yeast harvesting experiment

So i just built a stir plate and had only used it once(with great results.) So i decided to try to propagate/harvest some yeast from a commercial bottle(Race 5 ipa one 22oz bottle). I carefully poured the beer in to my glass then left about 3-4 oz of beer in the bottle and let it sit at room temp for about 2 hours. I made a starter as i usually do. 1/2cup DME and about 2cups of water, boil, cool. poured the 3-4 oz of room temp racer 5 IPA into the started and set it on my stir plate. I let it stay on my stir plate for a week, took it off the stir plate, let it set for a day and just took the gravity reading.......1.052 well i guess there was no yeast production. There was a lot that could have gone wrong, beer might have beer old, the yeast was already dead, the starter could have beer to high of a Starting gravity.

After i started the experiment i read up on the proper way to do this with step up starters, and more starting yeast. I think i will try this again just for fun. This time i will do it with at least a six pack, pay more attention to the date on the bottles, and start with smaller OG starter (1.02) and step it up a few time. It was a fun and cheap little experiment and just wanted to share it with you guys/gals

I tried one last week with the dregs from 2 bottles of Emillese Russian Imperial Stout
with a 1.020 starter and had the same results -no yeast.Keep up the good fight-
I will be trying it again with some of the dregs from my Robust porter I made last
december.I used wyeast 1084 in that batch.Will let you know how it goes.

Be sure to look for sediment at the bottom of the bottle, as the beer should be bottle conditioned to have much luck harvesting the yeast. I'm not sure if Racer 5 is bottle conditioned or not--often it will say directly on the label. Pliny the Elder, for sake of comparison, is bottle conditioned, so you'd likely have luck growing some yeast (and a similar strain) off one of those.

Next time start off with a starter with S.G of 1.020 and about 50-100 ml of it. and i always try to do it from at least 3 or 4 bottles just to have a little more yeast.

cram said:

Be sure to look for sediment at the bottom of the bottle, as the beer should be bottle conditioned to have much luck harvesting the yeast. I'm not sure if Racer 5 is bottle conditioned or not--often it will say directly on the label. Pliny the Elder, for sake of comparison, is bottle conditioned, so you'd likely have luck growing some yeast (and a similar strain) off one of those.

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When i looked at the bottom of racer IPA it had some "sediment" that would stir up when i held it.... I'm just now looking at the bottle, It does say it is bottle conditioned. That is a good point though... make sure its a bottle conditioned beer, cant harvest yeast if there is none

bratrules said:

Next time start off with a starter with S.G of 1.020 and about 50-100 ml of it. and i always try to do it from at least 3 or 4 bottles just to have a little more yeast.

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yeah i learned that after i started the experiment. do you do step up starters?

Yep....low gravity starter...500ml.... and give it a couple days. You may not see much in a day.

yeah i learned that after i started the experiment. do you do step up starters?

Yep once it ferments out just step it up!! that's when your stir plate comes in handy.

Just bought a 6pk of rouge yellow snow IPA. I have used pacman yeast before and it is a monster! Step up starter here i come. I'll prob try to get 3-4 beer into this starter. i couldn't see a date on the bottles so i have no idea how fresh it is.

Give it a shot let me know how it goes!! Am sure it will work. anyway good luck.

TravisT said:

Just bought a 6pk of rouge yellow snow IPA. I have used pacman yeast before and it is a monster! Step up starter here i come. I'll prob try to get 3-4 beer into this starter. i couldn't see a date on the bottles so i have no idea how fresh it is.

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I did the same thing, bought a 6er and drank 2 and added to some saved wort. Just did one 2 weeks ago and after 3 days of building it up, I dumped the yeast on a Yellow snow clone with the pacman. It has been bubbling away for over a week. I will check tonight on the gravity. But it was bubbling after 1 hour.

brian2can said:

I did the same thing, bought a 6er and drank 2 and added to some saved wort. Just did one 2 weeks ago and after 3 days of building it up, I dumped the yeast on a Yellow snow clone with the pacman. It has been bubbling away for over a week. I will check tonight on the gravity. But it was bubbling after 1 hour.

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Only TWO???? I might just drink the whole 6pk. I have been trying to get some packman yeast from my LHBS but I think they stopped supplying it.

PS did you like the yellow snow IPA. would give it a B-, its good but not great.

I harvested yeast from a two-hearted ale a couple of weeks ago. I did it on a whim without doing research so I did a regular starter amount. (Also, if I had it to do over, I would have chosen a Bell's beer that isn't as high ABV....) It took about 3 or 4 days and it started forming bubbles on the surface. after about 3 more days, I decanted (I could see decent yeast at the bottom.) and did another normal starter. It formed quite a krausen. Anyhow. I just cold crashed it, poured just a little of the starter beer off (to taste) and then mixed up the rest and put it in a canning jar and put it in the refigerator. I'll be doing a two-hearted clone (NB dead ringer) in a few weeks.

There isn't anything wrong with leaving it in the fridge for a couple of weeks is it? I'll decant and do a regular starter before I pitch when I do the beer.

Also, I didn't mess anything up by doing a big starter without stepping, did I? I guess using the lower gravity beers along with a stepped up starter method will help ensure success. Maybe I just got lucky even thought I didn't do it the preferred way...

I would say a couple weeks is borderline for storing it in the fridge( others might know more and chime in). A big starter "may" have stressed the yeast a little, but I'm not sure that it will make any difference in the long run.

whitehause said:

I would say a couple weeks is borderline for storing it in the fridge( others might know more and chime in). A big starter "may" have stressed the yeast a little, but I'm not sure that it will make any difference in the long run.

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Nah, not if they're making a starter. You can store it in the fridge for months if you're going to make a starter.

pabloj13 said:

Nah, not if they're making a starter. You can store it in the fridge for months if you're going to make a starter.

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Ahhh...I missed the part about re-making a starter. Yep....that'll be fine

TravisT said:

Only TWO???? I might just drink the whole 6pk. I have been trying to get some packman yeast from my LHBS but I think they stopped supplying it.

PS did you like the yellow snow IPA. would give it a B-, its good but not great.

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Just 2. Every bottle in the 6 pack had at least a 1/4 of yeast sediment.

B+ on the Yellow. I liked it. Nice aroma and once I had 1, I had to have another.

So i have failed 2 more times at harvesting yeast from bottles. The last one was a odell red ale that had a "best by date" of 5/14/12. I let the starter sit for 5 days and took a gravity reading.....1.024(this was my starting gravity) oh well. again this was just to see if I could harvest commercial yeast. I'm not done yet! I'm pretty sure that all three times I have tried, the yeast was just dead in the bottle. I'll just keep trying and using different breweries. This is really just an excuses to drink more beer

Next time, check the brewer's website to verify

1. That is bottle conditioned and
2. That the bottling yeasty is the same strain as the fermenting yeast.

Might save you some time.

william_shakes_beer said:

Next time, check the brewer's website to verify

2. That the bottling yeasty is the same strain as the fermenting yeast.

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Wow, so your saying that some breweries use a different yeast to bottle condition? ----mind blown!!!