Harvesting from Chimay?

I'm sipping on a Chimey Grand Reserve at the moment (blue). Before I popped the bottle, I noticed some serious yeast/sedimentation. I checked the label, and it says right on there "not filtered or pasteurized" and went on to describe how father so-and-so isolated the strain.

Is Chimey a good candidate for bottle harvesting? I've never done it before, but with this much yeast in the bottle it almost seems like child's play. Can one just dump the last inch or so into a prepared starter flask and place on the stir plate?

I'm flirting with the idea of doing a Chimey clone after my next "on deck" brew...

I believe that is how New Belgium started their strain in Colorado Springs.

I think im not positive but I think I remember hearing that they use a different yeast to bottle than they do to ferment.

IIRC Chimay uses the same yeast for bottle conditioning. You can also buy the Wyeast and Whitelabs versions of the strain.

Is Wyeast 1214 the same strain? If so I'll just buy a packet of that (cheaper than a bottle of Chimay anyway, as ironic as that is). Thanks for the spelling correction too, love it when people do that.

I'm not sure specifically about Chimay, but in general most commercial breweries that bottle condition use a different strain for bottling than for fermentation. They do this because their yeast strains are proprietary and they don't want people or other breweries harvesting their yeast and replicating their beer.

If memory serves, 1214 is the Chimay strain. This strain can be slow to get going, so make sure to pitch a large starter.

You can certainly bottle-harvest yeast (after flaming the lip of the bottle), but it often take several bottles worth. The cell count of healthy yeast in the dregs is very small; it can take some time to propagate a suitable amount.

1) It is Chimay, not Chimey
2) New Belgium is in Fort Collins, not Colorado Springs
3) Chimay does repitch yeast prior to bottling, but it is the same as the primary yeast
4) White Labs 500 and Wyeast 1214 are both the same strain from Chimay (red, blue, and white all use the same yeast both fro primary fermentation and for bottle conditioning)
5) Finally, you can harvest yeast from Chimay bottles, but it is probably easier and better to buy from White Labs or Wyeast and wash if you want to save money

haha, "Chimey". Just saying that out loud is awesome. Sounds like the name of a 18th century London street urchin. "Aww, guvnah, couldn'tcha speah a shilling'r two for ol' Chimey?"

Pelikan said:

Is Wyeast 1214 the same strain? If so I'll just buy a packet of that (cheaper than a bottle of Chimay anyway, as ironic as that is). Thanks for the spelling correction too, love it when people do that.

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According to this 1214 is the same strain ... maybe.

Evan! said:

haha, "Chimey". Just saying that out loud is awesome. Sounds like the name of a 17th century London street urchin. "Aww, guvnah, couldn'tcha speah a shilling'r two for ol' Chimey?"

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.......almost spit out my coffee.

Ahh yes, everyone loves a know-it-all.

Pelikan said:

Ahh yes, everyone loves a know-it-all.

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Don't ask a question, then when answered ***** about it. Makes you look like a ******

kevmoron said:

I'm not sure specifically about Chimay, but in general most commercial breweries that bottle condition use a different strain for bottling than for fermentation. They do this because their yeast strains are proprietary and they don't want people or other breweries harvesting their yeast and replicating their beer.

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Actually it tends to only be Belgian breweries that do that, there are actually a huge amount of micros that don't guard their yeast that heavily.

Most others aren't so anal and proprietary about it...


This list is a great resource as to which use what...It's not a great list, but honestly it is the only somewhat comprehensive list out there, so we yeast ranchers make do.

Yeasts from Bottle Conditioned Beers

And according to the list the OP may be in luck no matter what he calls the damn thing..

Chimay

General
Apparently the same strain in all three versions. Appears to be primary strain. Several have had good results. Solvent and banana flavors at high fermentation temperatures or bad yeast health? Same as Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey?
Red
{1} Good alcohol tolerance. Balanced phenolics. Decent attenuation.

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kevmoron said:

I'm not sure specifically about Chimay, but in general most commercial breweries that bottle condition use a different strain for bottling than for fermentation. They do this because their yeast strains are proprietary and they don't want people or other breweries harvesting their yeast and replicating their beer.

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I find it most common the other way round....very few who bottle condition use a different strain of yeast. With so much of the fermentation strain around, it's too much hassle to use another yeast.

Thanks, Revvy. I'm interested in the whole bottle-harvest thing, so maybe I'll go that route in the future. For now I'll stick to 1214.

Parker36 said:

Don't ask a question, then when answered ***** about it. Makes you look like a ******

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Listen, jerk, I appreciate the solid info a lot of people have given me -- believe me, I do. But making it a big point to mention I used an "e" instead of an "a" is an ******* move no matter how you hash it. It's a passive aggressive forum tic, one which well-adjusted people find irritating to the umpteenth degree.

Get on puff the magic dragon's back and fly into the Neverending Story, where your BS might be welcome.

Ok guys, time to chill B4TL

Midwest is offering an all grain kit and suggests that you harvest the dregs from Chimay

Pelikan said:

Listen, jerk, I appreciate the solid info a lot of people have given me -- believe me, I do. But making it a big point to mention I used an "e" instead of an "a" is an ******* move no matter how you hash it. It's a passive aggressive forum tic, one which well-adjusted people find irritating to the umpteenth degree.

Get on puff the magic dragon's back and fly into the Neverending Story, where your BS might be welcome.

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Puff the magic dragon wasn't in the neverending story.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

WLP500 is a really nice yeast. I always thought Shimmay (hehe) wasn't the best example of Belgian yeast and only tried it because i got some free.

Really pleased though! Fermented cooler than usual for a Belgian for some nice earthy/herbal and banana notes and not a massive phenol bomb like some. Made a triple with just Pilsner malt with 10% dextrose. Lightly hopped to 20IBU. No aroma hops or spices and it attenuated down to 1.0067. Light, digestible, refreshing and excellent flavours... and 8%. Dangerous!