[Jeff M]

It sucks.  I am so spoiled working at a HBS where i can just ask the owner to order me a fresh vial of something every week.  We ran out of the yeast i needed over the weekend and didnt place an order this week.  Hard to order a vial and smack pack of Kolsch yeast from one of the better(apparently not) Big box homebrew stores.  It really is a kick in the nads to pay full price for yeast and get packs that are below 50% viability.

The yeast situation IMO reinforces the needed to support local.  Being able to journey to the local HBS and buy fresh yeast is one of the best perks of shopping local. 

/end rant
Jeff

[morticaixavier]

almost as good as being able to drop a quart jar at the local brewery and come back a couple hours later to a pint of thick yeast slurry.

[flbrewer]

almost as good as being able to drop a quart jar at the local brewery and come back a couple hours later to a pint of thick yeast slurry.

Is that a thing? We have a few great local breweries that I would love to beg for yeast slurry.

[Stevie]

Many will. Never hurts to ask

[S. cerevisiae]

Or you can maintain your own yeast bank and break the cycle of dependence! 

[dcb]

I love my local shop for just that reason.  A tiny bit of planning ahead and he'll have fresh smack packs for me by Thursday before brew day.

I  look forward to the day I have my own yeast ranch, but in the mean time, a few Mason jars in the home fridge have cut my yeast bill by 2/3.  I've gotten borderline obsessive trying to learn about yeast biology.  Growing a 2L starter from my own top-cropped samples brings me pleasure all out of proportion to the $6 saved. 

[BrewBama]

50% viable would have been welcomed with open arms on my last smack pack purchase. It came DOA even with the ice pack. . I can only wish I had a LHBS. It's only been legal to homebrew here for a year so the low demand has not attracted any suppliers.

I may try that local brewer jar drop idea. Keith you game?


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[HoosierBrew]

The yeast situation IMO reinforces the needed to support local.  Being able to journey to the local HBS and buy fresh yeast is one of the best perks of shopping local. 

/end rant
Jeff

+1.  I quit buying yeast online years ago after several pretty disappointing experiences. I buy everything I can locally and order non-yeast items only if need be.

[Jeff M]

Or you can maintain your own yeast bank and break the cycle of dependence! 

I agree S, but you need to have a pitch before adding it to your ranch.  I will be adding 2 yeast strains to my newly forming ranch int he next few days.  WLP Plat french Ale and WLP kolsch.

[erockrph]

What gets me is that I can't buy Wyeast local, and several of my favorite strains are WY-only. I think I'm going to have to stash away some 2633 now that I'm brewing more lagers.

[flbrewer]

If I were to do this, what would I ask for? Would a mason jar be a good sample size? How long would that last me?

[kylekohlmorgen]

...It really is a kick in the nads to pay full price for yeast and get packs that are below 50% viability...

Are you measuring viability after receiving the yeast, or just going off of the date and a viability calculator?

I'd be interested to see if the shipping significantly reduces viability.

FWIW - I've always received fresh yeast from MoreBeer and Northern Brewer. I buy two ice packs to go along with it.

I normally pick up a few packs on each order. It really sucks to pay full price + shipping for one yeast pack b/c I forgot to order it.

[Jeff M]

...It really is a kick in the nads to pay full price for yeast and get packs that are below 50% viability...

Are you measuring viability after receiving the yeast, or just going off of the date and a viability calculator?

I'd be interested to see if the shipping significantly reduces viability.

FWIW - I've always received fresh yeast from MoreBeer and Northern Brewer. I buy two ice packs to go along with it.

I normally pick up a few packs on each order. It really sucks to pay full price + shipping for one yeast pack b/c I forgot to order it.

Kyle,

I am assuming perceived viability according to the date on the pack/vial.  I dont have counting/staining equipment atm so i can only use numbers from others.  To morebeer/fedexs credit the item did indeed come in still cold with 1 ice pack for a 2 day ship, but it still irks me that i got 2 packages of yeast half way towards their expiration date. 

[Jeff M]

What gets me is that I can't buy Wyeast local, and several of my favorite strains are WY-only. I think I'm going to have to stash away some 2633 now that I'm brewing more lagers.

I think in this case it would pay for you to invest the 50-60 dollars needed to start a yeast ranch and learn how to autoclave in a stove.  Wyeast doesnt support retail as WL does, so its harder to find fresh Packs.  You are pretty close to me, just send me a message when you are looking for yeast and ill check dates for you and we can figure it out from there.

Jeff 

[morticaixavier]

If I were to do this, what would I ask for? Would a mason jar be a good sample size? How long would that last me?

I would go to the brewery and talk to someone or send an email rather than just showing up with a jar. A pint jar would be more than enough for a 5 gallon batch of ale. I am brewing a lager so I wanted lots. Yeast, kept in the fridge will be good for a couple months although after a couple weeks you are probably better off making a starter anyway. I like to try to pick up my yeast just a few days before I'm going to brew.