White labs Vermont Ale yeast question

[Tunabeast]

For my next NEIPA I'm looking at switching from US-05 to White Labs Vermont Ale, which is in stock at Brewuk for a hefty £7.38 (+ P&P).

I usually have a brew day every 6 weeks or so, I was wondering if it were possible to harvest yeast from a batch to be re-used at a later date - are there any guides on this knocking about on how to do this and would the yeast still be viable after 6 weeks?

 

[Leon103]

Do you mean Yeast Bay Vermont ale yeast?

Yes there are a few options you could try.
I would wash the yeast.

 

[foxbat]

Yes you can harvest yeast from the trub cake post-fermentation. I prefer to build a bigger starter and keep some of that back for next time.

It will certainly be viable after 6 weeks, but you will need to build a starter again. The Vermont yeast is an excellent strain and well worth getting into.

 

[Tunabeast]

Thanks.

Interesting idea to hold back some of the starter foxbat, have you done this in the past? Any tips on storage conditions i.e. store in fridge or freezer?

Will watch some videos on YouTube later.

 

[foxbat]

Thanks.

Interesting idea to hold back some of the starter foxbat, have you done this in the past? Any tips on storage conditions i.e. store in fridge or freezer?

Will watch some videos on YouTube later.

Yes I do it with every pack/vial that I buy and usually more than once to get the most out of the initial spend. Here's a great online guide.

In the short term (months) keep yeast in the fridge, not the freezer. Freezing it causes the ice to kill the yeast. For the long term yeast can be kept in the freezer if the storage medium is glycerine not water to keep it from freezing but that's a bit of an advanced topic and I never bother with it.

 

[Tunabeast]

Great guide and relatively simple to do by the looks of it.

For making the starter do you use dry malt extract or wort from a brew? I'm guessing there's no harm in using extract even if it's going to be used in an all grain fermentation?

Going to invest in a flask and stir plate for making starters next.

 

[foxbat]

Great guide and relatively simple to do by the looks of it.

For making the starter do you use dry malt extract or wort from a brew? I'm guessing there's no harm in using extract even if it's going to be used in an all grain fermentation?

Going to invest in a flask and stir plate for making starters next.

I use DME. There's a thread here about using real wort starters. Cream supplies usually have the best prices on flasks. I bought a 2 litre Academy flask and then had to upgrade to a 3 litre one a few months later when I started doing lagers (lagers need big starters). You can buy stir plates but many people build their own. There's a good guide right here on the forum.

 

[foxbat]

In fact I see Cream have got the 5 litre flasks back in stock so I just ordered myself a Christmas present!

 

[Braindead]

This yeast improves after several washes. Its a beast and one of my favs

 

[MyQul]

You dont need a flask and a stir plate for starters (unless you really want to buy them). The main advantage of flask/stir plate is you get a higher yeald of yeast. I just put some yeast trub in a demijon with some starter wort and shake it several times per day

There's a number of different ways to use you're yeast more than once and keep it going. My personal favourite is to harvest the slurry into a jar after you've syphoned the beer off a brew . Then keep the slurry in a jar in the fridge. Every time I need some yeast I put a couple of teaspoon fuls of slurry into a starter. Doing this the jar of slurry lasts me months