cjalderman
Well-Known Member
I recently bought some 3763 that was manufactured on June 12. It've been keeping it in the fridge and it was also kept in one at the store. Is it still good to use?
Wyeast 3763 Roeselare shelf life
- Thread starter cjalderman
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definitely! I recently made a gallon of cider using a pack of roselare that was over a year old. a few caveats to that though:
you will want to make a starter, or use it in a very small batch of beer (like 1 gallon of 1.055 OG wort). At this point you only have about 40 bil cells. Check yeastcalc.com to see exactly how many viable cells are left and what OG/volume matches that (or what to do in order to build it up).
If you make a starter you could build it up... the only problem is WYEAST advises against making starters of roselare, as it is a blend of ale yeast and wild bacterias (and the ale yeasts will build up more so/quicker than the wild bacteria). The result is a less "roselare" character - but you'll have more yeast and you could make more beer. I used a starter in my roselare cider, and it fermented - but lacked the nice roselare character.
you will want to make a starter, or use it in a very small batch of beer (like 1 gallon of 1.055 OG wort). At this point you only have about 40 bil cells. Check yeastcalc.com to see exactly how many viable cells are left and what OG/volume matches that (or what to do in order to build it up).
If you make a starter you could build it up... the only problem is WYEAST advises against making starters of roselare, as it is a blend of ale yeast and wild bacterias (and the ale yeasts will build up more so/quicker than the wild bacteria). The result is a less "roselare" character - but you'll have more yeast and you could make more beer. I used a starter in my roselare cider, and it fermented - but lacked the nice roselare character.
You should still be able to use it, but the yeast viability will be much lower. I recently had this happen; I bought some Roe back in February, and ended up fermenting a sour with my last packet of it in August. The smack pack barely inflated, so I bought a second 3763, and smacked that one, which was fine.
As jfolks says, you could make a starter, but I strongly advise against it. It's already hard enough to get a sour beer quickly out of Roeselare. It takes quite a bit of time to produce that traditional Rodenbach Flanders red sourness. If you make a starter, the saccharomyces in the culture will overpower the bugs, and you will end up with an even less sour beer. I suggest grabbing another 3763, or WLP655, which isn't exactly the same, but is still a culture of Sacc, Lacto, Pedio and Brett, like WY3763
As jfolks says, you could make a starter, but I strongly advise against it. It's already hard enough to get a sour beer quickly out of Roeselare. It takes quite a bit of time to produce that traditional Rodenbach Flanders red sourness. If you make a starter, the saccharomyces in the culture will overpower the bugs, and you will end up with an even less sour beer. I suggest grabbing another 3763, or WLP655, which isn't exactly the same, but is still a culture of Sacc, Lacto, Pedio and Brett, like WY3763
Could you start a small batch like 2 gallons, and after say a week add 3 gal more? Or will the sacc still be present disproportionately by that time, and outcompete the Roeselare? Seems like the sacc strain is always ahead, because it "runs" faster.
The bugs are still good, use it as it is. Don't make a starter. Have some spare back-up Belgian yeast though.
The sacc is probably really low, so if you don't see any activity after 2 days, pitch the back-up yeast. Two days is fine, it will not hurt your beer, and will give the bugs a couple of days to start building up their populations before the sacc starts creating alcohol.
Why Belgian yeast? The belief is that the Brett flavors are better (or more traditional) from the esters produced by a Belgian yeast than from a clean yeast. Any yeast would probably do.
I did this exact same thing back in January (used a pack about 9 months old). Last month (8 months old) I moved a couple of gallons of it on to some fruit, and it tasted great. I probably will not bottle any of it until mid next year.
Good luck.
The sacc is probably really low, so if you don't see any activity after 2 days, pitch the back-up yeast. Two days is fine, it will not hurt your beer, and will give the bugs a couple of days to start building up their populations before the sacc starts creating alcohol.
Why Belgian yeast? The belief is that the Brett flavors are better (or more traditional) from the esters produced by a Belgian yeast than from a clean yeast. Any yeast would probably do.
I did this exact same thing back in January (used a pack about 9 months old). Last month (8 months old) I moved a couple of gallons of it on to some fruit, and it tasted great. I probably will not bottle any of it until mid next year.
Good luck.
