Yeast and splitting starters help

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I decided the next step in upping my beer game is to use liquid yeast and starters. I watched a few videos about making starters and all looks fairly simple, I even managed to pick up a free magnetic stirrer and stir bars.

I have read a bit about splitting the starter and saving some yeast for later brews. Anyone any advice on this? few things Im unsure about:
- How much yeast do I need to keep back for next brew?
- How do I store it? I was thinking of buying a mini tabletop fridge (Aldi have a decent looking one for £50).
- How long will it store for?
- Do others recommend doing this? The cost of liquid yeast is the reason I have not yet tried it.

Thanks for any help with this, Im hoping this will make a decent improvement to my beers.
 
There is more than one way of doing it. I use 2lt but you can use 1lt of boiled then cooled malt extract for one pack of yeast, I prefer 2lt as I like a big started but 1lt is adequate. Ferment out then divide into 6 sterile containers under some of the spent malt extract. I use small beakers with lids about 4" high by about 3"diameter Keep in the fridge then make a fresh starter with one of the stored yeasts 3 days before you brew. I have kept the split yeast in the fridge for at least 6 months before with no deterioration. Never bothered with stir plate just regular shaking.
 
Thanks, so do you pour off most of the brewed malt extract, swirl to get the yeast back into a slurry then pour into small beakers? How do you know the cell count of each beaker for your pitch rate calculator?

I can get 100s of 50mL plastic vials with caps (someone ordered them at work and they have been getting in the way for years and have never found a use for them) so was hoping I could split the yeast into small vials for easy storage in the fridge.
 
Thanks, so do you pour off most of the brewed malt extract, swirl to get the yeast back into a slurry then pour into small beakers? How do you know the cell count of each beaker for your pitch rate calculator?

I can get 100s of 50mL plastic vials with caps (someone ordered them at work and they have been getting in the way for years and have never found a use for them) so was hoping I could split the yeast into small vials for easy storage in the fridge.

Yes I poured off most of the extract to leave a covering around an inch and swirled back into the yeast to make it more manageable. Once in the fridge the yeast will settle and the extract forms a protective covering. Never done a yeast count or used a pitch calculator, I've been doing this from before the internet was around so such things were unheard of. but I have never had one fail. I split 6 ways but you may want to do 4 or 5 ways first time if you are worried about under pitching.
 
I've been doing this for over a year. I use this calculator as a downloaded excel spreadsheet to do my sums, I overbuild by 100 billion cells which is generally around the 500 ml mark which is easy to store in kilner jars or PET bottles in a mini-fridge like you mention. Yeast loses about 20% viability per month hitting 25% at 6 months so it lasts pretty well especially if you only keep a strain or two in use. I have 5 - 6 generally and that's pushing it to keep them in use, trying to pare it down to 4 if I can.
 
Thanks for the help. I plan to keep about 4 going. If I was to not use a yeast for 6 month could I just create another starter again from what I have and put it back in the fridge?

@Zephyr259 - I started reading the Kveik thread, this is one of the yeasts I plan to store. I see you have a few beers there using it, I guess you are liking it?
 
Thanks for the help. I plan to keep about 4 going. If I was to not use a yeast for 6 month could I just create another starter again from what I have and put it back in the fridge?

@Zephyr259 - I started reading the Kveik thread, this is one of the yeasts I plan to store. I see you have a few beers there using it, I guess you are liking it?

Yup you can keep the strain for six months and build it back up again

You can store yeast for months/years even just at room temp. That's how I store strains that I'm not sure wether I'm going to use again but dont want to get rid off (because I dont have enough room in the fridge - I keep 4 strains in centrifuge tubes and a jar of trub to make into starters in my domestic fridge). You just need to build them back up again. I basically just keep a 330ml bottle of beer as a 'strain build up' bottle. People (including myself) have built up yeast from 40 year old bottles of beer
 
@xozzx Yeah, as MyQul says just build it up in another starter, at 6 months 100 BC becomes about 25 BC which is just right for a 500 ml starter to bump it back to 100 BC.

The Voss kveik is a good strain, I've retired it for now and have 2 vials frozen (with glycerol to prevent the yeast dying) and 1 in the fridge. The Opshaug strain has only been used in a 1.100 OG braggot and it's chewed down to 1.023 in 11 days and is still going slowly. Not as fast as Voss but it's had a harder job with the high OG, 35% of which was simple sugars from honey and I only pitched 0.1 million cells/ml/P which would be a horrendous underpitch, but kveik likes that.

I've built up the remaining Opshaug in a 500 ml starter and it filled a 2L flask with foam and has made a tonne of new yeast. very easy to handle these strains it seems.
 
@xozzx Yeah, as MyQul says just build it up in another starter, at 6 months 100 BC becomes about 25 BC which is just right for a 500 ml starter to bump it back to 100 BC.

The Voss kveik is a good strain, I've retired it for now and have 2 vials frozen (with glycerol to prevent the yeast dying) and 1 in the fridge. The Opshaug strain has only been used in a 1.100 OG braggot and it's chewed down to 1.023 in 11 days and is still going slowly. Not as fast as Voss but it's had a harder job with the high OG, 35% of which was simple sugars from honey and I only pitched 0.1 million cells/ml/P which would be a horrendous underpitch, but kveik likes that.

I've built up the remaining Opshaug in a 500 ml starter and it filled a 2L flask with foam and has made a tonne of new yeast. very easy to handle these strains it seems.

That Kveik yeast is amazing. Its like a cockroach, no matter what you do it doesn't die. And no matter how small amount you pitch it always comes back with a vengeance.
 
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