Being the only beer drinker in the house, I have decided to try my hand at some smaller batches. I have varied tastes, so 5 gallon brews tie up too many bottles, limiting the number of different beers I can keep on hand. I'm thinking of brewing batches anywhere between 1-2.5 gallons depending on the style.
I know there are certain beers I will brew on a regular basis. Buying a new tube/pack of yeast each time would make it too expensive to be worthwhile for such small batches. I've been reading threads on yeast washing/rinsing and now I'm confused on exactly how to get the most bang per buck on yeast.
What options are there? For example, could I just make a starter out of a partial tube(ex. use 1/2 tube for a 2.5 gallon brew) and then refrigerate the remainder so that I could get 2 or 3 uses out of it? Would I be better off pitching a full tube, assuming it yields enough cells, and then rinsing the yeast so that I would have several jars of the same strain I could use later.
I apologize for what I'm sure is a dumb question, but I have never really done anything with yeast aside from buying a new pack for each 5 gallon batch. I do understand pitching rates, cell count, and know about mrmalty and all that. My question is really about what the most economical way to use yeast for smaller batches is.
I know there are certain beers I will brew on a regular basis. Buying a new tube/pack of yeast each time would make it too expensive to be worthwhile for such small batches. I've been reading threads on yeast washing/rinsing and now I'm confused on exactly how to get the most bang per buck on yeast.
What options are there? For example, could I just make a starter out of a partial tube(ex. use 1/2 tube for a 2.5 gallon brew) and then refrigerate the remainder so that I could get 2 or 3 uses out of it? Would I be better off pitching a full tube, assuming it yields enough cells, and then rinsing the yeast so that I would have several jars of the same strain I could use later.
I apologize for what I'm sure is a dumb question, but I have never really done anything with yeast aside from buying a new pack for each 5 gallon batch. I do understand pitching rates, cell count, and know about mrmalty and all that. My question is really about what the most economical way to use yeast for smaller batches is.