"special" yeast to harvest from bottles

I have been reading about harvesting yeast from commercial bottles. I've also read that for most beers, it's not any different than commercially available yeasts.

I feel pretty comfortable washing yeast from primary, so i don't really see a problem with buying the first generation of a yeast, then washing, reusing, etc. That would get 5 or 6 batches out of each pack, which is enough savings for me.

What I'm wondering, are there any commercial beers with proprietary strains or interesting yeast variations that can only be had from bottle harvesting?

I cultured up Schneider Weisse yeast, which is my favorite Weisse. I made a great hefeweizen and then used the yeast cake to make a killer Aventius clone.

Orval is nice to use as it has a proprietary Brett strain and you can just add the dregs to secondary. Great for any Belgian beer.

There are a bunch of other beers that bottle with their primary strains and it can be fun to experiment. There is a list somewhere if you search for it.

Start the starter small and then build it up. Make sure to taste and smell the starter as it is more prone to infection with such a small cell count of tired cells to start.

Overall have fun!

If you can get Bell's, that yeast is awesome. Their Winter White (which is different from the House strain) is especially good. I harvested yeast from one bottle of Winter White, stepped it up, and then made one of the best batches I've ever made.

I can get bell's. I never notice much yeast in the bottom of the two hearted that I like to drink, is there something that's going to have a bit more in it? or will i be *forced* to drink even more 2H? I know it's a pretty rough proposition...

Two Hearted is a little on the edge of what can be harvested because of its ABV (yeast might be stressed because of the high ABV). I've had great luck using the Third Coast Beer (not the Old Ale) and fresh Oberon. Bell's actually recommends using their Amber for bottle harvesting. I'm sure the porter and pale ale would work too. Cheers!

Hmm. I'll wait to Oberon gets back in stock this spring then. Thanks

And FWIW, this recipe is awesome with Bell's house yeast.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/partial-jims-oatmeal-stout-1-a-117352/

I'll keep it in mind. I'm not a huge fan of coffee flavors, so I generally stay away from all stouts and most porters, but I'll keep it in mind for when my palate finally does come around, thanks

I'm interested in making a two hearted clone. I was going to buy a 6pk of bells pale ale and save the yeast from each bottle. Is there a time limit as far as saving the yeast and then using it? Assuming I keep it in the refrigerator?

jasonclick said:

I'm interested in making a two hearted clone. I was going to buy a 6pk of bells pale ale and save the yeast from each bottle. Is there a time limit as far as saving the yeast and then using it? Assuming I keep it in the refrigerator?

Click to expand...

Make a starter out of it and you can keep it for a couple weeks - its basically a mini batch of fermented beer.