Bank Yeast

Curtis2010 · Aug 10, 2012

How many of you bank your yeast?

I live in a remote area so can't pop out the the LHBS for yeast. Thus I've started banking yeast. My goal is to have a few common strains of both ale & lager strains on hand. Maybe a few wine strains for meads.

Pic of my current "bank" attached.

Polboy · Aug 10, 2012

i bank all strains im using, even dry but i dont go back to dry too often

Mojzis · Aug 10, 2012

Curtis2010 said:
How many of you bank your yeast?

I live in a remote area so can't pop out the the LHBS for yeast. Thus I've started banking yeast. My goal is to have a few common strains of both ale & lager strains on hand. Maybe a few wine strains for meads.

Pic of my current "bank" attached.

If you used smaller (half pint I think) canning or mason jars you would have much more room. I usually wash into a larger container like a spaghetti jar then stick that into the fridge. When it cools I transfer to smaller jars with labels and stick them back into the fridge. Saves a ton of space, and is just enough yeast for pitching to smaller batches or making a starter. I have four strains saved currently.

You should look into the smaller jars!

OkashiiBrew · Aug 10, 2012

I put my yeast back in a sanitized white lab vial. I do 2 step starters so I don't have to worry much about low cell counts in my stored batches. Looking into doing yeast slants by winter.

kappclark · Aug 10, 2012

I try to bank as often as is convenient..

daksin · Aug 10, 2012

I typically keep strains that are either special release (I bank every White labs platinum strain) or that are going to be optimal for re-use (lower gravity, strains I don't buy a lot), and then my house yeast WLP090. At the moment I have WLP300, WLP 530, WLP072, WLP090, WLP566 and WLP585 in my bank. Summer beers are where it's at! I always keep a packet of US-05 and S-04 in the fridge too, for impromptu brews.

kh54s10 · Aug 10, 2012

I bank mine frozen. I make a starter larger than I need then freeze 4 vials. If I were to make 4 new ones from those for 4 generations I could brew 256 batches from the original buy.

I have about 6 or 7 styles saved so far.

CastleHollow · Aug 10, 2012

I have about a dozen mason jars in my keezer from various strains, mostly large quantity of lager yeast, and those that I've harvested from commercial beers (Bell's and local breweries.)

Curtis2010 · Aug 10, 2012

Mojzis said:
If you used smaller (half pint I think) canning or mason jars you would have much more room. I usually wash into a larger container like a spaghetti jar then stick that into the fridge. When it cools I transfer to smaller jars with labels and stick them back into the fridge. Saves a ton of space, and is just enough yeast for pitching to smaller batches or making a starter. I have four strains saved currently.

You should look into the smaller jars!

What you don't see in the pic is the test tube rack in the door. Way more space efficient. The 1-liter bottles with air locks are mostly strains I am stepping up for use soon.

I've also found it handy to keep a couple of 1 liter bottles of starter solution and homemade yeast nutrient on hand.

pabloj13 · Aug 10, 2012

I work in a lab so I bank mine frozen with 10% glycerol in a -80 degree freezer.

BrotherGrim · Aug 10, 2012

I have 3 strains going right now. WY1272, WLP862, WLP001. I have Munton's Gold and Safale 05 packs in the fridge as backups in case a starter fails to launch.

northernlad · Aug 10, 2012

I buy an fresh activator of 1098 and 1056 fresh at the beginning of my brew season and wash/grow them as I need.

ArcaneXor · Aug 11, 2012

Right now, only wild yeasts and bacteria cultured from dregs of commercial sour beers.

diS · Aug 11, 2012

I froze all my yeast (in 15% glycerin solution).
So far I have 5 different strains and I"m looking to expand it for some Belgium strains when whether gets cooler.

TBaGZ · Aug 11, 2012

Can I wash and save yeast that I stepped up from bottle dregs?

Mojzis · Aug 11, 2012

TBaGZ said:
Can I wash and save yeast that I stepped up from bottle dregs?

Of course. You could just stick it in the fridge though, if its a small amount. If its large, it might be worth washing. Or you could pitch it in your next batch and then wash from there.

TBaGZ · Aug 11, 2012

Well I plan on stepping them up, pitching to a batch, then washing to save it.

cheezydemon3 · Aug 11, 2012

SKEWED POLL.

sorry, but the title calls out to yeast bankers.

I would wager that most HBTers do NOT bank, but wish they did, and so will avoid the thread.

"Do YOU Bank yeast or not?" would have gotten better results.

Don't get me wrong, a good discussion will undoubtably happen.

Bank Yeast

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