I have been reading here of late that one should not expect to keep yeast saved from a given home-brewed batch more than about 6 months. Longer than that and it has "lost all of it's viability". That alone made me scratch my head a little 'cause my experience with yeast is that the blasted stuff is difficult to KILL! When I thought about the sourdough batches that last for decades and the famous "San Francisco sourdough" that is reputed to be over 100 years old I was still scratching my head.
I thought maybe the difference was that the yeasts in sourdough are being constantly fed, while the 'saved' yeast might be "starving". Then I read this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=588216
So, here I am asking someone to 'splain to me the profoundly short duration of viability of only 6 months reported for "beer" yeasts salvaged from home-brewing a batch of beer.
It's not a rhetorical question.
I'm not trying to "stir" ANY "pot".
I have no ax to grind or hobby horse to ride.
I don't think anyone is "wrong".
I simply don't understand how when yeast is 'salvaged' from making a batch of beer that its viability approaches zero in 6 months, but yeast found in bottled beer can live for "hundreds of years". (Actually, I'd settle for "just single-digit years", in contrast to 6 mo.)
Thanks,
Paul
I thought maybe the difference was that the yeasts in sourdough are being constantly fed, while the 'saved' yeast might be "starving". Then I read this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=588216
So, here I am asking someone to 'splain to me the profoundly short duration of viability of only 6 months reported for "beer" yeasts salvaged from home-brewing a batch of beer.
It's not a rhetorical question.
I'm not trying to "stir" ANY "pot".
I have no ax to grind or hobby horse to ride.
I don't think anyone is "wrong".
I simply don't understand how when yeast is 'salvaged' from making a batch of beer that its viability approaches zero in 6 months, but yeast found in bottled beer can live for "hundreds of years". (Actually, I'd settle for "just single-digit years", in contrast to 6 mo.)
Thanks,
Paul