I have one 22 oz. bottle from my first batch, a Robust Honey Porter and I would like to harvest the Wyeast 1028 from the dregs. I've done a lot of reading about the process, but I'm not positive. From what I gather, for such a small amount of yeast I'll want to start with a 50 ml starter, right? And if the volume is correct, I'll need about 5 grams of DME to get the gravity where I want it to be? How do people go about boiling 50 ml? Can I do this in the microwave since it is only about a 1/4 cup?
Bottle harvesting questions
- Thread starter asidrane
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slarkin712
Well-Known Member
If your porter had a high OG (~1.070 or higher) then you could make a slightly lower gravity starter. Try 1.30 or so. The yeast get stressed by the high gravity beers and a lower gravity starter can help nurse them back to health. And the volume looks good. Whenever I've bottle cultured I made a few liters of starter wort and canned it. The second and third steps I used the canned wort. For the first step you could just use the 1.040 wort or diluted it with a little boiled and then cooled water to get to 1.030.
For easy reference use the the formula 1 gram DME for 10 mL water yields 1.040 gravity wort.
For easy reference use the the formula 1 gram DME for 10 mL water yields 1.040 gravity wort.
I would have to look at my notes, but I think the gravity was either 1.055 or 1.060
slarkin712
Well-Known Member
The lower gravity starter is just a suggestion for highly stressed yeast. Just use 1.040 starter.
Thanks. I like the idea of making a lot of starter wort and canning it, but that doesn't seem possible within the next few weeks. Do you think putting 50ml of water and 5 grams of dme into the microwave will work, or should I just boil up more wort than I need on the stove top and dump some?
