Ike
nOob for life
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2015
- Messages
- 532
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- 186
I've been reading up on starters. I was previously put off by the extra effort, since I'm occupied by pretty basic brews ( OG < 1.060, no funky ingredients pitching the packet or vial by itself is usually fine). BUT, now, I'm poor. Or at least I'm poorer than I was (wife is going back to school). SO, the 6-10 buck investment per batch in yeast has me taking another look at starters and splitting yeast them.
Is there any reason I can't just take a vial of fresh, unused yeast, build a starter, split it on brew day, pitch half and put the other half back in the fridge, make another starter, split it in two again, and so on ad infinitum? I'm thinking of it like the process to wash used yeast, but without using it first so it's least likely to have picked up wild strains or contamination. My brews are pretty much ales, so I would get some usage out of the same yeast over and over.
Is there any reason I can't just take a vial of fresh, unused yeast, build a starter, split it on brew day, pitch half and put the other half back in the fridge, make another starter, split it in two again, and so on ad infinitum? I'm thinking of it like the process to wash used yeast, but without using it first so it's least likely to have picked up wild strains or contamination. My brews are pretty much ales, so I would get some usage out of the same yeast over and over.