I had the luck of picking up about 4 vials of White labs that are just a bit out of their expiration dates and about 3 Wyeast packs that are DEFINITELY past their expiration dates.
I’m not to worried about the White Labs, as I can just make a quick starter and we are good.
Would the Wyeast be fine if I threw it in a starter with some energizer and nutrient?
As always you guys rock!
Best,
RH
you sure can!
A starter of about 1.033 OG should work right?
How Long can a yeast be expired before a starter is of no good?
[quote=“GriGri614”]A starter of about 1.033 OG should work right?
How Long can a yeast be expired before a starter is of no good?[/quote]
I usually shoot for 1.035, but that should work. I’ve used yeasts that were over a year old with no problems. I step-started those.
[quote=“Edward Teach”][quote=“GriGri614”]A starter of about 1.033 OG should work right?
How Long can a yeast be expired before a starter is of no good?[/quote]
I usually shoot for 1.035, but that should work. I’ve used yeasts that were over a year old with no problems. I step-started those.[/quote]
Step Started?
[quote=“GriGri614”][quote=“Edward Teach”][quote=“GriGri614”]A starter of about 1.033 OG should work right?
How Long can a yeast be expired before a starter is of no good?[/quote]
I usually shoot for 1.035, but that should work. I’ve used yeasts that were over a year old with no problems. I step-started those.[/quote]
Step Started?[/quote]
start with a 500mL starter, then chill & decant and add to a 1000mL starter, repeat to a 2000mL starter.
Step Started?[/quote]
start with a 500mL starter, then chill & decant and add to a 1000mL starter, repeat to a 2000mL starter.[/quote]
So start the 500mL at 1.035 OG when that is done fermenting, pitch that into a 1000mL starter and so on? This is in an effort to no stress the yeast with to much sugar after being dormant for so long, correct?
Correct and you are building it back up slowly, BUT, this is a process that you are not going to do in a couple days
Exactly, and this is why I don’t do this.
It could probably take up to 2 weeks with building up the culture.
I am a poor grad student, I don’t mind building up healthy yeast if t means I don’t have to buy a new batch each brew session.
At some point it could cost almost as much in DME as it does to buy new yeast.
I am currently using the end of second runnings and only have to add a little DME for my starters.
I’ve built up yeasts from a single bottle before, but it takes forever, a lot of patience, and DME.
Do you not use a stir plate? I keep a culture bank and grow all of my yeast starters from a culture needle scraping for every brew. I can go from culture to 800mL starter fully grown out in about 3 days on the stir plate. Growing from a bottle I would probably start small and step up but I can’t imagine it taking more than a week. I am just curious what our differences are.
I have collected from the bottom of my primary , stored and created a starter from that before, but I would love to be able to bank some yeast and have it on hand.
any recommendations or resources?
Best
[quote=“GriGri614”]I have collected from the bottom of my primary , stored and created a starter from that before, but I would love to be able to bank some yeast and have it on hand.
any recommendations or resources?
Best[/quote]
“but I would love to be able to bank some yeast and have it on hand”
I am confused, isn’t that what you say you are doing?
Do you not use a stir plate? I keep a culture bank and grow all of my yeast starters from a culture needle scraping for every brew. I can go from culture to 800mL starter fully grown out in about 3 days on the stir plate. Growing from a bottle I would probably start small and step up but I can’t imagine it taking more than a week. I am just curious what our differences are.[/quote]I didn’t have much experience with build ups at the time & had no stir plate then either. I actually started it in the bottle (Chimay Grande Reserve) and ended up in a growler. I chilled & decanted every step. I have learned a lot since then.
I’m attempting to. I know how to make a starter and that’s about it. I just learned about yeast washing, so I gotta try that.
My plan was to build up a starter, brew a beer, and wash the yeast from that and store those. That is the plan anyway. I’ve never done it before.
Best
Flag porter from England uses a yeast that came from a bottle of beer that sat in a ship wreck in the English channel for way over 100 years.
Do you not use a stir plate? I keep a culture bank and grow all of my yeast starters from a culture needle scraping for every brew. I can go from culture to 800mL starter fully grown out in about 3 days on the stir plate. Growing from a bottle I would probably start small and step up but I can’t imagine it taking more than a week. I am just curious what our differences are.[/quote]I didn’t have much experience with build ups at the time & had no stir plate then either. I actually started it in the bottle (Chimay Grande Reserve) and ended up in a growler. I chilled & decanted every step. I have learned a lot since then.[/quote]
I was going to build up a yeast from a bottle a couple of times but never did. The last one I was going to do was when I was trying to clone a seasonal release from a small/medium brewery. I e-mailed the brewer and asked if he would tell me if the bottling yeast was the same as the fermenting yeast. He wrote back that it was not really necessary, the yeast was a standard american ale yeast. At some point I will grow from a bottle just to do it.
[quote=“GriGri614”]I have collected from the bottom of my primary , stored and created a starter from that before, but I would love to be able to bank some yeast and have it on hand.
any recommendations or resources?
Best[/quote]
I am sure there are good resources that people can point you to. I have an advantage over most. My father is a microbiologist, he actually worked for a yeast manufacturer many years ago. I got him into home brewing. Every time I try a new yeast he takes the residue from the vial or smack pack, does an isolation in a petri dish then uses the isolated culture (this makes sure you don’t have a bacteria in there or something) and then makes up cultures on agar slants in test tubes. Ever few months I make up a new batch of agar slant test tubes and re-culture the strains that I have in inventory. My knowledge was taught to me and had a source for good equipment to use.
