Harvesting yeast from your own bottle

[oldjiver]

I have never re used a yeast, being nervous about infections. Reading the threads about yeast washing interested me. No horror stories of pouring 23ltrs away! My usual method before bottling is to add finings to the FV the day before and then bottle the semi-clear beer. This gives a whisper of sediment in the bottle but is enough to carbonate the beer within a week. It occurred to me that I could simply make a starter from a beer a month old (I brew monthly usually) The test of the yeast would be does the beer taste OK. Has anyone done this/ and how long would it take to become a viable starter?

 

[Dr Mike]

This should be doable. Graham Wheeler recommends using your own bottled beer as a yeast bank in his books.

The procedure should be the same as recovering yeast from a commercial beer. Start with a very small starter volume and then step up.

 

[graysalchemy]

You will have better success if you top crop your yeast from the Krausan, it is more viable than yeast which drops out of suspension when it is in the bottle, which will have lower floculation due to genetic drift.

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[oldjiver]

I can see advantages in both methods. Using your own bottled beer keeps the yeast under a nice cosy covering of clean beer, which also gives a good marker as to the yeasts condition when you drink it. Harvesting the krausen gives you back basically what you just put in, but you do have to take more care with storage. Thanks both for your advice!
Incidentally, does anyone use half packets, and just grow a bigger starter? I know Palmer bungs in two packs, but I have economized on occasions.

 

[iceo]

i tent to take my yeast from the bottom of the fv after a week when i move to the second fv. wash it a few time then put in vials in the fridge. then make a starter a few hours before i brew.

got 6 vials at the mo. 3(4th gen) taken from a bottle of coop goldminer and 3(1st gen) taken from a jocs norfolks kiwi mini keg. as i only do kits and juice cider at the mo im still playing with yeast.

 

[mike77]

I sterilize and fill jars with slurry from the bottom of the fermenter and store them in the fridge unwashed. The yeast and trub settles out with a layer of beer on top. In the past I have poured off the beer and then pitched the whole jar and had no problems. In future I am going to just take a few teaspoons of the slurry from the jar and make a 1L starter. That way I should get several 1L starters from 1 jar and also I will know if the yeast is viable or not depending on the outcome of the starter.

 

[godfrey]

had anyone tried freezing the slurry / sediment for re-use later ?

I know with my bread yeast I keep it in the freezer

I would think that freezing the yeast from brewing would be much the same

 

[graysalchemy]

Yes you can but you need to mix it with Glycerine.

50% yeast slurry, 25% glycerine and 25% boiled and cooled water.

You can only freeze small samples and you need to keep them in the coldest part of the freezer and protect against freeze thaw cycles by placing them in an insulated box.

 

[godfrey]

thanks graysalchemy !!!

I was planning to freeze the slurry from my current batch of cherry wine

I will certainly use the advice you have given, to give the little yeasties the best chance of surviving hibernation

 

[godfrey]

another thought I just had.

as the brewing yeast is not so much different than bakers yeast

do you think that mixing the solution with plain flour to make a dough

this could then be easily formed into small 1cm ish cubes and packaged in non stick baking paper for boxing and freezing

I hope this is not a stupid idea lol

 

[graysalchemy]

I would say not as there are plenty of other natural yeasts and bacteria in flour, hence why it is so easy to make sourdough starters.

 

[godfrey]

that makes sence :-)

I guess I need to find some small liquid containers for the solution

from my batches of champagne I guess there was about 50ml of slurry after racking
and I would say half of that was leftover liquid from the batch

add another 50 ml for water and glycerine

I guess 10x 10ml or 5x 20ml frozen samples

 

[iceo]

i was cheeky the last time i was in the doctors they have a box of clean sample bottles on the counter so i borrowed a few :twisted: :whistle: :hmm:
made sure they was cleaned well just in case :sick:

 

[Devonhomebrew]

1 up for skimming i skim every brew i make at work after 3 days nice and creamy yeasties are then used in 4 days to pitch in a new brew

 

[oldjiver]

Going off at an angle... Presumably a new packet of dried yeast is in perfect condition. It contains about a heaped teaspoon of yeast. How about splitting it into 4, sealing each quarter in silver paper and plastic bag, putting 3 in fridge for the next 3 brews, and growing a starter from the remaining one? If you can grow a starter from a risky sludge is it better to grow a starter from a non-risky quarter portion of perfect yeast, cutting your yeast bill by 75%?
Questions..
Does a sealed yeast packet start to deteriorate as soon as it is opened?
Will it keep in your sealed packing long enough to be practical
Is there any disadvantage in starting from a small amount and growing it? (Palmer uses two packs)
Is it worth it to save a quid?

 

[alexnharvey]

It seems simpler to make a very large starter first time and only use a fraction retaining the remainder as slurry frozen with glycerol as a bank. You can continue to reuse your yeast from bottle or fv for generation, but you can always go back to your bank if infected or performing poorly.