sorefingers23
Well-Known Member
does anyone know where i can find pacman yeast? im in canada and am having a hard time finding it. i would like to buy some online if possibe, or even try to harvest some, but not sure from which beers..
where to find pacman yeast
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To harvest look for bomber bottles from Rogue brewery.
ClarnoBrewer
Well-Known Member
It's Wyeast 1764, if that helps. And almost every rogue ale uses pacman.
Brewskii
Well-Known Member
AHS had it last I checked (wyeast 1764)
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10839
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10839
sorefingers23
Well-Known Member
I was looking into getting it from dead guy ale, but was reading that they use a different yeast for bottling, does anyone know anything about that?
ClarnoBrewer
Well-Known Member
Dead Guy is fine. It's all pacman.
LakewoodHomeBrew
Well-Known Member
I harvested mine from a bottle of Single Malt Ale
http://www.rogue.com/beers/single-malt-ale.php
http://www.rogue.com/beers/single-malt-ale.php
periwinkle1239
Well-Known Member
I harvested fro their yellow snow IPA. I've heard people have had problems with getting pacman directly from dead guy ale. The other one people recommend is their Shakespeare stout. Good luck!
kskiles
Well-Known Member
I am in the middle of doing some from Dead Guy Ale. I started off with 10 grams of DME in 100ml of wort. Let it go for 2 days. I used the dregs from a single bomber.
Tonight I did 50g in 500ml. Decanted the 100ml, pitched in the 500ml wort and put it on the stir plate.
Will update the thread this weekend. Possibly with pix if I can find the camera.
Tonight I did 50g in 500ml. Decanted the 100ml, pitched in the 500ml wort and put it on the stir plate.
Will update the thread this weekend. Possibly with pix if I can find the camera.
Montanaandy
Well-Known Member
I don't know why Wyeast doesn't make PacMan part of their regular rotation. It is available year round through one of the bigger beer distribution groups (name escapes me) which is how I get it. However, it is hit or miss as to whether they will actually put in on an order so it is not "readily available". Why lose revenue and make brewers go through the hassle of bottle culturing Rogue beer?
thisoneguy
Well-Known Member
+1 for Austin Homebrew Supply. I ordered some from them with a cold pack, and it was super fresh and in great condition when I got it.
Are you in/near Windsor? If so, PM me and we might be able to work out some kind of trade for some.
Are you in/near Windsor? If so, PM me and we might be able to work out some kind of trade for some.
sorefingers23
Well-Known Member
thisoneguy said:
Not in Windsor, I'm in Montreal it would be awesome if we could work something out, what did you have in mind?
thisoneguy
Well-Known Member
I work in Detroit, so I was going to suggest that you just cross the border and pick up if you were near Windsor. By the time I would be able to take time to package and arrange shipping, you could probably just get it from Austin Homebrew Supply. I just made a big enough starter from my smack pack that I could split it into mason jars. Sorry I can't be more help.
just harvest it. a 6 pack of rogue will cost about the same as a smack pack (at least here in the states). with the yeast, you get a tasty package of 6 craft beers.
neko
Well-Known Member
Hmmm. Either your 6 packs are really cheap or the smack packs are expensive. $6-7 for a smack pack, but I can't find Rogue for that cheap.
Seems like all the homebrew stores around here have Pacman on a regular basis, but online is probably your best bet outside this area.
$6-7 bucks a smack pack here too. rogue brews are around $9-10 a sixer here, so i figure i'm spending an extra couple bucks to get some beer. plus, it's fun to culture yeast. makes me feel like a new father every time i do it.
periwinkle1239
Well-Known Member
Harvest it, you'll feel like a crazy scientist!!
Harvested some PacMan from Shakespeare stout last weekend. Stepped it up 4 times and pitched today into a 1.050 American Amber Ale.
Make small starts (in terms of fermentables). PacMan eats, so you shouldnt have too much of a problem. Good luck!
Make small starts (in terms of fermentables). PacMan eats, so you shouldnt have too much of a problem. Good luck!
kskiles
Well-Known Member
I have not been overly happy with my results thus far. After a 100ml and 500ml steps, I only have a very thin sampling on the bottom of the flask. It is not a healthy crop by any stretch. I am going to decant this 500ml and redo another 500ml.
Patience is not one of my virtues normally, but when it comes to brewing, I am very. I do not have a bunch of $$$ in this effort which make failure a bit easier to swallow. There may be enough growing in there to make it worth while but I am going to need to see some notable progress in the next couple of days to continue.
Patience is not one of my virtues normally, but when it comes to brewing, I am very. I do not have a bunch of $$$ in this effort which make failure a bit easier to swallow. There may be enough growing in there to make it worth while but I am going to need to see some notable progress in the next couple of days to continue.
You can find the yeast in our Brewcraft homebrew kits at http://rogue.com/store/categories/Fun-Stuff/Homebrew-Kits/
LakewoodHomeBrew
Well-Known Member
For what it's worth: I haven't been overly happy with my harvest. I seem to be able to get a colony built up, but it has under-performed on both beers I've used it on. In both cases, the fermentation started off nicely and chugged along, but it just doesn't to want to finish up and I'm left with a FG that's 5-10 points higher than it should be. My best guess is I'm over-estimating the vitality of the yeast, and as a result I'm under-pitching.
how slowly are you stepping it up? you want to start of with not just a small vol of wort, but low gravity as well. i start with ~250ml of ~1.02 wort, step to 500 ml of the same gravity, then 500 ml of ~1.04 wort. that's always gotten me enough yeast to make a starter for brew day.
also, how's your aeration in the batch of beer. i find with liquid yeast, especially cultured yeast that good aeration is key. without it, your yeasties may tire and poop out before FG is reached.
LakewoodHomeBrew
Well-Known Member
For both batches, the aeration was done using a venturi, and also sloshing. The latest batch had alot of bubbles before pitching.
As far as stepping up, I've stepped up the starter sizes (250mL, 500mL, etc.) but kept them all around 1.045 - 1.050. Perhaps using some lower gravity wort in my initial starters will help. One thing I have noticed is that my starters tend to have very little krausen. When I first harvested the yeast, I seem to recall it had a pretty good krausen...
As far as stepping up, I've stepped up the starter sizes (250mL, 500mL, etc.) but kept them all around 1.045 - 1.050. Perhaps using some lower gravity wort in my initial starters will help. One thing I have noticed is that my starters tend to have very little krausen. When I first harvested the yeast, I seem to recall it had a pretty good krausen...
ah, yes, you should make those first couple steps low grav, ~1.020. everything else sounds good, proper aeration, proper starters, etc.
you won't get much krausen with most starters unless you shake, then they foam up nicely when they're working.
i answered your PM, couple questions in there for ya. maybe we can figure out why these yeasts are pooping out on you early.
I tried at harvesting yeast from the Hazelnut brown, but I don't think that I was sucessful. Stupid question, but how can you tell that you are actually stepping up the yeast instead of the trub from the DME? From what I've heard, the starters don't usually have a typical krausen, is that correct?
Also, does anyone have the Wyeast Pacman in stock?
Also, does anyone have the Wyeast Pacman in stock?
Trub is normally darker. If your creamy white yeast layer is getting thicker, you are getting more yeast. The first couple of steps are the hardest to tell.
Midwest did last week when i was there. rogue always has it in stock in bottles of their beer. really, it shouldn't be hard to harvest, try shakepeare stout, it's good and yeasty. the first couple steps are real slow to take off and your yeast layer will be minimal at first. keep slowly building it up and you'll get enough yeast. FWIW, i doubt you'll get much trub from 250 ml of wort made from ~13 gms of DME (that's to get an OG of ~1.020). any build up on the bottom of the flask should be yeast.
also, starters in general don't krausen much. they will foam a bit when swirled, but they don't krausen the way a beer does.
Damn, they didn't have it three week ago when I stopped in. Oh well, I just have to find somewhere that has the stout, none of the stores that I stopped in BP and Crystal carried any Rogue, except the Liquor Barrel in Crystal, they had the Hazelnut brown. Also, I shot for a 1.040-1.050 starter wort, too much for a bottle harvest?
Also, thanks for the replies!
Yes. You want to be ~1.020 for the first few steps. Start small in the 50-250mL range and step up from there. The first step takes the longest as the yeast have to be roused awake. I found that I could tell when mine were rousing because when I swirled I started to get CO2 foaming up.
davidr2340
Well-Known Member
try Surdyk's on University and Hennepin in NE. they usually have a good stock of Rogue, not to mention pretty much anything else a beer lover could dream of. sounds like you're right up in my neck of the woods, i'm on the border of Heights and NE Mpls. we should brew some beer together.
as far as the gravity, start out at ~1.02, after you finish the 500ml starter @ 1.02, then start with 500 ml of 1.04 wort. step up from there. i'll be posting a blog entry on harvesting yeast from bottles tomorrow morning (i'm working on drinking the beer tonight! :rockin::rocking: ). check it out.
oh man, i love that place!! never been, but i order from them a lot. they carry that Diamond Knot IPA clone kit. i absolutely love that brew! i brew it a few times a year, it's one of our favorites.
I just got a pack from Homebrewers Outpost (homebrewers.com) a few days ago. Just finished making a starter a couple of hours ago and it is already taking off!
Quebecers looking for Rogue might try hopping across into Ontario -- Dead Guy has recently started popping up at selected LCBOs. I grabbed a couple last night and tried to harvest the yeast, but as someone who's never even made a normal yeast starter, I'm not sure I've done it right. If it looks like I do have some success, I'm happy to share 
To the experts and experienced: I made up approximately 400ml of 1.040 wort in a mason jar, which I had boiled for 15 minutes to sanitize, and then stood up and "boiled" the wort for another 15 minutes. Though the wort in the mason jar never boiled proper, it did keep a consistant temperature of about 200f for at least 15 minutes, so I called it sanitized. I then cooled it to room temperature and poured the dregs of two 355ml bottles of Dead Guy into the jar. I topped it with a piece of sanitized aluminum foil, loosely placed the ring on to keep bad stuff out, and went to bed. When I woke up this morning I had some lighter coloured (lighter than the wort, at least) sediment at the bottom, which I am unsure as to whether it is yeast or trub. Either way I swirled it back into suspension and came to work.
When I get home tonight, if there's lighter coloured sediment again, is it safe to say that it's yeast, no trub? If so, should I step up by decanting out the spent wort and adding in a larger quantity of new 1.020 wort?
Willing to share this yeast with other Canadians if it works
To the experts and experienced: I made up approximately 400ml of 1.040 wort in a mason jar, which I had boiled for 15 minutes to sanitize, and then stood up and "boiled" the wort for another 15 minutes. Though the wort in the mason jar never boiled proper, it did keep a consistant temperature of about 200f for at least 15 minutes, so I called it sanitized. I then cooled it to room temperature and poured the dregs of two 355ml bottles of Dead Guy into the jar. I topped it with a piece of sanitized aluminum foil, loosely placed the ring on to keep bad stuff out, and went to bed. When I woke up this morning I had some lighter coloured (lighter than the wort, at least) sediment at the bottom, which I am unsure as to whether it is yeast or trub. Either way I swirled it back into suspension and came to work.
When I get home tonight, if there's lighter coloured sediment again, is it safe to say that it's yeast, no trub? If so, should I step up by decanting out the spent wort and adding in a larger quantity of new 1.020 wort?
Willing to share this yeast with other Canadians if it works
Thanks, found this on their website:
http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/lcbo/product/inventory/searchResults.do?language=EN&itemNumber=80150
