yeast slightly frozen
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:59 pm
by sharkguy05
I left my yeast in my truck over night and it froze slightly. Its a Wyeast smack pack. I think this should be ok since they store yeast frozen, but I wanted some opinions. I plan on making a starter.
Re: yeast slightly frozen
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:14 pm
by Whitebeard_Brewer
Let it warm to room temp, smack it and see what happens, if it swells, make a starter with it, if it doesn't swell, you might have to get some new yeast.
Re: yeast slightly frozen
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:16 pm
by brewinhard
Let it warm up to room temps, smack it hard, and shake it often. Give it a good 5-6 hrs to swell (at least since it was frozen). If it swells even a little then you know you have some viable yeast to work with. If it doesn't swell at all, give it the remainder of the day to try to swell, then go ahead and make a small starter for it to see if you can get it working. My guess is that you will be just fine. Either way you should make a starter. Good luck!
Re: yeast slightly frozen
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 6:54 pm
by phodog
Did a Lambic and the wyeast came frozen solid. I let it thaw warmed it, smacked it, and it took right off. Pitched that bad boy about 4 hours after smacking.
Re: yeast slightly frozen
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:11 pm
by sharkguy05
Swelled fully in like 4 hrs, make starter n was fermenting in like 2 hrs
Re: yeast slightly frozen
Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:09 am
by MNHazmat
Bought the yeast for the barleywine that I'll be brewing next week a couple of weeks ago. Forgot I had bought it and left it in a bag in the garage along with all the tubing and other misc stuff I had picked up. Don't know if it froze or not, it certainly was cold enough. Pitched it into a 3L starter tonight so we'll see...
Re: yeast slightly frozen
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:36 pm
by Drawdy
Good to hear. Thanks for posting this and easing the nerves of others with frozen yeast. Fermentation is the most frustrating part of beer making for me so I focus on yeast health and ferm temps alot.