Inspired by ChrissfromAbby's vintage yeast bank thread, I thought I would dig into my, shall we say, "mature" cache. My setup is pretty simple. The yeast/glycerin slurry is frozen in PET vials that are kept in a small styrofoam cooler filled with ice packs that is tucked away at the bottom of a chest freezer in my garage.
Was craving an English bitter recently and wanted to use the seemingly rarely released anymore WLP 006 - Bedford British. As I couldn't find it available for sale currently, a trip to the mausoleum was in order. The vial was originally collected and frozen on 9/4/12 - that's right, over ten years ago. On 10/3/22, little was my hope for the success of this decrepit bundle of yeasties as I cast loose them into 400ml of 1.020 starter. Stepping it up in small increments twice over the next four days on a stir plate, I saw the little buggers actually showing signs of life. Fast forward a few weeks, and last night I enjoyed a couple of pints of fine Bedford bitter.
Anyone else have success stories to share with 10+ years-old frozen yeast?
Was craving an English bitter recently and wanted to use the seemingly rarely released anymore WLP 006 - Bedford British. As I couldn't find it available for sale currently, a trip to the mausoleum was in order. The vial was originally collected and frozen on 9/4/12 - that's right, over ten years ago. On 10/3/22, little was my hope for the success of this decrepit bundle of yeasties as I cast loose them into 400ml of 1.020 starter. Stepping it up in small increments twice over the next four days on a stir plate, I saw the little buggers actually showing signs of life. Fast forward a few weeks, and last night I enjoyed a couple of pints of fine Bedford bitter.
Anyone else have success stories to share with 10+ years-old frozen yeast?
