Yeast Culturing

Ok. So I have a couple problems. One, I like to drink beer. Two, I'm, for lack of a better term, Frugal. One of the ways I feel I can save $$$ is to cut back on my yeast costs. If I purchase a smack pack of Wyeast and get it going, can it be divided up into 5 equal portions in sterile containers and then fed whatever yeast needs to eat and then have 5 batches of the same yeast for the price of 1? If this is do-able, how long would the yeasts remain viable if kept in the fridge? Should they be kept air tight in a mason jar etc or cap left loose? I've already got the cost of my beer down from $34.70 by buying single batch quantities to $22.75 by purchasing in small bulk. Big bulk, I'm down to 18.00 If I can cut the the yeast cost, that drops my small bulk price to $18.00. My big bulk to $14.00Twice as much beer for the same amount. What's not to like?

JK

"If I purchase a smack pack of Wyeast and get it going, can it be divided up into 5 equal portions in sterile containers and then fed whatever yeast needs to eat and then have 5 batches of the same yeast for the price of 1?"

Yep you can. This link should answer you questions:
http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20030128212525422

Personally, I think a better way to do what you're suggesting is to harvest the yeast cake from your primary. You can easily get 3-5 batches the first generation, and 9-25 batches the second generation. Do a search in this forum for "yeast washing"...there have been lots of discussions lately on this topic.

I agree...

Trapaddict said:

Ok. So I have a couple problems. One, I like to drink beer.

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This is a problem??

flingdingo said:

This is a problem??

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Sounds more like a solution to me.