TOP 10 REASONS

FOR FERMENTATION FAILURE

Reason #10
Yeast Is Too Old:

If you have a must that has started fermenting very slowly or
hardly at all, one of the many things you need to ask yourself
is, how long have you had the yeast, and how was it being stored
during that time.

Yeast is a living organism that has a limited life-span just as
any other living thing would. When you purchase yeast it come
conveniently packaged in a suspended, freeze-dried state. When
the dried wine yeast is put in a liquid it rejuvenates itself
back to its original, natural state.

While the yeast is in freeze-dried form it can become old,
however it does not do so all at once, but rather, slowly over
time. The average 5 gram package of dried yeast contains roughly
150 billion yeast cells. More than enough to produce a healthy,
vigorous fermentation in a 5 or 6 gallon batch. Even 75 billion
active yeast cells would be more than sufficient to ignite a very
active fermentation.

A portion of these cells die every year, every month, and even
every day. If you store your packets of yeast at room
temperature, it will be active enough to use for at least 1 year.
If your yeast is being stored above 80 degrees F., then its
useful life-span will be shortened accordingly.

If you store your yeast in the refrigerator, your yeast will be
fine for at least two years. It is important to note here though
that you should never store your yeast in the freezer. Doing so
damages the cell walls of the yeast with freezer-burn. The cell
walls of the yeast actually become damaged from the effects of
freezer-burn.

So, the whole point here is to be aware of the age of yeast
packets you have on hand. Understand that these packets of yeast
will not be usable forever and may be one of many possible
reasons for having a fermentation that will not start.


 

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