Why do brewers buy Chico yeast?

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mt_rob

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I have a question that I hope people will reflect on...Why do brewers buy Chico / WLP001 / US 05 / 1056 yeast from homebrew stores or labs? This has to be one of the most commonly sold yeasts, but you can get the yeast with a (nearly) free sixpack!

For almost the exact same cost, a person can purchase and enjoy almost six bottles of SNPA. I've got an APA and a cherry ale bottle conditioning and another IPA in primary, all with yeast cultured off my last bottle of SNPA. And I have 2 more mason jars with the same yeast washed and waiting for a future brew.

I know this would be to complicated for someone on their first few brewing attempts, but most of us are beyond that point.

So, tell me what you think...am I nuts or can we all enjoy a little free beer when we buy yeast?
 
US-05 is ~$3, doesn't require a starter, and doesn't require building up a starter.

But yes, drinking SNPA is good!
 
I have been brewing since '89, both at home and professionally, have done all kinds of lab work, etc., so getting yeast from a bottle isn't beyond me at all. The thing is, I am all about the KISS method, it simply is not worth my time to fool with it.
 
It's a time vs cost thing. I would like to get in to yeast harvesting and culturing at some point. But right now with 2 rug rats I barely find time to brew. so I buy us-05 and toss it in.
 
Special Hops said:
It's a time vs cost thing. I would like to get in to yeast harvesting and culturing at some point. But right now with 2 rug rats I barely find time to brew. so I buy us-05 and toss it in.
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What Special Hops said. Although, I do wash yeast occasionally if I can find the time. Unfortunately for me, I have a starter of washed 1272 swirling on my stir plate as we speak that hasn't taken off, so now I've wasted the time to wash yeast AND will still need to pitch some purchased yeast.:mad:
 
mikeysab said:
Wnere are you getting (nearly) feee six packs of SNPA?
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I think he was saying that if you look at the 6 pack as "buying your yeast", since the cost is close to that of a vial or smackpack, that you are getting the beer for just about free.
 
I get that part, but SNPA is about 12 bucks here. Thats almost twice the price of a vial/smack pack. Not even close to nearly free, especially when you factor in dme, and most importantly, the time it takes to build it up.
 
mikeysab said:
I get that part, but SNPA is about 12 bucks here. Thats almost twice the price of a vial/smack pack. Not even close to nearly free, especially when you factor in dme, and most importantly, the time it takes to build it up.
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Well, all I can guess is that it doesn't cost 12 bucks in Kalispell, MT. :D

its around $8-9/6 pack here, so the "almost free" argument would hold up better in markets like that.
 
I only bottle harvest the yeast I CAN'T get easily, if at all. But Chico in the form of US-05 is so ubiquitous and frankly dirt cheap that I don't know why anyone would wanna harvest it from a bottle. ;)

If I'm bottle harvesting a yeast OR for that matter using liquid yeast, I have to plan it out far enough ahead to make the starter/harvest. One of the reasons I like 05 is that I don't need to think about yeast till yeast pitch, because I keep several packs on hand in my fridge, so I can just pitch it as needed.

Plus I'm not a big fan of snpa, so I wouldn't "enjoy" drinking it.... And 3 bucks or so is a lot cheaper than a sixer of the beer, and the dme.

It doesn't make any sense to me to battle harvest it....If I want to keep it on hand in liquid form, then all I need to do is wash the yeast from my fermenter, then I have a ton of wet chico yeast. But again, it's so cheap dry, that I never bother to even wash and harvest that yeast. Jars of harvested yeast takes up more space in a fridge than the 6 packs of it I have in the butter compartment of my fridge.
 
Revvy said:
I only bottle harvest the yeast I CAN'T get easily, if at all. But Chico in the form of US-05 is so ubiquitous and frankly dirt cheap that I don't know why anyone would wanna harvest it from a bottle. ;)
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Plus, has anyone confirmed that SN uses chico as their bottle conditioning yeast? I seem to recall some discussions on here in the past that it's well known what they use to ferment, but that they may use something different after it's filtered, prior to packaging.
 
Revvy said:
I only bottle harvest the yeast I CAN'T get easily, if at all. But Chico in the form of US-05 is so ubiquitous and frankly dirt cheap that I don't know why anyone would wanna harvest it from a bottle. ;)

If I'm bottle harvesting a yeast OR for that matter using liquid yeast, I have to plan it out far enough ahead to make the starter/harvest. One of the reasons I like 05 is that I don't need to think about yeast till yeast pitch, because I keep several packs on hand in my fridge, so I can just pitch it as needed.

Plus I'm not a big fan of snpa, so I wouldn't "enjoy" drinking it.... And 3 bucks or so is a lot cheaper than a sixer of the beer, and the dme.

It doesn't make any sense to me to battle harvest it....If I want to keep it on hand in liquid form, then all I need to do is wash the yeast from my fermenter, then I have a ton of wet chico yeast. But again, it's so cheap dry, that I never bother to even wash and harvest that yeast. Jars of harvested yeast takes up more space in a fridge than the 6 packs of it I have in the butter compartment of my fridge.
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Talk about seeing something from two different sides! I think it's so plentiful and available that I don't see the need to buy it. And you think it's so plentiful and available that you don't see any reason not to just buy it.

Some issues seem to have no simple answer...
 
-I don't like planning out that far.
-dme isn't free
-I'd rather do something else with my time.

I think it is a silly way to maybe save some money. More power to you though.
 
Revvy said:
It doesn't make any sense to me to battle harvest it....If I want to keep it on hand in liquid form, then all I need to do is wash the yeast from my fermenter, then I have a ton of wet chico yeast. But again, it's so cheap dry, that I never bother to even wash and harvest that yeast. Jars of harvested yeast takes up more space in a fridge than the 6 packs of it I have in the butter compartment of my fridge.
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Exactly....thanks Revvy!!
 
I had some issues with an infection a little while ago - and one of the best ways for me to single out the issue was to use new packs of US05 instead of yeast starters. At 2.50 a pack I love using it because it works fantastically well without a starter.

plus - the yeast in the pack has been produced to be used in brewing as is and create a desired result every time- while the yeast taken from a bottle must be stepped up and will therefor be altered(slightly) by the new environmental factors it encounters.

less work = happier me
 
You have a good point,but I can usually scrape 3 bucks out of my
car seats,and if I wanted to I could wash and get several batches
from that 1 pack.
 
I think it would actually be cheaper to buy a pack of US - 05 use it then wash it. When you consider the cost of DME and the price of the beer.
 
Another point here is that yeast harvested from bottles may not be the healthiest yeast.
 
I thought I'd pile on ;) . I brew mostly british and american ales and US-05 and 04 are good clean easy yeasts. Simplifies the brew day and I get consistent results. Hard to argue with that!
 
I want to consider this from a slightly different perpective. Maybe the OP is simply stoked he's figured out how to harvest the yeast from one of his favorite beers, and (the way he has it figured) it doesn't cost him anything extra to do it. (Maybe 4-5 bucks if you only compare it to dry yeast, but the truth is, Wyeast and White Labs do a great business with HBTers, and we all spend the buck on the starter DME).
 
mt_rob said:
Where I'm at in western Montana, SNPA is $7 to $8 a six pack....I sympathize with you if it's $12
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Everything is relative. We just started getting Sierra Nevada out here in Australia. It's $21 a six pack. Torpedo is $28/sixer.
 
No one has pointed out if you wash yeast you can make one vial go for forever..... I just washed the cake of WLP001 from the second batch I brewed again. I've gotten 7 batches out of that one vial.
 
I certainly have started doing this with some beers that I really enjoy.

Chimay
Orval
Westmalle
Oh and that one, Sierra Nevada's hmm Ovila? (sp?) I really enjoyed that beer it was delicious.
Unibroque Grand Reserve 17 Dark Ale on lees (that one was mad easy to culture yeast out of, it had a healthy layer)

US-05...beh, I'll wash it maybe so I have 5 liquid vials cultured up, but it is so dang cheap, and quick. I'm spending most of my efforts elsewhere.
 
Well today I'm going to brew a two gallon batch and pitch a pack of wyeast right in. No starter required. Then when the beer is done I'll wash the yeast and brew a five gallon.
 
Friday, my grain will be in and this weekend I'm doing my first full boil of 12 gallons start in my 15 gallon pot. I'm doing a SNAP clone and will do two starters and hopefully end up with 5.5 gallons in two carboys. The yeast is WLP001 that cost me $9 at the lhbs, I have washed and brewed 5 times, replaced the yeast in the vile and have 4 jars ready for my next 2 - 12 gallon batches.

The time is irrelevant since I do the washing while I rack and clean up. Since I started washing trub free, my yeast jars are much fuller and while possibly not needed, I still do starters. DME cost is minor for myself also since I'm not doing AG yet, I do grain and DME. I buy my DME online for $45 per 12lbs shipped priority mail. Some food grade buckets from the local grocery store and I always have several batches ahead worth. I keep one bag that I use and re-seal-a-meal until next time.
 
Yeah for $3 I just buy the US-05 when I need a quick ferment on a PA or IPA. I suppose I could just throw in the yeast from a SNPA but its just easier to tear open a packet and dump it in and I know ill have good results. Although your way is much more delicious!
 
In bulk you can get dry US-05 just over $3/pack at Mailorder HBS. So I go for Quick, Cheap and on hand.
 
I think you are leaving out the cost of a stir plate, flask, and other things necessary to culture yeast. Once you have that equipment, it becomes cheap
 
I don't harvest from bottles, but if I really wanted to I would harvest from my own homebrew bottles.
 
Ive washed and reused certain yeasts, but I would never use my time to do that with the Chico strain. Its 3-4 bucks in dry form and I know my time is worth more than that. If you want to then go ahead, I just prefer using the dry version of it as opposed to time/money of building it up from the dregs.
 
One thing to consider whenever propogating yeast is the possibility of mutation. I like to use the yeast from Flying Dog's "In Heat Wheat", which the brewer says is the actual fermentation yeast. He warned me, though, that it quickly mutates when you attempt to propogate it, so he advised me to always build it up from the bottle.
 

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