Liquid Yeast Shipping Options
It’s always recommended to add an insulated mailer + ice pack(s) to any liquid yeast order. We offer a small kraft paper mailer (which includes 1 ice pack) or a large bubble mailer (which includes 2 ice packs).
How many liquid yeast packets fit in each mailer type:
| Brand | Small Kraft Mailer (1 ice pack) | Large Bubble Mailer (2 ice packs) |
|---|---|---|
| White Labs | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| Imperial Yeast | 1 | 1–2 |
| Wyeast | 1 | 1–2 |
| Omega Yeast | 1 | 1–2 |
Any yeast beyond the mailer capacity will ship outside of it. Order the appropriate mailer size based on how many packets are in your cart.
Plan Your Brew Before You Buy
Liquid yeast should be used as soon as possible after receiving. If you're not planning to brew right away, dry yeast is the better choice as it is shelf stable and can be saved for a brew day several months in the future.
Liquid yeast is alive, and its viable cell count slowly declines from the moment it's packaged, regardless of how well it's stored. Think of liquid yeast like a battery slowly losing its charge.
That said, yeast past its best-by date isn't suddenly bad or unusable. Cell count declining is not the same as yeast dying. A good yeast starter can bring an older pack back up to - and often beyond - the cell count of a fresh pack pitched straight from the package. This applies to yeast that arrived warm too. Heat slows and stresses yeast cells but rarely kills them outright — a starter gives them the conditions to recover and multiply. See Section 5 — How to make a yeast starter — for full instructions.
Liquid Yeast FAQs
No. Don’t buy a kit with liquid yeast selected and wait months to brew it. Liquid yeast cells degrade even when refrigerated — viability drops significantly past 3–4 months from manufacture. If your brew schedule is flexible or far out, choose dry yeast for your kit instead. You can always swap to liquid yeast on a future batch when your timing is right.
Refrigerate immediately at 34–38°F. Do not freeze. Keep away from light and temperature swings. Use within the ideal window above.
Mother of Vinegar, often referred to as the “Mother,” is essentially previously fermented vinegar that’s full of good bacteria, yeast and other microorganisms. The Mother may sometimes include cellulose solids, clumps of yeast or other sediment. Just as yeast converts sugars into alcohol, the Mother converts alcohol into acetic acid. A healthy, strong Mother is important for turning Hard Apple Cider into Apple Cider Vinegar. If you’re familiar with Kombucha, the Mother is similar to a SCOBY. Just like a SCOBY, the Mother is harvested and reused for future fermentations.
Refrigerate immediately. Brief heat exposure during transit is expected and most liquid yeast tolerates it reasonably well. Do not pitch it right away. Give it 24 hours in the fridge to stabilize, then make a yeast starter before brew day to confirm viability and build up cell counts. Yeast that’s been warm for a prolonged period may have reduced viability but can often still produce a healthy fermentation with a starter.
Possibly — but a yeast starter is essential. Past-date yeast isn’t automatically dead, but cell counts will be lower. A 48-hour starter gives remaining cells a chance to propagate. If your starter shows zero activity after 48 hours, the yeast likely hasn’t survived. Check manufacture dates when your order arrives and plan your brew schedule accordingly — liquid yeast is final sale.
Liquid yeast offers thousands more strain options and nuanced flavor profiles that dry strains often can’t replicate — especially for Belgian ales, hefeweizens, and English bitters. The tradeoff is a shorter shelf life, temperature sensitivity during shipping, and the need for more careful planning. If timing is uncertain, dry yeast is the more forgiving choice.
Liquid yeast is a living, perishable product and is final sale. We cannot offer refunds, returns, or replacements for yeast that has exceeded its use window, sustained heat damage during shipping, or was not used before expiration. By purchasing liquid yeast, you acknowledge you have reviewed this page and understand these terms.
How to Make a Yeast Starter for Liquid Yeast
A yeast starter is the single best thing you can do to ensure a healthy, vigorous fermentation — especially if your packet arrived warm, is older than 2 months, or you’re brewing a high-gravity beer. Think of it as waking your yeast up and getting them ready before pitch day.
What you’ll need
- Flask: 500ml, 1L, or 2L
- DME: Pilsen Light (recommended), Bavarian Wheat, or Traditional Dark
- Stir plate + stir bar — recommended but optional
- Foam stopper or sanitized foil
- Water and sanitizer
Shortcut: Omega Propper Starter canned wort — pre-made, no boil needed. Open, pour, pitch. Also available as a complete starter kit if you’re starting from scratch.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Combine 100g of Pilsen Light DME with 1 liter of water in your Erlenmeyer flask. This creates a ~1.037 OG starter wort — the sweet spot for yeast propagation. Pilsen Light is the go-to; it’s neutral and won’t affect your beer’s flavor.
Tip: Using Omega Propper? Open the can, pour into a sanitized flask, and skip straight to step 3.
Bring the wort to a boil for 10–15 minutes to sanitize. Remove from heat and cool to 68–70°F. Speed this up by placing the flask in an ice bath. Don’t pitch yeast into hot wort — it will kill them.
Sanitize the outside of your yeast package. Swirl gently to resuspend the cells, then open and pour into your cooled starter wort.
Tip: Wyeast Activator packs: smack the pack 3–6 hours before pitching to rupture the inner nutrient packet. It should visibly swell before you open it — that’s a good sign the yeast is alive and active.
Place on a stir plate set to a gentle vortex, or swirl by hand every few hours. Cover loosely with a foam stopper or sanitized foil — yeast need oxygen and a way to off-gas CO₂. Keep at 68–72°F.
Tip: No stir plate? Swirl the flask vigorously for 30 seconds every time you walk by. It works.
You should see activity — cloudiness, bubbling, a foam ring — within 12–24 hours. Let it run 24–48 hours total. A healthy starter smells yeasty and slightly sweet. No activity at 48 hours likely means low or no viability.
Optional but recommended: 12–24 hours before brew day, move the starter to the fridge. The yeast will settle to the bottom. On brew day, pour off most of the liquid, swirl up the slurry, and pitch into your wort.
Tip: Skipping the fridge step is fine — pitching the full starter works well for most beers under ~1.060 OG.
Starter Product Links
By purchasing liquid yeast from Craft a Brew, you acknowledge that it is a living, perishable product sold final sale. We are not responsible for viability loss due to heat exposure during shipping, use past the manufacture date window, improper storage, or delayed brew schedules. We strongly advise reviewing this page in full before purchasing liquid yeast or any kit with a liquid yeast option selected.
