Does anyone no longer save yeast who once did?

[petep1980]

The wife told me she'll give me $7 a batch if I stop storing mason jars of yeast in the fridge. I love the idea of saving yeast and having whatever I want on hand, but LHBS has a decent selection and I had to take her up on the offer.

It's actually been a relief even though each time I clean out the carboy I think of all those sad yeasties going down the drain....

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Even since I started, the selection and services for homebrewing have much improved. Heck, I tore my mill down last night because so many shops are doing a much better job at milling than they used to.

The less "stuff" I have to keep track of, the better IMO.

 

[petep1980]

Even since I started, the selection and services for homebrewing have much improved. Heck, I tore my mill down last night because so many shops are doing a much better job at milling than they used to.

The less "stuff" I have to keep track of, the better IMO.

I too, no longer mill my own and it's been heaven.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Like OP, I enjoy having access to several strains at a moment's notice. My collection of mason jars in the fridge was getting too expansive. I have since transferred to using culture vials for fridge storage. I believe they are 15ml glass vials. I use the mason jars initially but once the yeasts have formed a cake at the bottom of the jar I ditch most of the liquid and add the entire cake to the vial. I then top up with either the water from the mason jar or separate sanitized water. Now it takes up very little space but it's exactly the same amount of yeast I had before.

 

[TyTanium]

...each time I clean out the carboy I think of all those sad yeasties going down the drain....

Do you compost? Or have a lawn? Use it there.

 

[suprchunk]

I will never stop. I'll buy another fridge if I have to. Or get a job at a lab so I can use their stuff to store my slants and plates.

 

[BrewThruYou]

I've slowed down. Fridge space is at a premium and I simply can't store multiple mason jars per strain. I'm down to one strain and then if I'm brewing something else, I'll hit the LHBS.

 

[Guidry]

I too, no longer mill my own and it's been heaven.

Either of you need a place to "store" your mill?

 

[permo]

I have stopped harvesting and washing yeast as well. I grind my own grain, buy hops and malt in bulk and do 11 gallon batches. I can pay $6 for a vial or smack pack and make a starter on the stir plate. This has opened up a fridge for me, as I had around 50 jars of washed yeast. It wasn't worth it.

 

[aryoung1980]

I have since transferred to using culture vials for fridge storage. I believe they are 15ml glass vials.

I also use test tubes for my yeast. They take up such a little amount of space that my wife barely notices them. When I do need buy a new yeast I try to buy White Labs and reuse the tubes. I'm all about being thrifty.

 

[sweetcell]

Do you compost? Or have a lawn? Use it there.

can you just pour the yeast slurry into the composter? does it make good lawn fertilizer?

i too just dump my unwanted yeast down the drain (actually i flush it), but i'm happy to extract a little more value out of the beasties...

 

[AmandaK]

I quit as well. I use too many different strains of yeast to make it effective. If I really want to reuse something, I'll wash it quick and try and use it on my next batch, but that's it.

 

[TyTanium]

can you just pour the yeast slurry into the composter? does it make good lawn fertilizer?

I've done a variety of things. Just poured trub/slurry into the composter, around the rose bushes, on the lawn etc...no adverse effects. I dilute with water for non-compost applications though - otherwise the clumps just sit on the surface and my dog eats them. No idea if it helps, but so far it hasn't hurt anything.

 

[mattmcl]

I quit too. I'll get a new pack of yeast and use it, then pour onto the cake twice. I have to rack and brew on the same day, but it saves loads of time, and fermentation is extremely vigorous.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I also use test tubes for my yeast. They take up such a little amount of space that my wife barely notices them. When I do need buy a new yeast I try to buy White Labs and reuse the tubes. I'm all about being thrifty.

The white labs tubes are called preforms. They can be purchased online. Thats what I use to harvest yeast from starters. I cold crash and decant the starter, pour the slurrey into 3 preforms, then step the starter again. Cold crash, decant the starter and the preforms, then top off the preforms with more slurrey just before I pitch. Not as much yeast as a new white labs tube, but enough to do starter for the next batch. The original white labs tube is my canary in the cage. When I use it its time to harvest the next generation.

 

[amandabab]

I gave up doing it.
I just rack and brew the same day and pitch on the cake once, maybe twice.

 

[Warthaug]

I had a large collection, but over the course of a few moves, lost most of it. I'm building back up, but due to the selection I now have access to via some local mail-order (i.e. order today, it arrives tomorrow) shops, I'm no longer wasting the time to keep commercial strains.

I have the advantage of being a medical sciences prof, so I keep mine in a -80C freezer at work, using standard scientific storage methods. Means the yeast don't take up much space, but it can take upto a week to get from a frozen culture to a usable starter.

Bryan

 

[FredTheNuke]

2 words come to mind - YEAST SLANTING.

You can store 24 varieties of yeast in the space of 2 mason jars.

To each his own but I can't see spending $7.00 per vial of yeast when I average 6 vials a month.... Slanting cost $0.10 a vial tops. And having the grain shipped in 55lb bags makes it $1.10 a pound. MUCH cheaper if you brew enough to make it worth the storage space and equipment cost.

 

[Pilgarlic]

I stopped the practice. But I'm going to start it again only for a specific yeast that I'll be using once a month.

 

[petep1980]

It also hurts that I brew 5-6 times only a year.

 

[logdrum]

The white labs tubes are called preforms. They can be purchased online. Thats what I use to harvest yeast from starters. I cold crash and decant the starter, pour the slurrey into 3 preforms, then step the starter again. Cold crash, decant the starter and the preforms, then top off the preforms with more slurrey just before I pitch. Not as much yeast as a new white labs tube, but enough to do starter for the next batch. The original white labs tube is my canary in the cage. When I use it its time to harvest the next generation.

Check it out: they're called preforms cause they're a soda bottle before it is blown into shape. Cool

http://www.teachersource.com/product/preforms-and-caps/chemistry

 

[Warthaug]

2 words come to mind - YEAST SLANTING.

You can store 24 varieties of yeast in the space of 2 mason jars.

Two words - frozen cultures. You can store 96 varieties of yeast in a box that has the same footprint as a 1 pint mason jar, and is about 1/3rd as high...

...and you only need to "re-streak" once every 30-40 years.

Bryan

 

[FredTheNuke]

Nothing a bit of Glycerine can't fix!!! Frozen lasts longer but slanting allows almost instant usage (the starter takes one extra day in a 250ml flask).

 

[TimTrone]

I don't save yeast anymore. 80% of my beers I use dry yeast, and I wont even bother saving them because they're so cheap. Ill repitch usually about once or twice but that's it. I pretty much only use liquid strains on Belgians. For most other styles there's great dry strains. Favs are s189 for lagers, k97 for super clean ales/Alts, and 05 for American ales.

 

[nulfis]

When I first started washing, I was saving every strain, and I had mason jars up they ying yang as a result. But I'm single and don't use much fridge space, so it wasn't a big deal. Unfortunately I have gotten to the point now that my earlier washed yeast is starting to get into the 3+ months age, and given my relative noob-ness at the time I washed them, I am less than confident in their stored longevity. Likely will end up tossing half of them out.

Now I try to wash one mason jar worth of yeast when I bottle, just because then I don't have to drive to store to buy it when I brew, and if I'm being honest, I like nerding out over a having a yeast library. So I certainly don't wash as much as I use to, but still make sure to do it every brew. I also like to know I'm getting good at the procedure so that come a time when I want to save yeast, I'm not ****ing it all up.

 

[Montanaandy]

I have stopped harvesting and washing yeast as well. I grind my own grain, buy hops and malt in bulk and do 11 gallon batches. I can pay $6 for a vial or smack pack and make a starter on the stir plate. This has opened up a fridge for me, as I had around 50 jars of washed yeast. It wasn't worth it.

I am at this point too. I had accumulated a ton of mason jars in the keezer, the majority of which I have not got around to using and so they are getting old. The only yeast that I will wash from here on in are Wyeast PC's that I cannot get ahold of otherwise. Nice to be able to rack and then just dump the trub and clean the carboy all at once.

 

[Naturallight16oz]

Even since I started, the selection and services for homebrewing have much improved. Heck, I tore my mill down last night because so many shops are doing a much better job at milling than they used to.

The less "stuff" I have to keep track of, the better IMO.

I too, no longer mill my own and it's been heaven.

Interested in selling your mill?

 

[Warthaug]

Nothing a bit of Glycerine can't fix!!! Frozen lasts longer but slanting allows almost instant usage (the starter takes one extra day in a 250ml flask).

250ml is kinda small - I was talking 2L-ish. I always step-up (i.e. start off with a 5ml, then go to a 250-500ml, then to the full 2000ml), which adds a bit of time. I'd say 4 days on average, but slower strains can take 6-7. I'm sure you could skip a step in there, but the microbiologist in me is a stickler for proper procedures.

Bryan

 

[FredTheNuke]

250ml is kinda small - I was talking 2L-ish. I always step-up (i.e. start off with a 5ml, then go to a 250-500ml, then to the full 2000ml), which adds a bit of time. I'd say 4 days on average, but slower strains can take 6-7. I'm sure you could skip a step in there, but the microbiologist in me is a stickler for proper procedures.

Bryan

I go from slant to 250ml to 1000ml to 2000ml to 5000ml and then cold crash. 24 hours per step.

 

[JohnnyO]

It also hurts that I brew 5-6 times only a year.

This is my issue as well. I had a collection of washed yeast, but they would sit for long periods. About a month ago, I attempted to use washed hefeweizen yeast from a year ago. It was dead. It sucked to have to buy yeast.

I'll continue to wash yeast I use frequently like California Ale or German Lager yeast. I won't wash something I won't use for another year.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Check it out: they're called preforms cause they're a soda bottle before it is blown into shape. Cool

http://www.teachersource.com/product/preforms-and-caps/chemistry

It is pretty f'n sweet. I worked as a press operator in a blow molding factory (Johnson Controls then Schmalbach-Lubeca) when I was in college. We made Coke bottles (20 0z and 2L), all sizes of liquor bottles for Gordons and stock bottles for off brands, PB jars, and Canola oil bottles. All from various sizes of preforms which were made offsite in a plant in GA. It was really fascinating, so fascinating that after school I seriously considered staying on and becoming a machinist for them.

Too bad I can't say the same for this thread. I can't see paying $7 for yeast every time I brew knowing that that $7 could yield me many many batches of delicious beer. To each their own, I guess. To me, it's the same as buying a new Ale Pail for every other batch, costwise that is.

 

[MNDan]

I go from slant to 250ml to 1000ml to 2000ml to 5000ml and then cold crash. 24 hours per step.

I'd skip the 2000ml.

 

[erikpete18]

I was curious to see what people's answers were, because I'm trying to decide this exact thing. I just moved and had to give away all my glycerol stocks because I didn't want to have to haul them across the country with me. Now that I'm getting set up and going again, I'm trying to decide if the effort and space are worth it.

The limited release yeasts might be a different story, but it might be worth $7 to me to not have to worry about keeping them around. I'm also starting at a lower volume (~2ml of slurry), so I've got to factor in the cost of the extract for the additional step ups. Add my time in and the fact that I've got to plan several more days in advance, and I'm not decided yet which way to go. If only I weren't so thrifty (ie cheap )!

 

[Revvy]

LOL...I live alone, so there's noone to complain. I end up saving some yeast but rarely ever use it.... In fact I jarred 3 jars of French saison. Though my reasoning is that I am going to make another saison this season...though in reality I prolly will forget.

 

[Hammy71]

I have a few mason jars in the 'man' fridge, but they have been in there for over a year. The yeast washing and storage turned into a PITA so I stopped doing it. Now, if I'm making brews that use the same yeast? I'll surely use some slurry for the next batch, but I've stopped saving it. For spur of the moments brews I keep a pretty good selection of dry yeast in the fridge.

 

[Pappers_]

I haven't rinsed, stored and reused yeast for a while. The pattern I've gotten into is to plan my batches so that I do two batches with the same strain.

For example, I brewed an American Amber with Edinburgh, poured the yeast cake into a sanitized mason jar and pitched it a few days later into a batch of Wee Heavy.

Next up is a Cream Ale, which I'll use California on, then I'll follow that with a Robust Porter using the same yeast.

 

[b-boy]

Yeast slants are the way to go, especially for harder to get stuff like Rogue Pac Man and SF Lager. I have about 10 going right now. I also like to try different yeasts on a split batch. It's nice to have some options.

I think my initial investment was about $40 for tubes, agar, an alcohol lamp, loops, etc...

I have a BS in Cell/Molecular Biology so I feel like I'm using my expensive degree for something. I work at a bank. Not much use for a Biology degree there.

 

[magnj]

I stopped, I decided it wasn't worth the risk of infecting a batch that takes a 6+ hour brew day, $50+, and 10 gallons of beer. However I never did infect a batch fwiw. I am actually about to repitch yeast for the first time in a long time. Brewing a 6% ipa with WLP 001 right now, going to wash and repitch in the same day next week for a big 10% stout.