Fullers Harvested Yeast - Use, keep or bin?

[BlackRegent]

I've been getting round to brewing this year's Xmas ale and thought the Fullers yeast would be a good match. I have WLP002 in stock, but as that seems to get a bad rep, I thought I'd try and harvest the yeast from a couple of bottles of 1845 on a stir plate.

I probably didn't follow best practice as I used a 500ml starter and didn't refrigerate the bottles to precipitate as much yeast as possible. There was a slow start with little to no activity for the first 2-3 days. Then suddenly it took off, with the starter going milky and the yeast floccing within around 24 hours. There was little to no krausen that I could discern, but that of itself isn't exceptional for a starter on a stir plate.

I tasted the starter and it has a very distinct Belgian taste - slightly sour with banana and phenols. Nothing at all what one would expect from the Fullers yeast.

My concern is that what I've really cultured is a wild yeast. I've pretty much convinced myself that I'm not going to risk an entire batch on the basis that this yeast will ferment as per the Fullers yeast, but I thought I would see if anyone with experience of culturing the Fullers yeast (or yeast from bottle conditioned beers generally) has had a similar outcome in terms of taste and smell, but the yeast performed fine anyway?

I may keep the yeast for an expendable test batch at a later date to see what happens.

 

[foxbat]

I did a brew from cultured 1845 which worked out OK. The starter wort for me tasted pretty bland. Had it tasted sour I would not have used it.

 

[BlackRegent]

Fair enough, although it was not the sourness that bothered me so much (I have had sour starters before and they turned out fine). It was the very distinct Belgian banana and phenol flavour that concerned me!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Yep, that suggests infection. Life's too short.

 

[Kristoffer]

I did a brew from cultured 1845 which worked out OK. The starter wort for me tasted pretty bland. Had it tasted sour I would not have used it.

Hello , i am getting this thread up, since i am looking for someone who maybe hast harvested the 1845 yeast and could send me some small amout over. I am at the moment trying to harvest it myself but it doesnt seem to work really. The bottles for me looked very very clean. So if anybody has it maybe allready in NACL or something i would be intressted :)

 

[foxbat]

Hello , i am getting this thread up, since i am looking for someone who maybe hast harvested the 1845 yeast and could send me some small amout over. I am at the moment trying to harvest it myself but it doesnt seem to work really. The bottles for me looked very very clean. So if anybody has it maybe allready in NACL or something i would be intressted :)

I'm afraid I only used that strain once and did not keep any.

 

[Kristoffer]

I'm afraid I only used that strain once and did not keep any.

Ah okay , was the Strain like it should be , i mean like you think it should have been in a London Pride or so? AAAAND will you every redo it ? For me its pretty hard and expensive to get the 1845er ale here in germany..,. thats my problem

 

[foxy]

Ah okay , was the Strain like it should be , i mean like you think it should have been in a London Pride or so? AAAAND will you every redo it ? For me its pretty hard and expensive to get the 1845er ale here in germany..,. thats my problem

You have to be certain that the yeast used at bottling is the same strain as the fermenting yeast. Breweries producing bottled conditioned beer will often use a different strain in the bottling plant.

 

[marshbrewer]

Pretty sure it's the primary strain in 1845 @foxy - it's a popular choice for yeast harvesting and the resulting yeast has all the trademark Fuller's marmalade notes.

 

[foxy]

Pretty sure it's the primary strain in 1845 @foxy - it's a popular choice for yeast harvesting and the resulting yeast has all the trademark Fuller's marmalade notes.

We can get 1845 here so I will give it a go.

 

[marshbrewer]

Remember, your best chances of success are if you down five bottles, so that you have lots of yeast to begin with. I mean it's only 7.something %, what could possibly go wrong?

 

[Kristoffer]

We can get 1845 here so I will give it a go.

i would be very intressted in getting some of the slurry if it works i would put it into NACL to store it then .

 

[foxbat]

Remember, your best chances of success are if you down five bottles, so that you have lots of yeast to begin with. I mean it's only 7.something %, what could possibly go wrong?

I managed to get the dregs from two bottles to grow. I chilled them in the fridge for a few days to encourage the yeast to settle before decanting and making a starter.

To be honest I wasn't overly impressed with the beer I made. It was OK, it had the 1845 signature taste but I've made better beer. This might have been down to my handling of the starter or just that I didn't get on with the taste. I don't know.

Ah okay , was the Strain like it should be , i mean like you think it should have been in a London Pride or so? AAAAND will you every redo it ? For me its pretty hard and expensive to get the 1845er ale here in germany..,. thats my problem

Before attempting the bottle route it might be worth contacting Brewlab and asking them if they have a strain that matches the flavour profile of Fullers' beers. Don't explicitly ask for the Fullers yeast - they'll never describe it as that for commercial reasons but if they come back with a suggested match you can bet it'll be what you're looking for.

 

[Kristoffer]

You have to be certain that the yeast used at bottling is the same strain as the fermenting yeast. Breweries producing bottled conditioned beer will often use a different strain in the bottling plant.

Yep but i heard many good results in other forums, so it seems to be the same yeast. I hope at least

 

[Kristoffer]

I managed to get the dregs from two bottles to grow. I chilled them in the fridge for a few days to encourage the yeast to settle before decanting and making a starter.

To be honest I wasn't overly impressed with the beer I made. It was OK, it had the 1845 signature taste but I've made better beer. This might have been down to my handling of the starter or just that I didn't get on with the taste. I don't know.



Before attempting the bottle route it might be worth contacting Brewlab and asking them if they have a strain that matches the flavour profile of Fullers' beers. Don't explicitly ask for the Fullers yeast - they'll never describe it as that for commercial reasons but if they come back with a suggested match you can bet it'll be what you're looking for.

I allready contacted Alison and ask for a simular yeast. I think Thames Valley 3 was a choice...

 

[foxbat]

I allready contacted Alison and ask for a simular yeast. I think Thames Valley 3 was a choice...

Buy it! The Brewlab yeasts are the real deal.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

You have to be certain that the yeast used at bottling is the same strain as the fermenting yeast. Breweries producing bottled conditioned beer will often use a different strain in the bottling plant.

In the case of Fuller's you can be certain - they centrifuge everything and then reseed with 0.5m cells/ml of the production yeast for the bottle conditioned beers - at least, that's what John Keeling said at Brewcon 2018.

Alternatively you could get dregs from a cask....

 

[Kristoffer]

In the case of Fuller's you can be certain - they centrifuge everything and then reseed with 0.5m cells/ml of the production yeast for the bottle conditioned beers - at least, that's what John Keeling said at Brewcon 2018.

Alternatively you could get dregs from a cask....

I am no on the Thames Valley 3. Will get it delivered soon i hope :)