Guys, I pulled a package of Omega Mexican from my fridge knowing that it had been in there awhile. The date on it is March 2023 which is older than I thought. I planned to make a starter with it tonight but I don't know that I can resurrect a package of lager yeast that old. I also see that I have two packs of Baja in the fridge. Does anyone in here have enough experience with WLP940 and Omega Mexican to tell me if Baja has the same character? If it does, I would try it. If it doesn't I would attempt the starter with Omega Mexican. IME, Omega Mexican and 940 are the same strain. Any advice on trying the starter with a package this old? I have had good luck with 'expired' yeast but this feels like it's pushing it.
@Denny: To me, 940 screams "Mexican". It can't really be described, you just have to know it. When I drink Victoria or Modelo, I get that awesome 940 aroma. 940 absolutely has to be Modelo's strain of lager yeast. You can only really know it by tasting it and knowing how the yeast character should be. I stopped at a little brewery in western Illinois this past week and there was a Mexican Lager on tap called Isabelle. I ordered it and it was fine but it didn't have that character. At some point Wyeast released something called 2005 Mexicana Lager (or Mexicana Cerveza). I hoped it was Wyeast's version of 940 but it wasn't. The other big brewery in Mexico (Cerveceria Moctezuma) brews Dos Equis, Sol, Tecate, Indio, Bohemia and some others. These beers don't have the same character as the Modelo beers .. Corona, Modelo, Victoria, Negra Modelo, etc. If Baja doesn't have the 940 character, maybe it's a dry version of 2005 Mexicana or something else entirely.