Thats a good price for grain.. I pay a buck per pound... Probably the easiest way to start with yeast banking/ranching is to use a wine thief/turkey baster, pull some from the fermenter while its really rolling along... Put in a sanitized pint jar... You only need a few tablespoons worth to tinker with... I will then pour about an inch or more of a hoppy brew over it, put some Saran Wrap over the jar and a rubber band to keep it held fast. Then just pull it out when you usually do your starter, pour off the beer cap, leave a little behind so as to get the yeast into a slurry and pitch to your starter... Sanitizing is most important... Once you do this a few times, you'll get the hang of it... There are other ways, scooping some out after fermentation is done and just after you rack off the yeast cake... Then to wash/separate the dead from the viable yeast... OR, doing a starter and keep building it up, then to separate that into 2 jars... one to use now and one for down the road... WHEW... If you don't try, you'll never know... My Australian yeast from Whites I was able to use 9 times... The last time I could detect something out of place in the background... Wasn't bad, but I figured, it had served me quite well! Sneezles61
