How many yeast strains do you horde?

[tim_c7]

Peering into my garage refrigerator I see lots of yeast. Mason jars, vials, and petri-dishes. Some of I have only used once and will likely never use again. Others are my goto yeasts.

I like not having to buy yeast with each batch. I like mixing yeasts to try to coax out characteristics that I think I would like in my beer. I like having a backup for emergencies. And when I come across a new strain, I most certainly will make room in the fridge.

Do I have a problem? How many yeast strains are normal?

 

[m00ps]

My entire vegetable drawer is yeast storage. Just counted and I have 21 strains that I currently keep. About 10 of those are saisons

 

[iijakii]

Ive only been keeping a couple on hand right now, the ones I regularly brew with. That way I just chuck some slurry and it's good to go. Way too lazy to maintain yeasts or restep etc.

 

[arnobg]

My entire vegetable drawer is yeast storage. Just counted and I have 21 strains that I currently keep. About 10 of those are saisons

Moops how long do these keep before you have to part with them and buy a new package? I would have to brew multiple times a week to be able to use them consistently!

 

[Vandulus]

Since I brew monthly, two strains are plenty - WLP0008 East Coast Ale and WLP0530 Abbey Ale

 

[m00ps]

Moops how long do these keep before you have to part with them and buy a new package? I would have to brew multiple times a week to be able to use them consistently!

Ive found that they can store for a long time. I always make starters for my batches and harvest the yeast to store from the starter. But I have a few that are over 10 generations and still doing fine.

Occasionally, I will "revive" one of them if its been over 3-4 months since I used it (I put the date on the lid). For this, I just make like a 400ml starter and store the whole decanted yeast cake

But back at the start of the year when I had my car accident and was out of commision for a while, my yeasts just sat there. There was one that was 8 months old and I still was able to get it going in a small starter with some yeast energizer

 

[beergolf]

I only have a few. I often just plan my brews so so I can bottle and brew on the same day. That way I can just grab some of the yeast cake for the brew.

I do still have some wild yeast that I harvested from my back yard about 2 1/2 years ago. Yeast can last a long time. I have let it go a couple of times for about 6 months. I then just make a starter to grow it up and it works fine.

 

[henchman24]

At last count I was up to 18 different strains/blends.... and that was before my last order for OYL057 and grabbing some Jolly Pumpkin and Prairie beers to harvest from. So... I be in the ~21 range depending on how much I really want those dregs.

I've had some that are old (8-9 months old) that take some care in getting going again, but once they are they seem to be fine.

 

[secondbase]

I just counted 8 individual strains, but I've got 7 blends as well.

 

[MannyEdwards]

My entire vegetable drawer is yeast storage. Just counted and I have 21 strains that I currently keep. About 10 of those are saisons

Hey m00ps, haves you posted any of your saison recipes? And have you made any blondes or dubbels?

 

[MaddBaggins]

Every once in a while I'll hold on to something, but usually end up throwing it out months later. Right now I have a jar of US05 and a jar of WLP648 but no plans to use either one soon.
I keep a jar of dregs from brett and sour beers. It has Jolly Pumpkin, Crooked Stave, Destihl and homebrew dregs in it right now.

 

[MaddBaggins]

Hey m00ps, haves you posted any of your saison recipes? And have you made any blondes or dubbels?

He does have a thread going about saison. Not recipe per say but tons of info.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=541926

 

[EtchyLives]

I keep S-04 on hand at all times. I also have WLP005 and WLP041. Sometimes there are more but on a rotating basis. I'm not going to lie and say that I always remember to harvest since a couple times I've simply emptied the carboy or bucket only to remember later, "I meant to keep that yeast."

 

[Dixon9717]

US-04, US-05, Imperial Independence I've harvested and Pacman I'll harvest next week. Still have independence Darkness and Barbarian in the can.

 

[max384]

I have about 10-15 on hand... Most of them are dry yeasts. They store better.

 

[captwalt]

I keep wlp004 and 008, they're my house yeasts. I also have 001 Cali, 530 westmalle and 833 bock. I think I also may be saving San Diego super yeast as well. I've made a starter from 18 month old yeast to no Ill effect. Some of them are 10+ generations old. This group of yeasts gets me through pretty much everything I want to brew except I do buy a saison yeast every year for some odd reason

 

[Yesfan]

I have 5 on hand.

Safale US-05
Wyeast 1968 London ESB
Wyeast 1007 German Ale
Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire
Wyeast 1335 British II (fresh packet).


There's others I'd like to try. I don't want a huge yeast bank, just enough to do the various American and European beers I like.

 

[stpug]

With freezing in a frosty deep freeze I'm able to keep lots in stock in a relatively small space. Pretty easy and painless. Just a little additional "wake up" time when I want to use them.

 

[joshesmusica]

I've currently got:

Harvested:
Mangrove Jack's Bavarian Wheat
Mangrove Jack's Belgian Ale
White Lab's kolsch
White Lab's Irish ale
Kveik (A rare norwegian farmhouse ale strain)

Then I got Mangrove Jack's British Ale yeast in a packet as a backup.

 

[skw]

Hm, let me count. WLP 860, Wyeast 1217, 2112 and 3711 and bottle harvested PacMan are under saline or on slants. 1217 and 860 are my current go-to strains. A handful of packs of dry yeast (S-04, US-05, BRY-97, M79) are on hand for emergencies.

 

[bigplunkett]

Wlp556
Us 05
Wlp002
Wlp001
Conan
And a mix of wlp320 and 002

 

[DurtyChemist]

WLP001, 002, 007, Cry Havoc, Zurich Lager, an Abbey Ale yeast and a pilsner yeast that has been in a mason jar a year. I was just thinking of going through them all and tossing the ones I haven't used in six months. I was just thinking I might have started keeping yeast in vials I'm not sure are exactly what's inside or they didn't ferment that well or might be a cause to my off flavors. I was considering just starting over and picking a few strains to use long term for lagers and ales.

I think I started with good intentions then didn't brew enough. I was being cheap and/or coveting platinum strains.

 

[Warthaug]

166 commercial strains/mixes, plus an additional 32 (soon to be 38) wild strains/mixes.

MOOWHUUHHAHAHH!

 

[BigMack]

166 commercial strains/mixes, plus an additional 32 (soon to be 38) wild strains/mixes.

MOOWHUUHHAHAHH!

Good googly moogly that is a lot of yeast.

 

[Warthaug]

I do trades:
http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.ca/p/yeast-exchange.html

 

[tim_c7]

I do trades:
http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.ca/p/yeast-exchange.html

I frequent your blog Warthaug. Believe it or not you taught me how to plate yeast. Let me see if I have something to put in your bank so say thank you.

 

[tim_c7]

I keep S-04 on hand at all times. I also have WLP005 and WLP041. Sometimes there are more but on a rotating basis. I'm not going to lie and say that I always remember to harvest since a couple times I've simply emptied the carboy or bucket only to remember later, "I meant to keep that yeast."

LOL, I have done the same thing. That is one of the reasons I started saving yeast from the starter instead of the carboy.

 

[tim_c7]

WLP001, 002, 007, Cry Havoc, Zurich Lager, an Abbey Ale yeast and a pilsner yeast that has been in a mason jar a year. I was just thinking of going through them all and tossing the ones I haven't used in six months. I was just thinking I might have started keeping yeast in vials I'm not sure are exactly what's inside or they didn't ferment that well or might be a cause to my off flavors. I was considering just starting over and picking a few strains to use long term for lagers and ales.

I think I started with good intentions then didn't brew enough. I was being cheap and/or coveting platinum strains.

Yeah, just before winter I do yeast maintenance. The garage fridge freezes and I have to move the yeast. So I get rid of duplicates and downsize to the smallest medium and move them indoors. I can`t seem to willingly discard yeast at the moment. How do you KNOW if you never want to use them again?

 

[m00ps]

LOL, I have done the same thing. That is one of the reasons I started saving yeast from the starter instead of the carboy.

Yeah I started harvesting from my starters pretty early on. There's just too much going on at bottling/kegging for me to remember to harvest the yeast in a sanitary fashion. Plus the starter yeast is likely healthier and more pure.

@MannyEdwards : I dont really have a set saison recipe, more of a list of checkboxes anytime I make one. But I can PM you my last 4 or 5 that turned out well. I do have a dubbel and tripel (not a blonde) recipe that got some awards too if you want.

Dont really want to clog up this thread with like 2 pages of just my crap

 

[m00ps]

166 commercial strains/mixes, plus an additional 32 (soon to be 38) wild strains/mixes.

MOOWHUUHHAHAHH!

You win the battle of the yeasts sir. I tip my hat to you

Also, I checked out that massive list on your blog. Off-hand the only two I've got that arent listed are the seasonal WLP585 Saison III and RVA-263 which is the sacch portion of fantome's yeast. The 585 in particular has become my absolute favorite sacch saison yeast. I saw a couple really interesting commercial and wild blends Id like to get my hands on....