Harvesting Chimay yeast

[Hoowahoo02]

I’m a huge Belgian fan and brew what some might classify as an unhealthy number of Belgian beers. Just to save money, I harvested the yeast out of a 750 ML bottle of Chimay Blue last Saturday. I added it to a standard starter mixture (1 pint water; ½ cup DME), and repeated that twice. I’d like to break it into multiple batches and store for later use.

1. What is the best way to store them? Cold crash, decant the majority of the liquid, split the slurry into sanitized mason jars, and put them in the fridge?

2. What is the best way to “restart” these yeast when ready to use? Add more starter mixture and some yeast nutrient?

3. Is there any way to tell how much yeast I have? Just compare how the swirled starter responds to other starters I’ve made using wyeast?

 

[BainbridgeBrewer]

1. Thats what I'd do. just like washing yeast.

2. I would bring to room temp and make a new starter prior to pitching this into a batch to re-start.

3. no clue how you would tell cell counts. I'd think you would just compare it to others like you said.

 

[jtejedor]

I thought I had read somewhere Chimay uses a bottling strain in the bottle and not their fermenting strain.

 

[thezepster]

I thought I had read somewhere Chimay uses a bottling strain in the bottle and not their fermenting strain.

I heard this somewhere also. But who knows, give it a shot

 

[cvstrat]

Belgian breweries do all kinds of crazy stuff. Chimay centrifuges their yeast out of the beer before bottling. They then inject yeast inline on the way to the bottle that is a different strain. I believe they also use hop extract syrup instead of hops.

So in other words, harvest Chimay yeast to your heart's content, you'll be fermenting with their bottling strain, not their actual strain. Or just don't waste your time!

 

[GuldTuborg]

According to BLAM (p. 52), Chimay does indeed reyeast with their primary strain. I don't know where this idea that they use a second yeast comes from, but I very much doubt it to be true, unless something has changed within the past 6-7 years.

 

[lumpher]

most breweries do use a different yeast for bottling than they do for fermenting, so no one gets their hands on their exclusive sometimes-hundreds-of-years-old yeast.

 

[El_Exorcisto]

lumpher, very few do actually. Its more costly and there is always the chance of fermenting with the wrong yeast. Since the primary fermenting yeast is available in abundance, most breweries that bottle condition use their primary yeast. It is moslty lambic breweries that use a new bottling yeast, since the original saccharomyces is most likely long dead.

 

[marcycaulkins]

I've harvested Chimay (from a bottle of Red, I believe they use the same strain in all their beer,, though), and having used it, I do believe it to be the primary strain (although I've heard some say it's not).

 

[jtejedor]

I guess as long as it makes some good beer it really doesn't matter which strain it is. I always thought the bottling strain thing made sense since many breweries are very secretive about their yeast.

 

[Hammy71]

I too have harvested Blue Chimay yeast and believe it to be the primary strain. The books I've read and other research leads me to believe that Chimay actually does use their primary yeast for bottle conditioning. The only places that I've found that say it isn't are on-line chat rooms.

 

[suprchunk]

This guy says it is primary strain. And I tend to believe someone who did this much work. Plus I have never heard of Chimay using a different strain to bottle with.

http://www.nada.kth.se/~alun/Beer/Bottle-Yeasts/