Reculturing yeast

[nate0075]

Alrighty, Im going pick the brains of the best here at HBT. I've been reculturing yeast the sloppy way for a while now, getting about 5 good brew days out of recylcing the yeast before I wuss out and throw it out. Im afraid it's going to turn on me, get infected, etc and ruin a perfectly good batch. Here's what Im currently doing:

Get the yeast from my LHBS.

Make a starter in my clear (and extremely over the top sanitized) .5 gallon growler. 1 cup light DME to 1 cup water

Pitch the yeast at appropriate temp and fix with mini rubber stopper and bubbler.

Stir constantly, everytime I walk by it and keep yeast in fermentation cooler at 70 degrees exactly.

Once decent amount of yeast has accumulated for pitching on brew day, I swirl the concoction up and pour a small amount through a funnel into the tube the yeast came in from my LHBS. Everything obviously having been sterilyzed.

Pitch the remaining yeast and put the new yeast filled tube upright into fridge.

And now I use this small sample to repeat the process next time Im ready to brew. Only once has this method bit me and the yeast was about 4 months old. The only thing that happened was the fermentation stuck and I cant blame this exclusively on the yeast. Could be temp, sugars, etc.

Ive read on the PROPER way to recycle yeast and it appears I need to get a chemist's degree. People mention gellatin and test tubes, agars, etc. How is everyone out there recycling their yeasts if you dont mind dropping some knowledge my way. I dont mind my method, but ultimately I want a fridge full of yeasts I can pull from and not have to buy anymore for a while. And then also come up with my own hybrid strains! References for my info are below:

Yeast Culturing
The Art of Culturing Yeast
And this months issue of Brew Your Own magazine.

Its the weekend so get to brewin!

 

[enderwig]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/

*edit: slanting yeast isn't as hard as it looks. Get yourself some gelatin and some tubes and give it a shot. I was kinda worried the first time I did it, but when I finished, I realized that it was actually very simple.

Here is the link I used

 

[chefchris]

also, no need for a airlock on your starter. Just use a piece of tin foil. I've also read that 77F is a suggested temp for starters.

Look into buying a stir plate, too. I was shocked to see the amount of yeast I had after it had been on the stir plate. I use to do the shake it everytime you walk by method, too. There's a guy on eBay who sells them cheap with free shipping. It includes the stir bar and a keeper magnet so you don't dump it into anything, which I did anyways on my first batch. His website is StirStarters.com but he starts the bid at .99 on eBay.

And yeah, Yeast Washing is what you want.

 

[nate0075]

Yea I had a buddy tell me to use tin foil, but then all these people who posted on the subject said they got fruit flies and it spoiled the beer. One was pretty extreme. See below

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/yellow-white-creepy-crawly-things-my-beer-130714/#post1467101

I may have to give washing a shot. And I've been thinking about a stirplate so thanks for the tip!

 

[enderwig]

Don't use the airlock on a starter, a starter needs as much oxygen as it can get, thats why you swirl it or stirplate it. The reason you end up with so much more yeast with a stirplate is the constant oxygenation. With an airlock, you aren't introducing anymore oxygen.

 

[Mosa]

Yea I had a buddy tell me to use tin foil, but then all these people who posted on the subject said they got fruit flies and it spoiled the beer. One was pretty extreme. See below

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/yellow-white-creepy-crawly-things-my-beer-130714/#post1467101

I use a stir plate and foil every time I do a starter and have yet to get fruit flies. Just keep it in a clean area and you should be good.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I store my yeast using sterile distilled water. Everything that touches the yeast prior to me banking it is truely sterilized using a pressure cooker. I make my starters with a stir plate.

I am one of those guys that has had fruit flies in the starter. I have no idea how the hell they got in there but I only use the foam stoppers now which I feel let more oxygen in anyways. Plus I start off with a 20ml starter from my yeast bank so keeping it sterile and not sanitary is important.

 

[fratermus]

I've been reculturing yeast the sloppy way for a while now, getting about 5 good brew days out of recylcing the yeast before I wuss out and throw it out. Im afraid it's going to turn on me, get infected, etc and ruin a perfectly good batch.
..
Ive read on the PROPER way to recycle yeast and it appears I need to get a chemist's degree. People mention gellatin and test tubes, agars, etc.

I won't claim that culturing on media is the proper way, but if you are concerned about infection then it is an excellent way.

The implements are sterilized not just sanitized. And you can look at the culture and see if there is a furry mold or something growing on it. Discard (ie, clean now and resterilize later) any plates or slants that get infected and keep on truckin'. Very low stress.

Really isn't hard after you've seen it done. Note: gelatine works best in cooler areas. Warmer areas will likely require the harder-setting agar. Both are easy.

 

[nate0075]

Thanks for all the tips, I think Im going to give it a shot!

Just for curiosity, what happens if I keep recycling yeast the way Im doing it now?