Storing re-cultured coopers yeast

Hi all, Being an Aussie living in Belgium, I miss my Coopers Pale Ale. I am going to get a 6pack of coopers pale ale brought over to me from Australia. And I would like to re-culture the yeast, and make a clone.

It would be nice to get 2 maybe 3 batches out of this, if possible. As it is not that easy nor cheap to get these bottles over.

Once reactivated I was thinking of building it up in a Erlenmeyer flask, then separate and store it, for 2-3 batches. Or perhaps more if it is possible! If it is possible to wash it after primary for 1 more batch

Any advice on this? Is it even possible? Or will I just get 1 batch out of the reactivated yeast.

Thanks

Pardon my ignorance, but I don't know that much about Coopers beer. Assuming it is bottle conditioned and they use the same yeast to carbonate as was used during fermentation then yes, you could propagate the yeast and store it. Most people use with mason jars or centrifuge tubes for this. For long term storage you might consider glycerin freezing.

Refrigerated yeast is good for months. Properly frozen yeast is good for years.

Can you buy the yeast by itself, or is what they sell in sachets different from what you are looking for?

I am not sure what the coopers dry yeast is, and they don’t sell it at any home brew shops in Belgium, well that I know of.

Most recipes for cooper’s pale ale use re-cultured yeast, some use Safale S-04.

I guess I could just try, and look more into glycerine. My freezer drops below -20 c (-4 f) so I hope it would be cold enough.

If I were you,I would get a starter of og1.025 ready. About 250ml to start with.
Let it go for about 4 days,pour off the beer and do the same again.
After another four days or so,double the volume and then use the yeast on a five ltr batch.
When the small batchbof beer is done you can divide the yeast cake into jars and keep them in the fridge.

Perhaps you could have some yeast shipped to your friends place in Australia and then he can bring it with him when he brings the beer.

For yeast storage, colder is better, but any freezer is better than none. The glycerin actually prevents the sample from freezing. (Ice crystals could damage the yeast cells especially if they melt and reform as happens in typical domestic use freezers)

Cooper's yeast and kits are easy to get from online vendors in Germany - i don't think it should be that hard to get them in/to Belgium. In fact, I still have an unopened 6g pack of Cooper's yeast in my fridge.

for example:
http://www.braupartner.de/shop/Coopers_Real_Ale-_das_Original_(17_kg-Dose).phtml
http://www.genussreich-shop.de/epages/61551058.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61551058/Products/101204

badlee said:

When the small batchbof beer is done you can divide the yeast cake into jars and keep them in the fridge.

Click to expand...

I was thinking of just using 2000ml Erlenmeyer flask, using the same process of making a starter but just keep building it up. (Maybe this might be a good excuse to get a stir plate ) Then split it into 2 flasks and repeat. Wash it, then split it again, hopefully having 4 usable samples. Freezing 3 in a solution distilled water/glycerine. And 1 to pitch in my clone

WoodlandBrew said:

Perhaps you could have some yeast shipped to your friends place in Australia and then he can bring it with him when he brings the beer.

For yeast storage, colder is better, but any freezer is better than none. The glycerin actually prevents the sample from freezing. (Ice crystals could damage the yeast cells especially if they melt and reform as happens in typical domestic use freezers)

Click to expand...

I think I could order some online and have it shipped to me here. Perhaps I could split my batch into 2 fermenters and do a test, compare the 2.

Yes I heard that the defrost cycle in modern fridges can cause problems. But with the frost that builds up in my freezer I don’t think I will have that problem, but to be safe I think I will store the vials of yeast in a Styrofoam box.

skw said:

Cooper's yeast and kits are easy to get from online vendors in Germany - i don't think it should be that hard to get them in/to Belgium. In fact, I still have an unopened 6g pack of Cooper's yeast in my fridge.

Click to expand...

My second option was to look in Germany or the UK, Do you know of a good homebrew shop in Germany that has an online store? Preferably in English

In case you haven't seen it yet, here's a home brew shop in Belgium:
https://www.brouwland.com/en/
This one's in Germany, run by a US expat and specializing in hops:
http://amihopfen.com
This one has an English shop too, I often order from them:
http://www.hobbybrauerversand.de

Both of the German shops can be approached for special requests, the owners are very friendly.

I have never ordered from the UK, so I can't recommend any shops there.

Yes I know Brouwland well, it’s my regular shop. They have just about everything I could want, well for brewing European beers.

Thanks for those links, I will have a look and get in contact with the German shops.

Here you go. Have a look at www.themaltmiller.co.uk
Rob will post to anywhere in Europe at cheap rates. He has a big selection of dried yeast AND White Labs and TYB