From Bottle to Batch??

[HoppyDaze]

So how long will it take me to get enough yeast to pitch for a five gallon batch if I begin my starter from a bottle of homebrew? Can I harvest tonight and have a big enough population to pitch on Sunday? Worst case I can just buy yeast but Im sick of wasting money on yeast when I have unlimited sitting in my bottles at home...

 

[HoppyDaze]

.....bump.....

on my way to the lhbs

Should I buy yeast while Im there?

 

[mkory]

I would buy some while your there. While I've never grown yeast from a bottle, the guys that harvest pacman yeast use multiple bottles and several decanting/wort additions to grow the proper amount. Even without experience, I think it's safe to say that 2 days will not be long enough to grow the amount of yeast you need. Now if you could drink a case tonight...

 

[lieb2101]

No expert but from my experience, a starter from a bottle harvest really depends on what you're harvesting from, how much yeast is still suspended, and what sanitary shape it's in.

I wouldn't bet on it if I were you. At least pick up some dry yeast as a backup.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Doc Robinson]

I would buy some while your there. While I've never grown yeast from a bottle, the guys that harvest pacman yeast use multiple bottles and several decanting/wort additions to grow the proper amount. Even without experience, I think it's safe to say that 2 days will not be long enough to grow the amount of yeast you need. Now if you could drink a case tonight...

Pacman was just released again btw.

 

[Revvy]

I have had great luck harvesting from bottles, Bell's yeast, Hoegaarden, and even pacman....the thing is if you aren't going to take quite a few days to grow it incrementally from a single bottle dregs, then you should multiply the amount of yeast you dump in your starter....like 3-4 bottles worth.

I grew up a huge amount of hoegaarden yeast from 2 sixers of beer. What I did to harvest it was, over the period of a week drink 2 sixers of it. I left about 1/2 if beer behind with the yeast. After I finished a bottle I flamed and sanitized the lip of the bottle and recapped it with a fresh sanitized cap. Then I stuck it in the fridge until I had my 12, then I made a started, and reversed the process, I sprayed the cap area with sanitizer, uncapped it then flamed the bottle and dumped the dregs in my flask. I think I ended up with 4 washed mason jars full after that.

 

[remilard]

Ideally you would start that in about 50 ml of wort then step up to say 300 ml and then 1800 ml, which would take at least a week, probably closer to 2. I don't see you getting very good results in 2 days.

 

[HoppyDaze]

sounds like I just need to do a few harvest sessions and just keep good inventory on hand...thanks everyone