Simple Yeast Storage Procedure

brewkinger said:

I am not able to calculate the amount of slurry needed at the moment but I can later if you need me to.



In his blog (and somewhere in this thread) Woodland references not paying much attention to the decrease in viability as a serious thing.



The 1B per mL is a SAFE estimate but it all depends on how clean the yeast is and what type of brew (AG, extract, etc... ) that it came from.

If there is a lot of hop and protein debris then the # can be that low.



I safely estimate 1.5B as a conservative estimate for my process, but that is just me.

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Thanks for the response. I guess my concern is more around viability. Mr. Malty shows the viability dropping off quick. Others suggest it doesn't happen that quick. The formula provided in this thread I believe would say I have 67% viable yeast at two months. I guess I would like to know what the consensus is on viability. My thought is since I have a sanitized environment at 38F where the yeast is stored, I should assume my viability should not drop that quick, but perhaps I do not understand yeast that well.

CHECK OUT WOODLANDS BLOG on the topic of viability over time

brewkinger said:

CHECK OUT WOODLANDS BLOG on the topic of viability over time

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Excellent, thanks!

Can I freeze this yeast cake by just dividing it up and adding appropriate amount glycerine without washing? Just clean everything ahead of time with starsan?

Quick question (or two).

I'm going to brew a pale ale Friday. OG is 1.045. I made a small 1L starter for the slurry I saved from a previous beer earlier tonight. The starter's gravity was 1.030. I decanted the spent beer from the mason jar of slurry, and pitched about 150 ml of it into my flask of wort. The yeast is US-05 that was used in a strawberry blonde I brewed back in April. I looked at Mr. Malty, and it said to use about 81mL. So.........

1) Could I just pitch the majority of this starter? If so, how do I find out how much to hold back? Mar Malty originally said to use 81mL, so should I just shake the flask before pitching and just "decant" 100mL of slurry into the fermentor?

2) I got the wort cooled to about 90F. The slurry was still at 50F even after letting it sit out for about an hour. Is there any negative effects to pitching cold slurry into much warmer starter wort?

3) The volume in the flask is about 1300mL after adding the 150mL of slurry to the wort. Should I still use a stirplate? I'm just randomly shaking it as I go by. Looking at it now, it seems a krausen is already trying to form.

1) based on Woodland's research I like to estimate 1.5B cells/ml and approximately 17% loss in viability per month (or 50% in 3 months). Try using these estimates for your mr malty calculations.

2) Best practice is to pitch at as close to the same temperature as possible. Try getting you wort below 70 if possible and your yeast at room temp.

3) You know my thoughts on stir plates. Use it or not its up to you, but you should get 1/4 to 1/3 more cell growth with the plate.

Alternately, you could skip the starter altogether and just pitch the appropriate amount of saved slurry using the 1.5B cells/ml x 0.5 (or 0.75B/ml).

Ey, big help here. I'm about to store some, and this answered my questions.

I just followed the instructions with my recent Pacific Ale adventure. There was a lot of trub in this and I was initially concerned since I was very close to full. But after an overnight chilling it looks like I've got two good batches of yeast/trub slurry. A few more sets of eyes telling me that I did this correct will go a long way to making me think I didn't screw this up.

EtchyLives said:

A few more sets of eyes telling me that I did this correct will go a long way to making me think I didn't screw this up.

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Looking good. Brew away.

Yep that's how it goes, I've never had a problem pitching slurry.

Just pitched a small 1L starter I made out of a batch harvested 5-6-15. Starter showed no real signs of life to me, but I pitched the slurry and had activity within hours. Not even 12 hours later and it's going nuts.

I sanitize 500mL mason jars, fill with beer/slurry off the bottom of my fermenter, which works out to about 350mL worth of stuff (this batch had a decent amount of hop gunk too). I had some extra second runnings of low gravity wort I tossed it into for a few days, then crashed, decanted and pitched. It was starting to clump up and get chugging within an hour or two I'd say, and airlock activity within probably 4-5 hrs.

Thank you for the detailed writeup. I appreciate the simplicity of this procedure and finally decided to harvest my yeast for the first time today. Had some Gigayeast norcal ale 1 yeast from a pliny the elder clone kit from morebeer that I transferred to secondary today. From my experience doing this for the first time, I've added some questions in orange to the simple procedure below. If anyone has an opinion or insight, your input would be appreciated.

Simple Yeast Storage Procedure

1) Sanitize or sterilize jars. (Mason jars work nicely for this purpose. A pint size jar which will hold about 300 billion cells)
I've seen some recommendations to boil your mason jars in water for 20 minutes to sterilize. In the spirit of simple, I opted to rinse them with warm water then soak in starsan for a few minutes before using. Do you think this is too simple and the yeast will be contaminated?
2) Leave behind about an inch of beer when racking the beer off the yeast cake.
3) Swirl the fermentor to suspend the yeast. (Avoid shaking as oxygen has a tendency to rouse dormant yeast)
4) Pour the slurry into mason jars. (The typical 5 gallon batch produces three to four pint jars full of slurry.)
5) Put the lids on just and snug them up. (The lid should not be tight. You'll want the yeast to be able to off gas while in storage.)
6) Place the jars in the fridge (or freeze with 10% glycerin) until you are ready to use them.
I opted to refrigerate two jars and freeze four jars. The procedure for adding 10% glycerin to freeze was still unclear to me after reading the post and doing a search. I wasn't sure what to do here, so opted to estimate about 360 ml of slurry per mason jar and added 40 ml of glycerin to make a 10% glycerin solution (40 ml glycerin in 400 ml total). Is this an acceptable procedure for freezing the yeast? I used food grade glycerin that as far as I can tell is 100% http://www.essentialdepot.com/product/GLYCERIN-VEG-USP-1QUART.html

Thought I'd give this a go and appreciate the simple option. I figure if I screwed up, its just an $8 yeast packet that can be easily replaced. Any input on my questions is appreciated.

therackman said:

1) Sanitize or sterilize jars. (Mason jars work nicely for this purpose. A pint size jar which will hold about 300 billion cells)
I've seen some recommendations to boil your mason jars in water for 20 minutes to sterilize. In the spirit of simple, I opted to rinse them with warm water then soak in starsan for a few minutes before using. Do you think this is too simple and the yeast will be contaminated?
.....
6) Place the jars in the fridge (or freeze with 10% glycerin) until you are ready to use them.
I opted to refrigerate two jars and freeze four jars. The procedure for adding 10% glycerin to freeze was still unclear to me after reading the post and doing a search. I wasn't sure what to do here, so opted to estimate about 360 ml of slurry per mason jar and added 40 ml of glycerin to make a 10% glycerin solution (40 ml glycerin in 400 ml total). Is this an acceptable procedure for freezing the yeast? I used food grade glycerin that as far as I can tell is 100% http://www.essentialdepot.com/product/GLYCERIN-VEG-USP-1QUART.html

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See above for my recent pitch. I just rinse the mason jars and soak in starsan a minute or two. Never a problem for me.

Can't help you on the freezing yeast party though. I just re-pitched a yeast I harvested 3 months ago with zero issue so far. It was just in the fridge that whole time.

Hey guys. I just bottled last night and wanted to try saving the yeast for reuse. I ended up siphoning of basically all the beer on accident instead of leaving an inch like the instructions say. I swirled it around in the fermenter and it was basically just like mud... So I poured a bunch into my sanitized jar and then boiled some water, cooled it and topped it off. Can I store it like this or was it wrong to use water? Here's a picture of what it looks like this morning. There is a layer of trub that seems to be floating which I find kind of weird? Anyways if I messed up its really no big deal its just us-05.

View attachment 1439296640009.jpg

You coild have put some of the beer back in it. It should be ok though. Just decant the water and replace it with fresh wort next time you brew if you plan to store the yeast for any length of time.

masonsjax said:

You coild have put some of the beer back in it. It should be ok though. Just decant the water and replace it with fresh wort next time you brew if you plan to store the yeast for any length of time.

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well the beer was mixed with priming sugar so i didnt think it would be a good idea to use it, so went with water instead. I thought I might get a bomb in the fridge if i used the finished beer.

that being said - the only difference is that this might not keep as long? what sort of timeframe am i looking at if i store it in the fridge this way? I will probably brew with it in about two weeks or so..

If its iffy I would rather toss it then try to use it. I dont want to make a starter with some weird infected mutant us-05 and then dump it in a fresh brew.

The beer is good for storage due to some alcohol keeping off minor infection and the fully fermented nature of the wort not starting anything else up, but with priming sugar, yes, probably best not to. You could have probably used whatever little bit you had in the fermenter, it doesn't need much really.

I don't see why it wont keep as long as in beer really. Read a few posts up, I just re-pitched from a batch I harvested in may with zero problems.

Also, I'm currently building up a starter from some sour saison dregs, and i found 2 fruit flies in it the other day (Everything covered, not sure how it got there....) but I'm going for it to see what develops. The smell so far is the same as the beer I drank for the most part, so seems ok? We'll see....

pwnshop said:

I will probably brew with it in about two weeks or so..

If its iffy I would rather toss it then try to use it. I dont want to make a starter with some weird infected mutant us-05 and then dump it in a fresh brew.

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You'll be just fine for a week or two and longer. You really won't need a starter either in that time frame.

rhys333 said:

You'll be just fine for a week or two and longer. You really won't need a starter either in that time frame.

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ok so to be totally clear, your advice is to just decant the water and pitch the entire contents of the jar? and all the mixed up trub along with it?

I never pitched a full jar, but my jars are qt jars. I pitched half a jar

pwnshop said:

ok so to be totally clear, your advice is to just decant the water and pitch the entire contents of the jar? and all the mixed up trub along with it?

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Sort of. Decant the liquid, swirl it and pitch part of the contents. Figure out how many cells you need for your particular batch, then calculate how much of that slurry you need assuming a cell denisty of 1.5B cells/ml.

e.g.: Assuming you have 5.5 US gal of 1.050 wort requiring approximately 200B cells, you'll want about 130 ml of that slurry (1.5B/ml x 130ml = 195B ). If you're using a pint jar for storage that's about 500ml. Pitch about or just under 1/3 of the jars total volume.

I recently saved two jars of Wyeast 2206 slurry using the procedure in this thread about a month ago. The slurry in each jar settled around 300ml, so I have 600ml total. I plan on making another lager on Labor Day, so let's say at that time this yeast is 2 months old. It appears viability of the yeast could be estimated at 75-80%. Using 1B per ml (lots of trub), can I be confident in pitching all 600ml if I need about 420B cells? My calculation would say I would pitch an estimate of 450B cells. Trying to determine if I should make a starter or not, but don't have a feel for when you would want to do a starter instead of pitching the contents of the jar into the fermenter. I don't mind making a starter, but avoiding the time and cost of making one would be awesome. I guess either way I can be happy I won't have to buy the yeast this time around!

Thanks

This is a great, informative thread. I have a blonde and a APA that has been in primary for two weeks. Will be bottling tomorrow or Sunday and I plan to save the yeast cake from each batch (US-05).

I also have a brew scheduled for Sunday, Cali Common with Wyeast 2112. I'm only making 1.5 gallons and was told by the LBHS to pitch the entire contents of the package without a slurry. I used Mr Malty and it shows not to use a slurry. I assume the reason is because I am brewing a small batch vs 5 gallons.

I also checked it using BrewUnited's (home brew dad's) calc and it shows to make a starter. Since I do not have a stir plate and never having used liquid yeast, figured I would just pitch the entire package and harvest the yeast when it's time to bottle.

I've been looking at harvesting yeast but I was extremely confused but after reading this thread it makes more sense but still a little fuzzy.

Going to re-read the thread later today as i am off to Wally World to get some jars.

How much cell reproduction happens when you do a starter? like how do we calculate it, i had i a link i think but i lost it.

I'm really happy to get an answer to one of my questions, and am hoping someone can answer the other question below. Is this an acceptable procedure for freezing yeast? Cheers!

6) Place the jars in the fridge (or freeze with 10% glycerin) until you are ready to use them.
I opted to refrigerate two jars and freeze four jars. The procedure for adding 10% glycerin to freeze was still unclear to me after reading the post and doing a search. I wasn't sure what to do here, so opted to estimate about 360 ml of slurry per mason jar and added 40 ml of glycerin to make a 10% glycerin solution (40 ml glycerin in 400 ml total). Is this an acceptable procedure for freezing the yeast? I used food grade glycerin that as far as I can tell is 100% http://www.essentialdepot.com/product/GLYCERIN-VEG-USP-1QUART.html

Awesome post. So if I just did one mason jar, how many 5 gallon batches would I be able to use it for? Also, would I just pitch this as I would a snack pack?

I thought I would paint the lids of my mason jars with chalkboard paint, so I could keep track of my yeast inventory.





I scratched up the lids with some heavy grit sandpaper, then sprayed with primer followed by the chalkboard paint. I don't know how well the paint will hold up after a star-san immersion, but I may just resort to spraying the underside of the lid with sanitizer to keep the chalkboard nice and dry.

Hoping this will work. If it doesn't, I have maybe 5 minutes tops, so no loss.

I use a piece of painters tape once I have dried the top of the lid. I also include the date harvested.

beerdeddude said:

Awesome post. So if I just did one mason jar, how many 5 gallon batches would I be able to use it for? Also, would I just pitch this as I would a snack pack?

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All of these answers are in the thread. One jar? Depends on many factors- the OG of the batch and subsequent batches, how dense is the slurry, etc. Starters are overrated when reusing yeast in my opinion, so yes, if it's not more than a few months old, pitching as if it's a smack pack should be fine. Most people on here will tell you to use a starter if it's more than 2 weeks old, but I've used 5 month old yeast and it is fine.

therackman said:

I'm really happy to get an answer to one of my questions, and am hoping someone can answer the other question below. Is this an acceptable procedure for freezing yeast? Cheers!

6) Place the jars in the fridge (or freeze with 10% glycerin) until you are ready to use them.
I opted to refrigerate two jars and freeze four jars. The procedure for adding 10% glycerin to freeze was still unclear to me after reading the post and doing a search. I wasn't sure what to do here, so opted to estimate about 360 ml of slurry per mason jar and added 40 ml of glycerin to make a 10% glycerin solution (40 ml glycerin in 400 ml total). Is this an acceptable procedure for freezing the yeast? I used food grade glycerin that as far as I can tell is 100% http://www.essentialdepot.com/product/GLYCERIN-VEG-USP-1QUART.html

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Google how to freeze yeast for beer. There are a few important points that are missing.

Hey guys. I posted on August 11th that i tried this for the first time, though I topped off with boiled water. I am going to brew up a pumpkin ale to get ready for fall on Saturday August 29th. I wanted to know if I should make a starter or if its still ok just to pitch the slurry that has been in the fridge? I'm wary about reusing yeast as I have never tried it before!

thanks

pwnshop said:

Hey guys. I posted on August 11th that i tried this for the first time, though I topped off with boiled water. I am going to brew up a pumpkin ale to get ready for fall on Saturday August 29th. I wanted to know if I should make a starter or if its still ok just to pitch the slurry that has been in the fridge? I'm wary about reusing yeast as I have never tried it before!

thanks

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At only a couple weeks old you're fine to just go ahead and pitch it. Just decant most of the liquid off the top first. I recently pitched a 2 month old slurry without any issues.

rhys333 said:

At only a couple weeks old you're fine to just go ahead and pitch it. Just decant most of the liquid off the top first. I recently pitched a 2 month old slurry without any issues.

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Ok. So say I only use half of the slurry, can I keep the rest somehow? Just pour in some boiled water and recap the jar? I only kept one mason jar for this, I guess i should buy some canning jars for next time and split it up.

pwnshop said:

Ok. So say I only use half of the slurry, can I keep the rest somehow? Just pour in some boiled water and recap the jar? I only kept one mason jar for this, I guess i should buy some canning jars for next time and split it up.

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Personally, I wouldn't. The more you handle it the higher your chances for an infection. I would just use what you need, toss the rest, then harvest the next generation into 3 or so separate jars.

rhys333 said:

Personally, I wouldn't. The more you handle it the higher your chances for an infection. I would just use what you need, toss the rest, then harvest the next generation into 3 or so separate jars.

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great thanks you've been a big help

pwnshop said:

Hey guys. I posted on August 11th that i tried this for the first time, though I topped off with boiled water. I am going to brew up a pumpkin ale to get ready for fall on Saturday August 29th. I wanted to know if I should make a starter or if its still ok just to pitch the slurry that has been in the fridge? I'm wary about reusing yeast as I have never tried it before!

thanks

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My pumpkin just finished bubbling and I used my one month old slurry. Based on the recommendations in several of the pumpkin recipe threads to use two packets of yeast, I added an extra packet of US-05 to my wort on top of the slurry. It bumbled nice for 5 days.

I do not know if it is necessary to go that heavy with yeast but so far it has worked for me. Good luck!

@pwnshop
I missed the pumpkin part when I said to harvest from your next generation. I'm sure you're aware anyway, but just to clarify, don't harvest and reuse your slurry from the pumpkin batch.

rhys333 said:

@pwnshop
I missed the pumpkin part when I said to harvest from your next generation. I'm sure you're aware anyway, but just to clarify, don't harvest and reuse your slurry from the pumpkin batch.

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Yeah I figured since I'm doing a pumpkin I wouldn't harvest again. its only us-05 so i don't care about keeping it around. It's more for getting the experience saving yeast so I can save and reuse some of the more expensive stuff.

I pitched some London ale yeast harvested in June into a KBS clone last night and had zero signs of activity this morning. Hopefully I get something tonight...

Edit: Nope, nothing after 24 hours, no glob forming on top, nothing. I rehydrated and pitched some Notty instead.