. I was optimistic and have made a 2 litre starter and had it running constantly on a stir plate. My plan was to step it up to 5L, as I am planning to ferment 80L with a 6% abv beer.

it’s now been running for 55 hours and there is no signs of life, I took a gravity reading last night and it showed as 1.04!
The room it’s in is 18c, the stir plate it warm so suspect the starter is slightly warmer.

Is the yeast dead? Do you think there is any chance is will come back to life, or should I chuck it and get some dried yeast to use.

 

[Galena]

Personally I would bin it, but I was watching THIS VIDEO yesterday about yeast health, may be worth a watch

 

[foxbat]

I’ve not been brewing for quite a while, but starting back up again and planning on brewing on Wednesday.

I’m after your thoughts on a yeast starter

I’ve had a whitelabs WLP001 yeast in the fridge for some time, I think the date of manufacture was May 2018. I was optimistic and have made a 2 litre starter and had it running constantly on a stir plate. My plan was to step it up to 5L, as I am planning to ferment 80L with a 6% abv beer.

it’s now been running for 55 hours and there is no signs of life, I took a gravity reading last night and it showed as 1.04!
The room it’s in is 18c, the stir plate it warm so suspect the starter is slightly warmer.

Is the yeast dead? Do you think there is any chance is will come back to life, or should I chuck it and get some dried yeast to use.

Chuck it out. There's no reason to put 80 litres of beer at risk for the sake of a yeast strain that you can buy cheaply in dry packs (US-05).

 

[steve123]

Thanks for your replies, wish I’d used it earlier and not put the brewing on hold. Ive already got my order delivered, and my local brew shop has closed down. I think I might try to get hold of some yeast from Wilkinson’s so that I can still brew on Wednesday

 

[steve123]

Just checked the starter, it’s possibly started. Now got some foam on top. Checked the smell and it smells good. What’s your thoughts let it continue and see what happens

 

[Soton]

Just checked the starter, it’s possibly started. Now got some foam on top. Checked the smell and it smells good. What’s your thoughts let it continue and see what happens

Yeast is a large part of a tasty beer, why take the chance on a contaminated yeast, the yeast you are now cultivating might not be the yeast you think it is! You could take a chance and pitch it while saving some for future use just incase it makes a great beer. Personally I would use any in date dried yeast then take a chance on a poor beer that I had to wait a few weeks to see if it was worth the risk
Maybe you could finish the culture and save it and test it in a small batch beer, if that turns out crap no big deal, if it turns out good, crack on and use it on the next brew