How long can harvested yeast last?

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Covrich

Covrich

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I am thinking for the future here but just say for example you buy an expensive liquid yeast for a particular style such as a Saison.. Now a saison style you may not make again for some time to say you harvested the with some of the beer or even made a starter for the harvest.. how long would you expect it to last for in the fridge?

Normally you see people say use it within a few days/ weeks but your average HB isn't going to make a batch of say Saison then put another one on to cook a few days later right?
 
I made a starter on Saturday and pitched yesterday with yeast I harvested in mid November.

I collect the slurry from the bottom of the fermenter and keep it in a sanitized jar in the fridge. I don't wash the yeast prior to storage as I have read that the alcohol, hops and ph of the beer in the jar provide a better storage environment than water. It's also easier and provides one less opportunity to introduce infection.

When I want to create a starter I'll take a few big spoonfuls of yeast slurry and add to the starter. I get about 5 or 6 starters from one jar.
 
Think about harvesting yeast from bottle conditioned beers. These might have sat around at room temperature for months and will only have a tiny amount of yeast in them to begin with. Yet you can successfully culture these up to pitchable amounts over a couple of weeks.

If you have a decent amount of yeast slurry you should be fine to store it for months. Just make sure you give yourself enough time to build up a good starter. If it really has been a year you might need to step it up once or twice.
 
Thanks..

I think thats what I might do, get teh yeast, harvest and then leave it and possibly make a 1 liter starter and a 2 liter after depending on when I decide to use it again
 
mike77 said:
I made a starter on Saturday and pitched yesterday with yeast I harvested in mid November.

I collect the slurry from the bottom of the fermenter and keep it in a sanitized jar in the fridge. I don't wash the yeast prior to storage as I have read that the alcohol, hops and ph of the beer in the jar provide a better storage environment than water. It's also easier and provides one less opportunity to introduce infection.

When I want to create a starter I'll take a few big spoonfuls of yeast slurry and add to the starter. I get about 5 or 6 starters from one jar.
Click to expand...

Same for me except I split the trub into 2 after siphoning. I generally use one half for a new batch and just refresh it in 500ml of 1.020 DME, just gets the cells healthy.



Just on Saison, ive been keeping one on the go continuosly for 5 generations now on belle saison yeast Just chucking the fresh wort on to the trub of the last. Fermentation kicks off in much less than 12 hours. Check the SG after 4-6 weeks and it's 1.001/1.002 on last batch.
 
duncans said:
Same for me except I split the trub into 2 after siphoning. I generally use one half for a new batch and just refresh it in 500ml of 1.020 DME, just gets the cells healthy.



Just on Saison, ive been keeping one on the go continuosly for 5 generations now on belle saison yeast Just chucking the fresh wort on to the trub of the last. Fermentation kicks off in much less than 12 hours. Check the SG after 4-6 weeks and it's 1.001/1.002 on last batch.
Click to expand...

That is food for thought, with the saison I didn't know whether it was better to go for a proper liquid strain for that full funkiness, but I hear belle saison is pretty good.. I did one with mangrove jacks which was.. ok
 
I am sure other strains will be nicer, flavour wise. If you are successful with liquid yeasts then I am sure it is worth trying them. I have a white labs roselare and Biere de garde that are in this ball-park that have brett or wild yeadt in- I am itching to try them.

I have had fermentation temperature control problems that a lot of dried and liquid yeasts have struggled with. Belle saison just ploughs through regardless, good result every time. Brew fridge is up and running so hopefully use more liquid yeasts now.
 
What I do is wash the yeast from a batch (unless I were to buy a vial of liquid again) and keep that. They last for a few months easily. When I'm ready I make an oversized starter (1.5 quarts) and save 1/3 for next time. This way there is no washing of yeast again, and it sits in the starter (mild beer).
 
I use wyeast French saison 3711. I've actually got a jar of that in the fridge. Always had good results with that as it's not too fussy about temperature. Produces a good beer in my opinion.
 

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