Harvested Bells yeast viability question..

PoppinCaps said:

Did it look like the colony was growing each pass? If all looked good, take a quick run with YeastCalc plugging in your numbers, maybe assuming a really crappy viability to start. Its got a step calculator thats kind of nice to gauge growth rates. Could give you a sense of where your counts may be at, assuming they grew well. I'd say 1.010 is a good guess at a FG, but it could take a few days to get the since your last step was a dilution and you aren't using a stir plate.

If it looks like a good amount of yeast, I'd say pitch it if the IPA isn't too high grav. Like you said, you could always backup with some fresh yeast, but give that at least 3-4 days before repitching.

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pabloj13 said:

Few thoughts... There are a bunch of threads on culturing Bell's yeast here. Check them out if you get a chance.

First, (although it's too late to change this) Two hearted is not the best choice to culture from. It has high alcohol and hops levels. This stresses yeast and makes them less viable. Bell's uses the same yeast in the vast majority of their ales. People have successfully cultured from Oberon, Amber and Pale Ale (probably even more).

Second, your OG is too high. When rousing the yeast from a bottle you want to be gentle on them and use a 1.020 OG until they have ramped up a few steps. For mine I went 25mL> 250mL> 1L all at 1.020 and then a 1.5L 1.040 for a starter for a batch.

Third, this is going to take time and you have to rely on visual signs/gravity rather than three days at this size, three days at this size, etc. For a lot of us it took about two weeks. You really need to watch for activity (sometimes a little mini krausen forms) and then wait for it to stop. Especially for the first few steps. Those took the longest for me.

Fourth, ditch the airlock. You WANT gas exchange during this growth since the yeast need oxygen to replicate. Just cover loosely with sanitized foil.

Fifth, although sometimes a little mini krausen forms on top, you don't often see a lot of positive visual activity in starters. Really you are looking at whether the yeast layer is growing.

Good luck.

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