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Homebrew Company - liquid yeast - OLD

Started by Paul86, April 02, 2019, 02:37:46 PM

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Paul86

Hi Everyone,

This is the second time I have purchased Liquid Yeast (WLP007) from the home brew company.

The manufacture date was 12NOV2018, giving me an estimated cell viability of ~6Billion Cells (today being 02APR2019) the sachet expire 11MAY2019.

I paid around 8Euro for this product and now have to go prep a starter to compensate for the poor viability, really poor that they are sending out products like this nearing end of shelf life and charging so much.

Has anyone else had similar experiences??

Paul

LordEoin

so... you're miffed that you had to pay full price for a packet of yeast that's still in date?
I had a similar experience where Tesco charged me full price for all of my shopping that was still in date too.

Paul86

Quote from: LordEoin on April 02, 2019, 03:04:53 PM
so... you're miffed that you had to pay full price for a packet of yeast that's still in date?
I had a similar experience where Tesco charged me full price for all of my shopping that was still in date too.

I just think its bad form selling products with little or no viability. If I were to buy 100 eggs from Tesco and only 6 were fresh/usable I would bring them back and I have no doubt I would get a refund/exchange. But I would imagine tesco wouldnt sell substandard products  :laugh: :laugh:

Taught I was unlucky to get a short exp 1st time but 2 in a row  >:(


I wouldnt be as annoyed if the sachet was 2 maybe 3 months old but almost 5 months old and reaching exp date. I dont think it would be unreasonable for them to add an exp date on these kind of items given they are sourced internationally.


Water_Wolf

In fairness to HBC, they can only work with supply and demand and a limited number of deliveries from White Labs a year. They usually let us know on the forum when a new White Labs delivery is being ordered. They can't do much more than that!

The vial is still perfectly usable, there'll just be a longer lag time if you pitch it direct. To be honest, I nearly always make a starter no matter what yeast I'm using as I want to know it's alive before I pitch it.

The new Wicklow Hop Company yeasts they are selling are going to be kept fresher by the sounds of things. I had one sitting in my fridge for two months before pitching it straight last weekend and it took off within 12 hours.

fishjam45 (Colin)

What he said ... The Wicklow Hops Company yeast is available through the HBC and its a fresh as you are going to get it in fairness. I've use it numerous times now and you can direct pitch it too which saves the hassle of making a starter.

Can't recommend it enough.
Garden County Brewers

https://gcbrewers.wordpress.com/

nigel_c

If you have a problem with an order or product you really should take it up with the supplier you got it from rather then post on a forum. They may not be very active and not see this post for a good while.

BrewDorg

If we're going to give homebrew stores in Ireland this sort of message, they'll just stop buying such a wide range of liquid yeasts and that won't benefit any of us. From their point of view, it's difficult to shift a diverse range of yeasts in a small market in a short timeframe. I've even seen posts from US homebrew store owners that have difficulty with this and they'd have a much larger market. A shorter date isn't ideal, but spinning up a starter is a lot better than not being able to get the strain at all.


delzep

Homebrew suppliers could maybe offer a euro off a bag of DME to use for a starter when selling a short dated yeast?

molc

Quote from: fishjam45 (Colin) on April 02, 2019, 08:43:08 PM
What he said ... The Wicklow Hops Company yeast is available through the HBC and its a fresh as you are going to get it in fairness. I've use it numerous times now and you can direct pitch it too which saves the hassle of making a starter.

Can't recommend it enough.

This and also the only way WHC will be able to keep selling is if we're buying, making it viable.
Fermenting: IPA, Lambic, Mead
Conditioning: Lambic, Cider, RIS, Ole Ale, Saison
On Tap: IPA, Helles, Best Bitter

Paul86

Quote from: nigel_c on April 02, 2019, 09:09:46 PM
If you have a problem with an order or product you really should take it up with the supplier you got it from rather then post on a forum. They may not be very active and not see this post for a good while.

Hi Nigel, I will write HBC but was looking to see if anyone has had similar exp or was I just unlucky on both occasions

Paul86

Quote from: Water_Wolf on April 02, 2019, 03:36:50 PM
In fairness to HBC, they can only work with supply and demand and a limited number of deliveries from White Labs a year. They usually let us know on the forum when a new White Labs delivery is being ordered. They can't do much more than that!

The vial is still perfectly usable, there'll just be a longer lag time if you pitch it direct. To be honest, I nearly always make a starter no matter what yeast I'm using as I want to know it's alive before I pitch it.

The new Wicklow Hop Company yeasts they are selling are going to be kept fresher by the sounds of things. I had one sitting in my fridge for two months before pitching it straight last weekend and it took off within 12 hours.

I was looking at WHC yeast and would be very interested in trying out in future, was put off abit by the price but if they can deliver on viability I think it may indeed be worth the extra euros.

Qs

Some of the English sites have the dates of the yeast on their site. That might be a good compromise.

Otherwise just stick with WHC.

CH

Even with "purepitch" always make a starter, irrespective of production date.
It's a great indicator of the health of your yeast and nearly impossible to overpitch, highly possible to underpitch without starter as there are other factors like temp etc not just sell by date affecting viability.

mac2k

Quote from: fishjam45 (Colin) on April 02, 2019, 08:43:08 PM
What he said ... The Wicklow Hops Company yeast is available through the HBC and its a fresh as you are going to get it in fairness. I've use it numerous times now and you can direct pitch it too which saves the hassle of making a starter.

Can't recommend it enough.

Yep, The WHC stuff looks excellent. Have direct pitched "the Wall" it was 4 or 5 months old and the 20l batch took off like a rocket.  Will be using more of their stuff in future and I think I will replace my goto WPL090 with the wall permanently.