Frozen yeast :(

[DarthBeer]

I'm pretty sure I know the answer but thought I ask to make sure.
I accidentally put a package of liquid yeast in a freezer for a few hours. Is this recoverable or just toss the pack and go get another one?

 

[masskrug]

People do freeze yeast-on purpose, for long-term storage. Thaw it out and give it a healthy starter. See what happens. I think you will be fine.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/freezing-yeast.html

 

[william_shakes_beer]

People do freeze yeast-on purpose, for long-term storage. Thaw it out and give it a healthy starter. See what happens. I think you will be fine.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/freezing-yeast.html

Yes, but they prepare them in glycol, not water. I agree: a few hours most likely did to kill a prepanderances of the cells. Spin up a starter and make your decision then. Most likely it'll take longer to start, but will be fine.

 

[boydster]

When people freeze it on purpose, they generally use a cryoprotectant like glycogen. You probably killed a lot, but not all, of the yeast. I would start with a small starter, adding one more step up than you would normally do.

 

[PRE66_6TART]

I ordered yeast over the winter that arrived frozen, and found several other threads from people who had done the same, and everything turned out fine for everyone. White Labs has also said on a couple different occasions that accidentally freezing your yeast only kills about 10 percent of them. I'm still not sure if I completely buy that number, but you certainly didn't kill them all.

 

[DarthBeer]

This yeast (wyeast sweet mead) is actually bubbling along much better than the previous batch which was not frozen. Although that yeast the redstar champagne dry yeast. That maybe common between dry and liquid. I've only used liquid a couple of times.