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homebrewer_99 · 06-21-2007, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98EXL

yeah, I was talking to one of the guys at the LHBS and he said hopped DME over regular DME.....like I had any real clue, so I submitted and said sure!

Be sure about it and don't get it anymore. Going unhopped allows you to regulate the amount of hops you want in your brew.

**BierMuncher** · 06-21-2007, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98EXL

...Now, if I want to save my yeast from this weekend.....do I have to wash it ASAP? To clarify, what if I can't find suitable containers by saturday for washed yeast? Can I just save the trub from the primary or what?

I use these simple apple juice jars for collecting and separating my yeasts. I pull more than enough yeast out of the fermenter that I never use a starter. I’ve also pulled yeast out of the fridge that was sealed and capped in a beer bottle that was 4 months old and never had any problems.

98EXL · 06-21-2007, 06:58 PM

hells yes it is!

FireBrewer · 06-21-2007, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homebrewer_99

I use baby food jars and the vials

Don't know why I didn't think of that, thanks for the tip!!

Now I know what to do with those jars...I'm sure the SWMBO will be happy about saving something other than beer bottles.

98EXL · 06-21-2007, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homebrewer_99

Be sure about it and don't get it anymore. Going unhopped allows you to regulate the amount of hops you want in your brew.

well...we'll see, there are so many different ways, I'm only going to figure out what works best for me until I do it

homebrewer_99 · 06-21-2007, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98EXL

well...we'll see, there are so many different ways, I'm only going to figure out what works best for me until I do it

If you go "pre-hopped" you never know how bitter your brew will be. If you're a hophead then I guess it doesn't matter.

98EXL · 06-21-2007, 07:28 PM

98EXL = hophead

Moonpile · 06-21-2007, 07:39 PM

Beirmuncher, can you please tell us more about what we're seeing with the three bottles full of yeast? Great pic by the way!

Why is there so much yeast and so little wort/beer in the middle one?

Does the difference in colors between the Irish Ale and the Safale result from the beer you retrieved them from or from the yeast itself?

Did you just pour or siphon from the yeast cake into these bottles?

How long do you leave them out at room temp with airlocks before re-use? I'm wondering if I could just save the cake from the fermenter in a bottle like this and wait a week or two to use it in the next batch.

Thanks!

Beerrific · 06-22-2007, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homebrewer_99

Just in the fridge. I have sucessfully used yeast that was expired over 1 year old!

I did have to make a starter about 4-5 days sooner than brewing, but I always plan for that. Following my own preaching...NEVER brew a batch without making a starter first to make sure the yeast is alive and good.

As for splitting a larger starter, I've done that, but you really end up with more yeast if you wash it from the primary. I've made a starter and re-filled the vial the yeast came in, but I did not split it into 4.

Dating your yeast samples is key to using the oldest first. Sometimes I'll combine 2-3 baby food jars into 1 batch just to use them because of the date, but I didn't have to...I ended up with new washed yeast after that batch anyway, just another generation.

I was listening to an old Basic Brewing Radio podcast where the interviewed Charlie Papazian. In 1983 he was asked to make a special brew for a brewery. Instead of using dry yeast (only thing that was available to homebrewers) he got a big culture from a brewery (wouldn't say who, it is in his book). After brewing this special beer he saved some of the yeast.

He has been using the same strain of yeast since then...for 23 YEARS!! (OK, many will argue that it isn't the same stain but...). Uses this yeast for lagers and ales. This strain is probably older than I am (born late '83).

He said that it got infected with some wild yeast a few years back so he put it in some wort, let it ferment, and left it there for 2-3 years. Decided to try it out, all wild yeast gone, and fermenting cleanly. He said it is the only yeast he really uses now, likes to experiment with malt/hops more now. Also said he sent it out to White Labs for analysis, they said they couldn't believe how clean it was.

Something to works toward.

98EXL · 06-22-2007, 07:35 PM

umm.....damn!