Simple Yeast Storage Procedure

Brewer dad said:

Newbie question. I bottled last night but didn't get to boiling my jars and lids. Instead I soaked them in Star San(they were otherwise clean), I'm assuming this should be sufficient?

Click to expand...

You might get lucky.

Star San is a sanitizer, not a sterilizer. It is intended for brewing equipment where we can anticipate the yeast growing quickly and overwhelming any possible small infection that might be in there. Generally people who are storing yeast try to sterilize the equipment. Because the yeast is going to be stored dormant, and some of the nasty stuff you do not want can still grow in storage, it provides you some extra assurance that when you go to use your yeast it will still be in good shape.

Brewer dad said:

Newbie question. I bottled last night but didn't get to boiling my jars and lids. Instead I soaked them in Star San(they were otherwise clean), I'm assuming this should be sufficient?

Click to expand...

Although what, oops, @NeoBrew said is the preferred way, I rarely boil the jars and lids, but they do get thoroughly cleaned (hot Washing Soda, Generic Oxiclean, or homemade PBW), rinsed well, then soaked in a Starsan bucket for at least 10 minutes. Never had an (at least noticeable to me) infection from doing that. I've made well over a 100 starters over the years, never had an issue.

I clean mine with soap and water, rinse and then dip in Star San too. IMO and experience you should be OK. Of course, I do hope we're not writing about long term storage. We're only writing about storage until the next brew or the brew afterward.

Thanks guys your answers make sense. I guess there's a reason folks who can food boil their equipment and don't use starsan... I'll plan on using it in the next couple weeks soon as I have ingredients. It's currently sitting in a 40 degree fridge.

Will slurry exhibit any noticeable signs its not good to use?

Brewer dad said:

Thanks guys your answers make sense. I guess there's a reason folks who can food boil their equipment and don't use starsan... I'll plan on using it in the next couple weeks soon as I have ingredients. It's currently sitting in a 40 degree fridge.

Will slurry exhibit any noticeable signs its not good to use?

Click to expand...

Smell it! You'll know.

If smells OK, taste just a bit. No, I'm not leading into a Cheech and Chong comedy bit. Is it sour? If no, then it's probably OK.

If yeast seems sluggish then pitch a pack of dry yeast. I always have a variety of dry yeast on hand just in case...

I normally take the mason jar with yeast out of the cool environment (my beverage center) a day or two before brewing to wake it up (meaning the mason jar is sitting in my basement brewery. Normally 65F all year.)

First of thanks for all prior advice. Have done two beers with leftover slurry so far. My next question is regarding slurry from a cider I bottled last night that came out at 9.19%.

Previous posts indicate once we break 8% it can start killing off yeast if stored in the beer(this case cider). I'm thinking about taking all the slurry I harvested yesterday and making a starter with it tonight (decanting off cider).

Thought is that given relative newness of slurry and placing it in healthy environment for some time will allow it to make up losses from alcohol. Thoughts?

Great thread - I've enjoyed reading through. Have learned and applied some of the knowledge. Looking forward to experimenting in the future.

I use a kegmenter and bought a 5 oz ladle w/ a 12.5" handle to recover slurry yeast after racking to a serving keg.

Only have a small sample size of brews and I haven't stored for more than a couple weeks (yet) - but I can definitely attest to having successfully pitched flocculated Nottingham after decanting the beer from my simple yeast storage jars.