Has anyone had the experience of yeast freezing SOLID? I opened my mini-fridge this morning to find my cans of Imperial Yeast froze solid. My vials, as well as my new pkgs. of White Labs seem to be fine, as was my Mason jar of a washed yeast. I moved the cans to my kegerator which is currently set at 50 degrees, in an attempt to "thaw" the cans slowly over the next several days. Question: Has permanent damage (dead yeast) occurred, and IF the attempt to thaw the yeast is successful, what are the chances it will be viable?
Why not shoot an e-mail to Imperial Yeast with your query and see what those fellows have to say on this matter. Cheers!
That's not good. Yeast cells can rupture when frozen. If you want to try to revitalize them you should make a small starter with weak wort. Do a second step starter with 1.040 wort. Build the culture back up and take gravity readings to prove that they're working. The next batch you make should be low stakes. For me, that means a split batch of session beer.
I tried contacting Imperial through their website via email, but their server is down, so I have posted on their Facebook page, and I'm awaiting their response.
I tried contacting Imperial through their website via email, but their server is down, so I have posted on their Facebook page, and I'm awaiting their response.
Hopefully they will get back to your shortly. I had a chance to speak to 3-4 of the Imperial Yeast guys at the 2015 NHC. They are all good guys and one of the fellows is Jess Caudill who I know very well from his Wyeast days. It appears that their site is back up; I just went there. http://www.imperialyeast.com/contact/ Cheers!
I have been wondering: why did the Imperial Yeast cans freeze solid but the other yeast did not? Cheers!
Cool, I'll send them my inquiry. Yeah, I wondered the same thing about the freezing issue. The yeast I planned to pitch was froze solid, yet the slurry in the Mason jar that I got from the guys at HUB, as well as the White Labs vials and Pure Pitch pkgs seemed fine. I ended up pitching the slurry I got from HUB. I'll keep an eye and make notes on my fermentation.
