How fresh should yeast ordered be?

That's getting up there in age. Wyeast and White Labs claim their yeast are viable for up to 4 months. Regardless, I would make a starter especially when yeast is older than 1 month and/or your beer has an OG of more than 1.050.

 

October will be fine, should still have plenty of healthy cells. I brewed with 3522 manufactured in October this past weekend. Made a 1 litter starter with nutrient blend for a 2.5 gallon batch and the yeast got to work within 2 hours of pitching, and provided a vigorous fermentation.

Use a pitching rate calculator to figure out size of starter needed for your brew.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

I ordered a smack pack of 3724 from a seller on Ebay and received it yesterday. They sent me a smack pack from FEBRUARY.
It's been on the stir plate for 18 hours, no sign of life whatsoever. Idiots.

 

one reason Wyeast provides the smack pack is to check for yeast health. the package should swell. 2 or 3 months for Wyeast package isn't really a problem unless stored poorly.

making a starter is always a good idea, if not absolutely required. if you have the equipment and the time, make a starter. otherwise you can pitch after the package swells and you will make beer. don't sweat it.

Cheers.

 

If I get a 2+ month old pouch or vial of a commonly used (high turnover) yeast strain, I'm annoyed. The online HBSs should be able to manage their inventories better than that. But for low turnover strains, I pretty much expect it, and just make the starter bigger to compensate.

 

Yeah, that's kind of old for a strain to be sold to you. You could write an email and probably get another one for free.
I think you should expect to make a starter with any yeast you buy online. Just stay prepared and keep those 3rd runnings going on the mashes.

 

This is why I rarely buy liquid yeast on-line anymore. Even when I buy at my LHBS, I will go in with a couple strains in mind (if possible) and then buy the freshest...usually no more than 2 weeks old.

 

My last dopplebock I brewed, I ordered the yeast in December, they sent me a pack dated March of the same year. Part of the reason why I don't use Brewmasters Warehouse anymore. I have always received fresher yeast from my LHBS (last batch of American Ale II I purchased was 15 days old) than when I order online. I swear most online LHBS's save their old crap for us mail order folk. Truthfully, though, I think October will be fine. Just be sure to make a starter.

 

You are on the good side, assuming you kept it under the right temp.
Cheers

 

I've used Wyeast propagators that were a year old with good results. A two or three month old smack pack shouldn't be a problem if it was properly stored.

 

I guess it depends on turn over of yeast strains. I bet their most used stuff is fresher obviously. If you want the choice to order it online, then chances are its not something that will move all that fast.

That said. my LHBS, I can get 80% of the strains from WY that are in under 2-3 weeks in age. Some creep up there, like some lagers and some wild stuff.

2 months should be an issue and I wouldnt be that upset. You need a starter anyways, and for all reason, it pretty much negates any issues in age anyways if theres something viable.

 

They'll ship out what they have.
I presume they do something along the lines of "first in, first out" (economic principles) where they pack and ship the oldest one they have.
They may have had a reduced demand for that strain compared to what they anticipated.
As far as viability goes, you should still be more than fine. If it was dated Octobor 2012, then I might worry, but a couple months later you will have a bit less live yeast than when packed, but once you run a starter, that will bring it back to normal rates anyways.

 

The customer ends up eating it when the LHBS has old stock to move because the yeast labs don't care enough about the product's freshness to ensure the customer doesn't end up eating it when the LHBS has old stock to move.