Hello all!
I've been away from homebrewing since 2015, and have recently started again. I had some yeast strains from that time stored in the refrigerator, and some of them are not available anymore where I live (we aren't finding White Labs / Wyeast products in Brazil currently), so I tried some ressurrection magic and lo and behold, it worked!
These yeast were stored in the refrigerator for the whole time, but I moved house a couple of times, so there were some short periods of warming. I've brought back WLP007, WLP099, WLP510, WLP644, WLP650 and WLP653. Some of them were from starters I had stored in vials, others from their original vials.
I've tested actual beer fermentations with 644 and 510 so far, with good results. They don't seem to have been contaminated or drifted genetically in a significant way.
I also tried (first time ever, so bear in mind my methods need improvement) a cell count through serial dilution / plating for 644. It seems it had a viable cell density in the order of 10^5 per mL. I still have a few mLs left from some of them, and intend to try the cell counting again with other strains.
My method for propagation was to start with 200-400mL of 1.020 wort, step up with 1.030, decant and then do a larger step with 1.040 wort. All wort was pressure sterilized.
I also have some Lactobacillus vials from White Labs, and didn't seem to be able to bring them back to life. I couldn't find much information on this specifically (cultures stored for a long time), but from what I gathered, it seems that lacto is not as tolerant as yeast in this sense. So it might be that they're beyond help. Any information in this is much appreciated, though.
I didn't find a lot of information on culturing yeast that old, and I know it's not ideal, but for some of us it might be the difference between having and not having access to a certain strain. Plus it might be interesting information on yeast viability decreases, and what's possible to "get away with" in terms of neglect. Would be interested in discussing this further with people who have done similar experiments!
And now for the actual questions: I also have a White Labs Flemish Red blend, in an unopened vial, from 2015, and a couple of Wyeast Lambic blend smack packs, from 2014. I was thinking about using them in some brews, along with a healthy pitch of yeast. From my attempts at ressurrecting lacto, I belive it would be better to pitch some extra of it. But I was wondering about the Pediococcus. Is it likely there's some still alive there, or would it be better to pitch extra (and if so, will the original blends actually be contributing much, aside from brett?).
Cheers o/
I've been away from homebrewing since 2015, and have recently started again. I had some yeast strains from that time stored in the refrigerator, and some of them are not available anymore where I live (we aren't finding White Labs / Wyeast products in Brazil currently), so I tried some ressurrection magic and lo and behold, it worked!
These yeast were stored in the refrigerator for the whole time, but I moved house a couple of times, so there were some short periods of warming. I've brought back WLP007, WLP099, WLP510, WLP644, WLP650 and WLP653. Some of them were from starters I had stored in vials, others from their original vials.
I've tested actual beer fermentations with 644 and 510 so far, with good results. They don't seem to have been contaminated or drifted genetically in a significant way.
I also tried (first time ever, so bear in mind my methods need improvement) a cell count through serial dilution / plating for 644. It seems it had a viable cell density in the order of 10^5 per mL. I still have a few mLs left from some of them, and intend to try the cell counting again with other strains.
My method for propagation was to start with 200-400mL of 1.020 wort, step up with 1.030, decant and then do a larger step with 1.040 wort. All wort was pressure sterilized.
I also have some Lactobacillus vials from White Labs, and didn't seem to be able to bring them back to life. I couldn't find much information on this specifically (cultures stored for a long time), but from what I gathered, it seems that lacto is not as tolerant as yeast in this sense. So it might be that they're beyond help. Any information in this is much appreciated, though.
I didn't find a lot of information on culturing yeast that old, and I know it's not ideal, but for some of us it might be the difference between having and not having access to a certain strain. Plus it might be interesting information on yeast viability decreases, and what's possible to "get away with" in terms of neglect. Would be interested in discussing this further with people who have done similar experiments!
And now for the actual questions: I also have a White Labs Flemish Red blend, in an unopened vial, from 2015, and a couple of Wyeast Lambic blend smack packs, from 2014. I was thinking about using them in some brews, along with a healthy pitch of yeast. From my attempts at ressurrecting lacto, I belive it would be better to pitch some extra of it. But I was wondering about the Pediococcus. Is it likely there's some still alive there, or would it be better to pitch extra (and if so, will the original blends actually be contributing much, aside from brett?).
Cheers o/
