Alesmith yeast starter...

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bhatchable

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So I just bought two 22's of the alesmith ipa. while enjoying my libations i noticed that they have yeast on the bottom and the painted on label (damn painted on labels!) boasts having "brewers yeast" inside. On a whim (yes i have a good buzz going) I made a 1/2 gallon starter in a gallon container with 1/2 teaspoon of fermaid-k, 1.039 OG. I pitched the dregs of both bottles into the starter... Now here are my questions... First off, does this even seem like a good idea? Is the yeast at the bottom of these bottles the yeast they brew with, or a subpar strain just used for bottling? also, any advice to make this work (assuming this is a good plan)? I have all the ingredients for next brew day, just no yeast yet. If this could work out in my favor, I'd be stoked. thanks guys, sorry for being long-winded (its the Alesmith IPA that has me typing so much) cheers
 
I am no expert, but it will depend on the condition of the yeast in the bottles. I believe the 1.039 (1.040) wort is a little high in gravity when trying to bottle culture yeast. I do not know if the yeast in the bottle is for conditioning purposes or the actual brewing yeast.

I wish I could be more help, but it sounds like you are trying to make a starter from the yeast in the bottles, when normally you would step up this type of starter by adding smaller amounts of fermentables to "reactivate" the yeast and build it up to a "pitchable" amount.

Good idea? Yea!

Will it work in your situation? Only time will tell.

At the very least it will be an interesting experiment.

If you haven't done any research on bottle culturing here is a great article:http://***********/stories/recipes/.../1693-yeast-culturing-from-bottles-techniques
 
It works and people have done it successfully but usually you have to step up the starter wort. Here is a nice article on how it can be done.
 
Alesmith bottles with the yeast they ferment with. The yeast they use for IPA is the WLP001, so that's what you're cultivating!
 
One of the, if not the, best IPA I've ever had!

I'd personally just spend the $6 on a fresh pack of 001, but it is a learning experience to culture some bottle yeast.
 
I'm doing it now... starting to build! 8 hours in... i think I've got a a winner, and especially since I'm making a slightly hoppier hop head red (green flash) . I'm down to experiment at harvestign alesmith yeast..

EDIT: Ha ha ha..that's what you get for drinking your inspiration... rambling and misspellings...change to read harvesting. ha ha. I'm so out. goodnight
 
Update: Had a vigorous starter 24 hours later, just in time for brew day. I got the quickest start I have ever had using this starter.. Watch out rogue, I'm after your pacman yeast now...
 
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