re: wyeast 1056 american ale the pack is dated 17Feb15 and has been in my refrigerator since about 3/15/15. i grabbed the pack out of the refrigerator this evening to smack it in prep for a starter tomorrow morning. looks like it got bumped at some point and perhaps the nutrient package busted open, and the pack is now a bit swollen. hard to say when the swelling began. i am curious to know if i should rely on this pack and go ahead with the starter tomorrow, or just buy a new pack tomorrow and delay the brewday if need be. if the pack has been in the refrigerator and continues to swell overnight, is this an indication that i can move ahead - or worst case scenario, if perhaps the nutrient packet was bumped in the frig and 'smacked' as much as 6 or 7 weeks ago is the yeast shot ? thanks for any tips.
I think you should be fine. I've never used a smack pack that old, but yeast stores pretty good in the fridge. I highly doubt there is an infection. In the future, I would suggest keeping some Nottingham, or US05 on hand if you really don't feel too comfortable using what you planned on. I only say Nottingham because I know it's a very reliable rock solid dry yeast that never lets me down.
Sometimes the packs swell even if the inner nutrient pack has not been broken. But regardless of why it swelled, I don't see any reason to fear there's anything wrong with your yeast.
