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subwyking · 11-03-2005, 04:23 PM

is it possible to "steal" a yeast strain from a commercial bottle of brew? i would imagine this would involve pitching the beer into a starter or something like that.

Darth Konvel · 11-03-2005, 04:50 PM

It depends on who made the beer, as there needs to be live yeast in there to cultivate.

Here's a good article on the subject: BYO - Round It Up! Collecting Yeast from Bottles

drengel · 11-03-2005, 04:57 PM

yeah you can. you need to pour the beer very carefully to leave the yeast in the bottom of the bottle, also you need to have a yeast starrter made and cooled. then you pour in the yeast starter and fashion an airlock out of foil or drill a hole in a beer cap and put a three piece airlock on it. after a day or two pitch into some wort. its a good way to save money on yeast and get a few pet strains from other breweries. problem is finding unfiltered bottle conditioned beer, and making sure the yeast in the bottle isn't a bottling strain rather than a primary strain. i havent seemed to find any good resource to tell what beers have primary yeast strains that are easy to cultivate. the easiest to find seems to be wheat beers, i think bridgeport IPA is bottle conditioned as well. if anyone has a list of commercially available beers with good yeast, please let us know.

subwyking · 11-03-2005, 05:44 PM

so an unfiltered wheat beer is a sure bet to steal yeast?

**Baron von BeeGee** · 11-03-2005, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subwyking

so an unfiltered wheat beer is a sure bet to steal yeast?

Not according to my research. Apparently most wheat beers, at least hefes, are bottled with a "bottling strain" of yeast for bottle conditioning which is not the same as the "primary strain" used for fermenting the wort. There were one or two exceptions, but I don't remember which they were.

I remember encountering several web pages with lists of beers that were appropriate for culturing yeasts including footnotes as to which ones were primary strains and which were likely bottling strains. I'll try to remember to post them this evening.

Edit: couldn't wait...here's a pretty comprehensive resource:
http://www.nada.kth.se/~alun/Beer/Bottle-Yeasts/

Here is speculation as to what strains certain Wyeast strains actually are:
http://smurman.best.vwh.net/zymurgy/wyeast.html+wyeast+strains+source&hl=en

God Emporer BillyBrew · 11-03-2005, 07:25 PM

Yeah, bridgeport is bottled conditioned and quite tasty to boot. I'll be doing a clone soon and plan on stealing my yeast from one of there bottles.

drengel · 11-03-2005, 09:47 PM

most american wheats that are unfiltered and unpasteurized have the primary yeast strain, other european hefes are likely pasteurized to keep longer so the yeast, whether or not it is a bottling strain or primary, is unviable. i'd just do the research on the beers you can buy in your area- make sure to always get the freshest batch you can find, enough breweries put brewed on dates or good by dates on their bottles so its easy to figure out the freshest ones.

subwyking · 11-03-2005, 11:28 PM

ok thanks for all the info guys. the knowledge of this forum never ceases to amaze me.

Spoonta · 11-08-2005, 11:15 AM

I dont know if you guys get it over there but you can steel the yeast from coppers range of beers

Ed_Savage · 11-11-2005, 03:38 PM

I've heared most brewerys will give you yeast if you ask. You just need to bring a sanitised jar or jug. Im gonig to ask McMenimens for some of their Terminator Stout yeast. Im also thinking about calling Bridgeport and asking if they give away yeast. I just work 4 blocks away from the brewery. Just a quick trip after work and im off to brew!!