Two completely dead yeast pitches... What is going on?

[LarMoeCur]

I've been using liquid yeast for 20 years. I always buy on Wednesday and pitch into a starter that night for my brew day on Saturday. Up until this month, I've never had a completely dead pitch. My starters always start, well I've had two completely dead pitches in the last 30 days. Pitched one August 8th completely dead, pitch one Wednesday this week. Both into a 1000ml (1.036) starter on a stir plate. Both completely dead. I just took a gravity reading and still right on 1.036 four days later. This one was manufactured on May 25th best by Nov 21st. Not the freshest of pitches but that's why I build it up in a starter.

Yeast isn't cheap at 8 bucks a pitch. Plus the cost of the DME in the starter, my time, and a completely wasted brew day that I cleared with SWMBO. I'm just glad, it didn't cost me a full batch. Now, I got to call the customer service line and ***** at them about getting my 16 bucks back!

I know it got shipped in the summer months. I know the homebrew shop may have not put it in the refrigerator right away. I know it's most likely out of their control. But, I got to vent! It completely ruined my holiday brewing weekend!

Anyone else have this happen? Did lighting strike me twice?

 

[mongoose33]

Same yeast from the same lot?

 

[Yooper]

Some homebrew stores guarantee their yeast, so call them and see if they'll make it right. I've never had a completely dead package of yeast, and I've had yeast shipped in hot weather- but I don't brew in a hot climate where it may have been sitting on a hot truck over a weekend either.

 

[LarMoeCur]

Same yeast from the same lot?

Nope different yeast strain and different lots.

Some homebrew stores guarantee their yeast, so call them and see if they'll make it right. I've never had a completely dead package of yeast, and I've had yeast shipped in hot weather- but I don't brew in a hot climate where it may have been sitting on a hot truck over a weekend either.

No guarantee at my store. I do know it was overnight shipped in a styrofoam container with ice packs. In 20 years, I've never had a completely dead pitch. Well now I have two under my belt.

 

[SanPancho]

Never hurts to have some dry stuff on hand. Just for emergencies.

 

[CodeSection]

Just a couple of thoughts. While anything could have happened when shipped to your local store, the common denominator is you bought from them. The shipment to them could have been with different shipments.

With that said, why not politely tell the owner what happened and see what the response is. Whether you routinely buy from them or not, it gives the store an opportunity to generate goodwill by helping you out someway...perhaps at least 50% off the next yeast package you buy.....perhaps a refund of some kind.

I think it is an excellent opportunity for the store to create goodwill and a loyal customer even though it may not have been their fault. Such a goodwill gesture is so cheap....you can't buy that type of marketing.

Good luck!

 

[LarMoeCur]

I called the company. They are sending me replacements. All is good.

 

[IslandLizard]

I called the company. They are sending me replacements. All is good.

Glad to hear they're making somewhat good on it.

I've had yeast that was stored in the fridge for many months (years even), come back to life after 4-7 days on the stir plate. Usually, with older yeast, you see a color change (it becomes noticeably lighter) after that time. If that doesn't happen, like in your case, it's pretty much futile, and a total loss.

Now a 1 liter starter for 24 hours will not generate a whole lot of cells for you, especially if it's older or was shipped or stored under less favorable conditions. When you use a yeast calculator you'll see that for a nominal gravity 5 gallon batch you may be underpitching for quite a bit (as much as 50%). I'd look into doing 2 liter starters instead, and overbuild them so you can save (ranch) some yeast for your next (overbuilt) starter, and so on. Definitely when you need to special ship yeast in, that's costly, as much or more than 2 packs of yeast itself.

If you don't brew with the same yeasts frequently enough, deep freeze with some gelatin in test tubes.

 

[Soulshine2]

I've been using liquid yeast for 20 years. I always buy on Wednesday and pitch into a starter that night for my brew day on Saturday. Up until this month, I've never had a completely dead pitch. My starters always start, well I've had two completely dead pitches in the last 30 days. Pitched one August 8th completely dead, pitch one Wednesday this week. Both into a 1000ml (1.036) starter on a stir plate. Both completely dead. I just took a gravity reading and still right on 1.036 four days later. This one was manufactured on May 25th best by Nov 21st. Not the freshest of pitches but that's why I build it up in a starter.

Yeast isn't cheap at 8 bucks a pitch. Plus the cost of the DME in the starter, my time, and a completely wasted brew day that I cleared with SWMBO. I'm just glad, it didn't cost me a full batch. Now, I got to call the customer service line and ***** at them about getting my 16 bucks back!

I know it got shipped in the summer months. I know the homebrew shop may have not put it in the refrigerator right away. I know it's most likely out of their control. But, I got to vent! It completely ruined my holiday brewing weekend!

Anyone else have this happen? Did lighting strike me twice?

Mind saying what yeast it was and where you got it? I had some that was warm and I think dead when I received it too, about 3 weeks ago now.

 

[LarMoeCur]

Glad to hear they're making somewhat good on it.

I've had yeast that was stored in the fridge for many months (years even), come back to life after 4-7 days on the stir plate. Usually, with older yeast, you see a color change (it becomes noticeably lighter) after that time. If that doesn't happen, like in your case, it's pretty much futile, and a total loss.

Now a 1 liter starter for 24 hours will not generate a whole lot of cells for you, especially if it's older or was shipped or stored under less favorable conditions. When you use a yeast calculator you'll see that for a nominal gravity 5 gallon batch you may be underpitching for quite a bit (as much as 50%). I'd look into doing 2 liter starters instead, and overbuild them so you can save (ranch) some yeast for your next (overbuilt) starter, and so on. Definitely when you need to special ship yeast in, that's costly, as much or more than 2 packs of yeast itself.

If you don't brew with the same yeasts frequently enough, deep freeze with some gelatin in test tubes.

I live in south Texas so I plan on receiving compromised (not completely dead) yeast pitches. Depending on the beer and how the yeast starter reacts. I normally do at least two step-ups. The first is always a 1-liter starter just to hedge my bet. Then I move up to 2, 3, and sometimes 4 liter ones. I let this one go 4 days and it didn’t move .001 in gravity.

Mind saying what yeast it was and where you got it? I had some that was warm and I think dead when I received it too, about 3 weeks ago now.

I was purposely leaving out the yeast brand and strain to avoid putting the manufacture on blast without giving them the benefit of the doubt. The manufacturer’s customer service was fantastic! First words after I told my story were “we will send you coupons for new pitches, don’t worry”. Then he followed up with lot numbers, dates, and processes questions. Even thou they made it right, I can’t 100% say how the yeast got compromised. So, I’d rather not say.

 

[Soulshine2]

I live in south Texas so I plan on receiving compromised (not completely dead) yeast pitches. Depending on the beer and how the yeast starter reacts. I normally do at least two step-ups. The first is always a 1-liter starter just to hedge my bet. Then I move up to 2, 3, and sometimes 4 liter ones. I let this one go 4 days and it didn’t move .001 in gravity.




I was purposely leaving out the yeast brand and strain to avoid putting the manufacture on blast without giving them the benefit of the doubt. The manufacturer’s customer service was fantastic! First words after I told my story were “we will send you coupons for new pitches, don’t worry”. Then he followed up with lot numbers, dates, and processes questions. Even thou they made it right, I can’t 100% say how the yeast got compromised. So, I’d rather not say.

I understand , but it would be nice to know if possibly it might be a strain/batch problem, not necessarily a vendor problem. Basically as a general "product recall" would cover . I live in Northern Alabama , my last yeast batch was "compromised " as well. In hindsight, I doubt I'll ever order a liquid yeast again. First time doing so , had problems that I never had with dry active packets.

 

[IslandLizard]

As a general rule I only order yeast during the mild months, and I check the predicted temps along the most likely route before doing so. Never had any problems that way. Always order on a Sunday or Monday and make sure there are no holidays/potential layovers in the week.

One of my 2 LHBS has pretty much the full range of White Labs in stock, so getting any of those is a no-brainer.

Now I make starters about a week before brewing, not the day before. I overbuild, cold crash, save most slurry out, then do another one that gets pitched.

I love oxygenating starters and batches of wort. It really helps with fast lift offs.