In search of fresh Wyeast - are there really any dealers?

I am so tired of going to my local homebrew shop and finding the yeast I want, only to discover its been sitting in the refrigerator for three months plus.  So I then order online from the big mail order retailers, only to find it is two months plus since the production date.  I feel cheated buying yeast at $7 / pack when its viability is 50% or less.  When making big beers that means using multiple packs and multi-step propagation.  Then there is the yeast vitality issue when its been poorly handled, (got too warm sitting in a box somewhere).  Surely there must be some retailer out there that will sell me fresh yeast packs made last week.  I remember when the Chi Company use to sell Wyeast shipped directly from the factory.  Would love to find that kind of deal again.

Where are you shopping? I’ve had good experiences at both shops in Albuquerque.

3+ month old yeast is unheard of from any of the online retailers, IME. At least with the major ones, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten anything older than maybe 4-5 weeks.

You may well be able to find Wyeast 1056 in the local homebrew shops manufactured 2 weeks ago. (Does anyone really still use this yeast?  Guess so as its always recently dated.) Not usually true with my choices such as Wyeat 3787 and Wyeast 1762. Recently in my two local shops, these were dated 3 months and 4+ months out.  I note that when they have several packages of 3787, they seem to sit on the self until sold regardless of the date.  Even on my recent order last week from a big internet homebrew shop, both these yeasts came to me 2 months old.  Personally, I would like to see the bar raised and get yeast in its prime, no later than 2 weeks from manufacture.  That should be the new standard.

Sent an email to Wyeast.  They do not sell directly to the public as expected.

Error on my part about above Chi Company post.  They were selling White Labs yeast directly rather than Wyeast.

Done with my rant.  Still looking for a source for fresh Wyeast, may have to rethink this and start using White Lab products.

I understand your frustration and I can’t really think of a great solution that includes retailers other than the manufacturers.  If HBSs had a two-week window to ship freshly packaged yeast they’d be losing a lot of money due to “waste” or liquid yeast would be even more expensive to make it worth while to them. 
Personally, I familiarize myself with the delivery day for yeast at my LHBS and when I go in to pick up yeast I usually have a couple of alternates strains in mind so that I can use the freshest yeast available.  If I’m set on one particular strain, sometimes that means doing multi-step starters.

+1.  It’s a tough spot for LHBS - they’d have to charge a good amount more for liquid yeast if every package was fresh from the manufacturer. What my LHBS does is to only sell liquid cultures from Wyeast (with the exception of WLP001) - turn over is quick, meaning more fresh shipments.

EDIT - yes, people still use 1056, pretty regularly I would venture.  :wink:

I do get my yeast shipped direct from WYeast. I pay about $100 shipping.

If this is so important, buy yeast direct as a brewer. I think minimum is one liter + over night shipping. I do not think WYeast require brewers notice to buy wholesale.

If this is too expensive just start making starter or repitch more often.

I Cant speak for all HBS but i can for the one i work at.  We lean towards White labs because they have a returnablility program.  WL understands that you cant predict what people will ask for but want you to have a diverse selection.  They enable you to return a certain amount of each strain every 3 months, allowing the ability to stock quite a bit of product with a low risk to the retailer…  Wyeast has no such program, so the HBS i work at is reluctant to stock heavy in wyeast, because for every 5 Wyeast packs we sell, we seem to lose 1.

Both big liquid yeast manufacturers require next day air.  it adds significantly to the cost of a yeast vial.  White labs sells direct to the public… if you can stomach the cost of shipping.

Good luck man, considering the strains available to both manufacturers, id look for the WL alternative and buy whatever is fresher.

Jeff

If you plan ahead just a bit, maybe your LHBS will order what you want when you want it.  The guy I use is great about that.  I email him a week or two in advance of brewing and let him know what I’d like to have.  If he doesn’t have anything fresh in stock, I usually get an email about Thursday letting me know that my stuff is there and in the fridge with my name on it.  It’s a great arrangement that lets us both deal with a bit less uncertainty.