I saw a recipe on the AHA website for Klang Freudenfest Oktoberfest. After purchasing the ingredients from my LHBS, I noticed that the Wyeast 2633 Oktoberfest Lager has a date of September 8, 2016. Will I be able to use this if I worked up a 1L starter?
You may well be able to work it up doing a few steps. Maybe start with 0.5L and let that do it’s thing, then 1L, then 2L until you get enough yeast. My only experience with that yeast was a stone dead smack pack.
That said, I would be tempted to bring that back to the place you got it and say “hey, how about giving me one that isn’t expired”. Starting with limping yeast isn’t going to make things any easier.
My LHBS often gives me a free pack of expired yeast. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Last one was just last week. It was a Feb. 2016 English Bitter yeast. Took about 5 days to finish .5L starter. I always smell and taste the result. This one tasted like meaty burned rubber, so I dumped.
At 6+ months I’d give it a try, but I sure wouldn’t pay for it and I’d have another yeast on hand as a back up.
My LHBS gladly made an exchange. Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager dated 2/22/2017. I was going to give the other a try but I feel much better with something that is newer. Thanks for the input!
One thing to note on the older 2206 pack, I have multiple times had a pack of 2206 take several days to get going in the starter. I saw basically nothing on the last pack of it that I got for 3 days and then it took off (on a stir plate). So, if you put it in a starter and don’t see anything right off that might be what is up.