I received my first kit for home brewing in the mail this past Thursday. Looking to brew my first batch Tuesday or Wednesday. I am unsure whether or not to put the packet of dried yeast in my fridge. The packet of yeast just says to keep in a cool dry place. But the instructions that came with the kit say to keep it refrigerated. Which is correct? Thanks Andy
Fridge. Also, good practice to keep hops in a fridge too. But at this point, it shouldn't matter much.
Dry yeast stored in the refrigerator will last a long time, years. The freezer is even better truthfully. At room temp the shelf life is a year or two. There is an expiration date on the package. It does not go bad but the performance suffers. And since yeast performance is one of the most important considerations for quality brew you should try to eliminate that potential problem if you can. Consider replacing the dry yeast that came with the kit as that has traditionally been the weak link in all kits. It's a lot better than it was years ago though. It's not a bad idea to have a few US-05 packages on hand. Getting a wort ready for pitching and discovering you don't have good yeast ready to go makes for a bad day. Cheers
Always keep dry yeast in the fridge until the day of brewing. However, for kits, bear in mind that the kit was probably sitting on a shelf at room temperature for months depending on the seller.
