Dead Guy Ale and Pacman yeast?

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So whats the final verdict on harvesting from DeadGuy. I ordered 9 bottles from liquid solutions in hopes of being able to get a pacman starter going for future brews. i dont really notice any slurry in the bottles? Who has been successful with the deadguy ale?
 
Assuming nothing has changed since I last visited the brewery:

Dead Guy is fermented with Pacman.
Most Rogue beers have been sterile filtered before packaging for the last 4 years or so. Dead Guy is definitely sterile filtered.
Pacman is not the only yeast used in Newport, for example Czech Pils is used in the Imperial Pilsner.
Clearly Shakespeare Stout is bottle conditioned, so is Brutal Bitter I think and the XS series. That might be about it.
John Maier claims to not know the origin of Pacman. The theory that has it being the Chico strain is that it is Chico via McMenniman's. The brewer at Rogue prior to JM came from there but JM says he doesn't believe it is the same strain (and he started using it very soon after it allegedly was brought from McMenniman's). Either way, I've used it cultured from a bottle and find it to be distinct from the Chico strain. I think it is more flocculent and it does seem to tolerate lower temperatures better. If Pacman is more attenuative than Chico, I personally don't think it is by much and that really isn't the most dramatic difference between the two.
 
So whats the final verdict on harvesting from DeadGuy. I ordered 9 bottles from liquid solutions in hopes of being able to get a pacman starter going for future brews. i dont really notice any slurry in the bottles? Who has been successful with the deadguy ale?

Well I still don't know about dead guy, but as you can see from Jaybird's photos and several of the other threads we've posted on here about it, quite a few of us have had great success harvesting pacman from Shakespeare Stout, and the other of the 22 ounce bottles that say in the white silkscreen printing "Top fermenting Pacman Yeast" on it, which as I think I said here, or in one of the other threads, DG doesn't say it on the label.

I have about 6 mason jars full of really nice harvest in my fridge, and have brewed quite a few beers with the harvested yeast, including my clone of dead guy, my Bell's Amber clone and my brown ale.

And Wedge, who started the pacman harvest video thread back in APril of last year that got most of us into doing it, seemed to have good luck with Brutal Bitter...as you can see here.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/pacman-yeast-starter-video-63855/
 
So whats the final verdict on harvesting from DeadGuy. I ordered 9 bottles from liquid solutions in hopes of being able to get a pacman starter going for future brews. i dont really notice any slurry in the bottles? Who has been successful with the deadguy ale?

I have brewed 3 batches of ale with cultured/harvested pacman form shakespeare stout with malta goya as starter. I also was able to use residual DG yeast for one harvesting. It was slow to pick up the fermentation action. I think shakespear stout or chocolate stout has the biggest yeast layer in 22 oz.
 
I harvested some from two 22 oz. bottles of Yellow Snow IPA that I bought a couple weeks ago. It really took four or five days for it to start so don't give up after one day. I found the key seemed to be in shaking the jar a lot all through the day. I work from home so that wasn't a problem. It might be at the office! Anyway, I'm getting ready to pitch it into an all grain dead guy clone that I found using two row, munich, and carastan. It's about sixteen pounds of grain and sounded really close to the real thing. I'm going to change it by adding a pound or so of homemade amber candi sugar and hopping it up a little bit to counteract some of the sweetness. Not much though, just a little bit.
 
Confirmed...no sediment in DG ale to culture. I just had a bottle I bought earlier tonight and it definately looked like it had been filtered. On a side note, my starter that I have going in a sauerkraut jarhas a two inch krausen on it in my basement at 56 degrees. I pulled it out of the fridge two hours ago, poured the beer off the top leaving only the baby yeast cake and poured on a pint of wort made from DME at a gravity of around 1.065. It's going nuts and I can't wait to pitch it in my maibock I'm making tomorrow. I'll add another pint of wort again before I pitch it. I'd like to pitch at least a quart or a quart and a half starter in this. I'd like it to be more of a double dead guy type of beer and am using candi (homemade) sugar to do this. This will be the martini of maibocks!
 
My deadguy had sediment in it, but after more than a week of shaking and swirling it had zero attenuation on my starter, so I dumped it and gave up. I am pretty sure my DG was old though as it is kind of a crappy beer.
 
Confirmed...no sediment in DG ale to culture. I just had a bottle I bought earlier tonight and it definately looked like it had been filtered. On a side note, my starter that I have going in a sauerkraut jarhas a two inch krausen on it in my basement at 56 degrees. I pulled it out of the fridge two hours ago, poured the beer off the top leaving only the baby yeast cake and poured on a pint of wort made from DME at a gravity of around 1.065. It's going nuts and I can't wait to pitch it in my maibock I'm making tomorrow. I'll add another pint of wort again before I pitch it. I'd like to pitch at least a quart or a quart and a half starter in this. I'd like it to be more of a double dead guy type of beer and am using candi (homemade) sugar to do this. This will be the martini of maibocks!

sounds good on your DDG... double the freshness... BTW, what size of Dead Guy did you get from the store? I notice that 12 oz bottle are filtered really well, while 22oz bombers have some sediments on the bottom of the bottle.
 
sounds good on your DDG... double the freshness... BTW, what size of Dead Guy did you get from the store? I notice that 12 oz bottle are filtered really well, while 22oz bombers have some sediments on the bottom of the bottle.
It was a 12 oz. I live in Utah and you have to buy it at a state liquor store. A lot of people ***** about that but one benefit is that everything is slod by the bottle. You can buy one 12 oz. bottle or 24. I like to buy several differnt bottles of different beers rather than a six pack of one type. I used two 22 oz. bottles of Rogue Yellow Snow IPA to get my starter going. I also noticed that I had to open them at close to room temperature. When cold, the sediment seemed to disappear but when at room temp it had a nice cake at the bottom of the bottle for some reason. Same with the La Fin Du Monde i harvested from.
 
sounds good on your DDG... double the freshness... BTW, what size of Dead Guy did you get from the store? I notice that 12 oz bottle are filtered really well, while 22oz bombers have some sediments on the bottom of the bottle.

I've noticed the same thing, the 12's seem much clearer....and when I've pitched dead guy slurry either from the 12's or the 22's it's ALWAYS been with other slugs of Chocolate or Shakespeare....What I usually do is leave an inch of beer in the bottom of the 22's flame the neck and put a fresh saniticed cap on it and stuck it in the fridge for a few days as I drank a few more bottles, then when I had 3 or 4, I'd pitch them all into my Erlenmeyer flask with wort...

But don't think just because you don't SEE sediment in the bottom of the bottle, that it doesn't mean the yeast isn't there and in suspension...I've had plenty of my own fully carbed homebrew not to appear to have any sediment in the bottom, even looking straight down the neck, yet you know there is yeast in there...there has to be.

You really don't know the state of agitation your 22's have gone through between Rogue's warehouse and your house, and how long they have sat at the store..unless you are chilling them for several days before you crack them...Me personally, If they are cold from the store, they usually go down my throat the minute I get home...so there really isn't a lot of time for stuff to settle fully...that's why I leave an inch of beer in the bottle (and swirl thoroughly to get any yeast off the glass) before pitching it.
 
I checked last night for a layer of sediment on the bottom of my 12oz deadguys. Using a highpower light i could definately see a frosted layer of yeast on the bottom. not very thick at all, just enough to cover the bottom. i shook the bottle up and the layer was gone and the beer was cloudy. so there is definately something there. when my stir plate gets here tomorrow i will give it a try. i have a DFH 60 in the fermentor that i pitched with a Wyeast pacman i bought from Brewmasterswarehouse.com, i plan on washing that yeast next week.
 
Yeah, I noticed that too but it doesn't look like much to work with. I've noticed that the 22 oz. bottles have more sediment on the bottom in most cases.
 
Yeah, I noticed that too but it doesn't look like much to work with. I've noticed that the 22 oz. bottles have more sediment on the bottom in most cases.

But it doesn't take much if you step up a starter patiently and incrementally....more than likely if they do filter DG, they may not go to a small enough micron to block ALL the yeast...or kill the yeast off like a BMC...so there potentially might be enough yeast still oresent there, especially with enough slugs...but like I said repeatedly, I've never tried with pure DG...or even a single bottle of slurry...but have used a minimum of 2...up to 4 or 5 bottles worth in one of my starters..so if there was no yeast in the DG, I still was getting it from the shalespear stouts....

BUT I seem to recall in one of the 20 threads on this subject someone saying they had success from the slugs from an entire sixer of it...but that was awhile ago..and I could be wrong.
 
It's fun to culture yeast anyway.

I like how some call it Yeast Ranching....

We get to be pacman cowboys....

pd1514392.jpg


My only regret is that I didn't slant the harvest and freeze it with glycerine...I was listenning to aussie craftbrewer radio, and they were saying the shelf life of harvest yeast in washed solution is only a few months (in mason jars) and when the creamy band turns gray the yeasts are dying.
 
I like how some call it Yeast Ranching....

We get to be pacman cowboys....

pd1514392.jpg


My only regret is that I didn't slant the harvest and freeze it with glycerine...I was listenning to aussie craftbrewer radio, and they were saying the shelf life of harvest yeast in washed solution is only a few months (in mason jars) and when the creamy band turns gray the yeasts are dying.
I think they are okay as long as it doesn't look like peanut butter and stink. How big of a starter would you use on a maibock with a gravity of around 1.080?
 
My Dead Guy clone is bubbling away at 52 degrees right now! I pitched the Pacman starter about 14 hours ago and it is living up to all my expectatons. I started out with a gravity of 1.085 (I threw a pound of homemade candi sugar in to kick it up a little) and I can't wait to see what kind of attenuation I get. I would say to keep trying if you are attempting to cultivate this yeast from the sediment of Rogue bottles. I was impatient at first and it took several days for it to start. I kept shaking the mason jar every chance I got and I added another pint of fresh wort every other day, pouring off the old stuff as the yeast started to grow.
 
Good for you man! I never was able to get mine to grow. I got a slant from a gent here on HBT and I haven't had time to grow it. I need to do that and get the slant jar back to the owner.
JJ
 
My Dead Guy clone is bubbling away at 52 degrees right now! I pitched the Pacman starter about 14 hours ago and it is living up to all my expectatons. I started out with a gravity of 1.085 (I threw a pound of homemade candi sugar in to kick it up a little) and I can't wait to see what kind of attenuation I get. I would say to keep trying if you are attempting to cultivate this yeast from the sediment of Rogue bottles. I was impatient at first and it took several days for it to start. I kept shaking the mason jar every chance I got and I added another pint of fresh wort every other day, pouring off the old stuff as the yeast started to grow.

Congrats!!! It's a neat feeling to see 5 gallons bubbling away from yeast you knew was a small slug of sediment at the bottom of a bottle!!!!

:mug:
 
Congrats!!! It's a neat feeling to see 5 gallons bubbling away from yeast you knew was a small slug of sediment at the bottom of a bottle!!!!

:mug:
I'm just suprised that it will ferment at such a low temperature. It must be a blend of ale and lager yeasts. It is cool to see it work. I'm always on pins and needles until I see that first bubble in the airlock. Both batches that I did yesterday were cultured yeasts. One was Weihenstephan and the other was the Pacman. I did a thirteen hour brew day! My kegging system will be here in a few days and I don't want to be staring at empty kegs for too long. Do you think that 50 is too cold to ferment the pacman? I'm thinking about keeping it closer to 600 so I don't have too wait so long for it to finish. Anyone have any thought on that?
 
I'm just suprised that it will ferment at such a low temperature. It must be a blend of ale and lager yeasts. It is cool to see it work. I'm always on pins and needles until I see that first bubble in the airlock. Both batches that I did yesterday were cultured yeasts. One was Weihenstephan and the other was the Pacman. I did a thirteen hour brew day! My kegging system will be here in a few days and I don't want to be staring at empty kegs for too long. Do you think that 50 is too cold to ferment the pacman? I'm thinking about keeping it closer to 600 so I don't have too wait so long for it to finish. Anyone have any thought on that?

600 sounds a little high, but I would probably go a little higher than 50...probably 55-60. According to brewmasterswarehouse "Rogue Ales proprietary yeast strain. Pacman is best fermented between 60 - 70 degrees, very good attenuation, clean profile, and is very flocculent."

I have to say I am a little jealous. I tried and tried, but I think my bottles of dead guy are just too old...the yeast is kind of a dark grey color to start with, so it's likely already dead.
 
It should be whiter if it's viable. Try a couple of the 22 oz. bottles. They all seem to have more sediment in them when I was looking at the liquor store. It's kind of hard to tell though because the bottles seem darker than most. The hazelnut brown beer they make seemed to have a good yeast cake at the bottom but I used the Yellow Snow IPA. I think you can only buy that in the Rocky Mountains area. I checked all the DG bottles and I didn't see any yeast in them other than MAYBE a small dusting at the bottom of the bottle. I also noticed that the sediment went away as the beer got colder in the fridge so I opened the second on at room temperature and I think that was the one that got the party started!
 
I've fermented with it as low as my strip reading 55 degrees, in my ice bottle filled swamp cooler...which I figure it was more like 58-80 actually inside the bucket..Worked out smashingly well!!!
 
So is the Yellow snow a good IPA? I haven't tasted it yet...
It's good. I'm going to brew something similiar to it with the pacman yeast and Amarillo hops. It's a pretty simple beer and Rogue makes better (in fact, I make better IPAs) BUT all the bottles had big yeast cakes at the bottom and the color of the glass was a little lighter than the others so I could really see what I was getting. It's definately not a six dollar beer but since the Wyeast costs more than that AND I got a 22 oz to go with my yeast it wasn't a bad deal. To answer your question bluntly, it's good but it's nothing out of the ordinary. I like Anderson Valley's Hop Ottin it IPA a lot better.
 
It's better than a Bud American Ale! I had one of those at a friends house and it was CRAP!!! It tasted like a Bud that someone dropped a cascade pellet in.
 
I don't mind a Budweiser American Ale here or there. I find that when I'm drinking American Pale Ales I'll have a couple and then my pallet is a bit 'overloaded' with all the hoppy deliciousness and doesn't desire so much flavor... at that point the bud ale is just the blandish taste I'm looking for, as embarassing as it may be to admit...
 
I don't mind a Budweiser American Ale here or there. I find that when I'm drinking American Pale Ales I'll have a couple and then my pallet is a bit 'overloaded' with all the hoppy deliciousness and doesn't desire so much flavor... at that point the bud ale is just the blandish taste I'm looking for, as embarassing as it may be to admit...
I just can't drink anything that tastes like Budweiser and never have been able to. I'll drink water instead. Or...I'll drink my Dead Guy clone that is almost gone. Time to brew more! Next time I won't put the sugar in it though to boost the ABV. It's too much.
 
I have had good results pitching the last 1/4 of a Rogue Mocha Porter into a starter. Took a days or so on the stir plate, but it did set off. I was also under the impression that Dead Guy is filtered and force carbed. Could be wrong but, it is an awfully clear, sedimentless beer.
 
I made a Dead Guy Ale and althought it has not fully carbonated yet (just over 2 weeks in bottles), I did not use Pacman yeats for obvious reasons but it turned out awesome. I just checked my notes and I did not record the yeast I used. :(
 
I have had good results pitching the last 1/4 of a Rogue Mocha Porter into a starter. Took a days or so on the stir plate, but it did set off. I was also under the impression that Dead Guy is filtered and force carbed. Could be wrong but, it is an awfully clear, sedimentless beer.

deadguy didnt work for me, nor did double deadguy. I tried for over a week with both. I finally ordered a wyeast Pacman from Brewmasterswarehouse. Since then, i've washed 12 half pints of the pacman from a DFH 60 clone. Now pacman is my main yeast for my IPA's
 
I forgot to save the yeast from my last batch so it looks like I'll be trying to culture it again...
 
I got a 22 oz shakespeare stout and a 22 oz american amber a couple days ago. Made one starter each (decided not to put all eggs in one basket). Took a couple days but they are both fermenting.
 
I started a new culture of Pacman a few days ago with one 22 oz bottle of Yellow Snow IPA. I've got about an inch build up of yeast now in the bottom of a 1/2 gallon vodka bottle. I don't have a stir plate so I have to manually swirl it several times a day. I'm finding it easier to culture yeasts from store bought beers now that I have a few under my belt. I think this is going to be used for an American Dunkelweizen. I'm thinking 5 lbs. of six row, five pounds of malted wheat, and a little munich and chocolate malt. Not sure on the hops yet but I'm leaning towards Centennial. They are cheap right now at the LBS. I think whole hops are about three dollars for a two ounce bag.
 
What kind of smell are you getting from your pacman. I am using amber DME for the start but it smells sour. I realize this may be because there is no hops but just wanted to make sure. I didn't remember my previous starters smelling and tasting like this.


I brewed a Dead Guy Clone today and put some real wort into the starter and took off within 1/2 hour and going crazy. I want to taste the result of this before I pitch it into the whole batch.
 
I use pilsner DME for my starters but only because it's the cheapest DME at the store. Mine just smelled normal. I did put a couple Amarillo pellets in the starter though and that is mostly what it smelled like. I do my culturing in a 1.5 liter glass vodka jug these days. I've had good look culturing the 22 oz. Yellow Snow IPA. This last time I only used one bottle and it just took a few days to get going. I pitched the whole 1/2 gallon in an American hefeweizen and it's bubbling nicely right now. The temp on my bucket thermometer says 53*. I like to use the pacman at a really cold temperature. It comes out very clean. Should I do a diacetyl rest if I am using it like a lager yeast?
 
I have a pretty god starter going from one bottle of DGA. I pitched the sediment I to a normal starter mixture (2 cups water, 1/2 cup DME, forgot yeast nutrient). The yeasts built up a little bit, but not a whole lot (less than a white labs vial). I added another starter mixture which had little effect. I decanted the mixture off the yeast and threw in some fresh starter mixture (3 cups of water this time, 1/2 cup DME, yeast nutrient) 2 days ago And have been keeping the temperature in the high 60s/low 70s for the starter and it has been going strong since then. This weekend I'll step up the starter again and hopeully it'll be ready for Monday's brew.

Also, I know this is an old thread, but I didn't want to create ANOTHER Pacman harvesting thread just to say I got some from 1 DGA bottle.
 
I have a pretty god starter going from one bottle of DGA. I pitched the sediment I to a normal starter mixture (2 cups water, 1/2 cup DME, forgot yeast nutrient). The yeasts built up a little bit, but not a whole lot (less than a white labs vial). I added another starter mixture which had little effect. I decanted the mixture off the yeast and threw in some fresh starter mixture (3 cups of water this time, 1/2 cup DME, yeast nutrient) 2 days ago And have been keeping the temperature in the high 60s/low 70s for the starter and it has been going strong since then. This weekend I'll step up the starter again and hopeully it'll be ready for Monday's brew.

Also, I know this is an old thread, but I didn't want to create ANOTHER Pacman harvesting thread just to say I got some from 1 DGA bottle.


So you are saying that it actually looks like you are getting reproduction? Cool. Keep us posted and if you have a nice band of yeast on the bottom, get a picture. It will put a lot of questions about the viability of pacman in bottles of DG..

:mug:
 
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you MBasile! I'd love to see this work from DGA...

-Tripod
 
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