Yeast bank

question me building a yeast bank want to have several starters ready once a starter ready how long it does stay fine in my fridge

I have had no problems with using a starter which was kept in the refrigerator for three weeks. I’ll make a vitality starter for a starter that was refrigerated for four to six weeks. My vitality starter is to add 500 ml of fresh wort about 12 hours before I will pitch the yeast. The yeast is usually actively fermenting the new wort at the time of pitching. I don’t feel it is necessary to use a stir plate for a vitality starter.

I will make a full starter for yeast that has been stored 6 weeks to six months. Don’t normally have harvested yeast longer than 6 months. The yeast is replaced by a fresh harvest.

For longer term storage, you might want to look into freezing yeast with glycerine. With a decent size chest freezer and some additional precautions, you can easily keep yeast samples for over a year with minimal degradation. Might be worth looking into due to your location.

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yes thats what i was thinking
how do you use the glycerine for cooling
will tell my wife not to put much food in the freezer need space for my yeast

The glycerine prevents ice crystals from forming, which will kill the yeast when it freezes. I believe it’s a 10% solution of vegetable glycerine and distilled water, and you add an amount of yeast slurry to it. White labs vials work well, and I think you can order new ones. They’re just blanks from plastic soda bottles.

As far as storing, you’ll want to make an insulated box to hold the vials to minimize the temperature swings as the freezer cycles, as temperature changes will harm the yeast. You obviously won’t be able to hold the yeast indefinitely at -80C like in a lab freezer, but keeping it at -20C with minimal temperature change will be better than keeping them in the fridge. An old foam cooler would be good for storing the vials.

If you search for “glycerine yeast freezing” you should be able to find some good tutorials on how to do it.

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Also read Yeast by Chris White and, I can’t remember the other gentleman, He does go into this topic… Sneezles61

Did read about it gonna try. But not real specific on how much yeast per vial i need to add

Check this link out to see if it answers your question, especially the video:
http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Saccharomyces#Storage

Well we shall see did a few vials. Of yeast saison wyeast. Not sure if i do this again amazed that i could find glycerine here on island. So got six vials in the freezer

Where you hit by the storm out there? Sneezles61

No nothing only lots of rain. It was to far away

I thought I heard Belize on the news with the storm… Good to hear home brewer wasn’t hampered! Sneezles61

Thanks again we where lucky but it does come closer and closer. Just went to pick up my kveik yeast from fedex. Still nice and cold. Tonight make a starter. For wedness day session. Last monday brew session. Few more days check abv. And wait for krausen to drop move to second

How did that Kveik yeast work out for you at the warmer temps @wilcolandzaat? Is it as clean as the manufacturer says?

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I used Kveik at low to mid 70s with great results. No off flavors, and outperformed a healthy dose of 1272 at 6w degrees. I’m curious what typical Temps do. I may set up a heated (!) Fermentation chamber to push it further.

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Yes it does. It works perfect for my climate here. Og drops real fast. It comes out with a real nice you good like what they say bottle with in 30 to 40 days. Final grav. Will be 1.010 . But i still do the 6 to 8 weeks wait in second. After 8 weeks. In the second fermenter fg 1.010. So me happy with this kind of yeast strain