Yeast Still good?

[SoInBrew]

I have a wheat extract recipe that I haven't gotten around to brewing for a few months. I noticed the White Labs Hefeweizen liquid yeast says 'Best By Feb 1 2017' on it. It has been refrigerated since I received it. Do you think I can still use it or is it garbage?

Thanks

 

[BWE]

I have a wheat extract recipe that I haven't gotten around to brewing for a few months. I noticed the White Labs Hefeweizen liquid yeast says 'Best By Feb 1 2017' on it. It has been refrigerated since I received it. Do you think I can still use it or is it garbage?

Thanks

Make a starter with it. The yeast will tell you if it's good or not.

 

[RedlegEd]

I have a wheat extract recipe that I haven't gotten around to brewing for a few months. I noticed the White Labs Hefeweizen liquid yeast says 'Best By Feb 1 2017' on it. It has been refrigerated since I received it. Do you think I can still use it or is it garbage?Thanks

+1 on what @BWE says. I'm one of those "never say never" kind of guys. Since it's been refrigerated the whole time, I think you can still use it if you are willing to do a starter. I'd put 3 oz (by wt) of the LME/DME that came with your kit into 1 quart water (gives you an OG of ~1.032.) Boil the wort lightly for a few minutes, cool to ~70°F, pitch your wort & yeast into a sanitized container, and put in on a stir plate (or shake every few hours) until after Krausen is finished (about 18-24 hrs.) Cold crash in refrigerator, and store covered with sanitized foil until you are ready to pitch into your finished wort. The yeast should now have sufficient viability/vitality to do it's job. It's worked for me in the past, if you do not mind spending the time to recover the yeast. The pic below is an Imperial Yeast that was nine months old, and it came right back. Hope it helps. Ed

ETA: BTW, I wouldn't decant since the wort is the same as you are brewing. Why waste an extra quart of beer?!?!

 

[mongoose33]

I had a similar situation, expired yeast the LHBS owner gave me for free. So I tried to make a starter to increase its vitality.

Below are two pics: the first is how the expired yeast looked after cold crashing it. I decided not to use it, and waited a week and built a starter out of a fresh pack. That's the second pic.

If you get a starter that, after crashing, looks like the first one, I'd not pitch it.