Pacman Yeast Starter Video

[Battery_BreweryNJ]

I harvested some yeast out of a growler of yellow snow Ipa and had it spinning for 48 hr, but i have no activity yet. It does seem like the amount of yeast in the bottom has increased. Here's a pic...

 

[BlackE1]

The six pack i got had slurry in the bottom. I have poured it into a container. It has settled down and i can see a darker brown slurry at the bottom. I have read that yeast when yeast turns peanut butter color it is bad. Do you think it is worth the time to try to make a starter with it?

 

[2bluewagons]

Sounds like I just stumbled into something. I was following Yooper's DFH 60 min recipe which suggests Pacman, so I went to LHBS to get ingredients and didn't think much of it when I picked up 2 Wyeast packs of Pacman.

Are you folks just harvesting for kicks or can you still not get Pacman in your LHBS?

Was already planning on washing cake from primary and re-using, and only more inspired now.

 

[RayInUT]

I harvested some yeast out of a growler of yellow snow Ipa and had it spinning for 48 hr, but i have no activity yet. It does seem like the amount of yeast in the bottom has increased. Here's a pic...

It took four or five days for mine to get going but when it did it took off fast. I'm having a glass of Yellow Snow IPA clone that I made up the recipe for. It tastes better than the real thing! I had a very hard time getting it to clear. First I tried gelatin and it barely did anything. A few days later I tried poly-clar and crash cooling to 32* in a cooler of snow and water. It is more clear than the real thing and tastes better too! I dry hopped half an ounce of amarillo and it gave it a better aroma than the Rogue.

Keep patient with the starter. Mine slowly grew more yeast at the bottom and then one morning it was foaming out the airlock.

 

[humann_brewing]

I cooked up a starter last night and pitched the bottom of a Hazelnut nectar bomber and placed on the stir plate. Wish me luck, I will post a pic if there is some luck.

 

[vtbeerman]

What recipe did you use for the Yellow Snow IPA clone? I love that beer!

 

[humann_brewing]

No activity to speak of after 24 hours on the stir plate using the hazelnut brown dreg but I think I had too much wort. I had like 1600ml in there.

I went out and could only find a Dead Guy, no one has the Shakespeare stout around here. Anyways, I removed some wort and am down to about 700ml and had to cool the dead guy over night to get the yeasties to the bottom and will try again tonight.

 

[MNBugeater]

No activity to speak of after 24 hours on the stir plate using the hazelnut brown dreg but I think I had too much wort. I had like 1600ml in there.

I went out and could only find a Dead Guy, no one has the Shakespeare stout around here. Anyways, I removed some wort and am down to about 700ml and had to cool the dead guy over night to get the yeasties to the bottom and will try again tonight.

I was in the same scenario earlier this week. I used 2 22oz. bottles per flask and it took over 48 hours to start.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/harvesting-commericial-yeast-pacman-other-patient-114540/

 

[humann_brewing]

I was in the same scenario earlier this week. I used 2 22oz. bottles per flask and it took over 48 hours to start.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/harvesting-commericial-yeast-pacman-other-patient-114540/

I did read that and had that in the back of my mind but I was just not confident in bottle harvesting from a hazelnut nectar which I am not sure is bottle conditioned, plus the 1/5 full bottle had been sitting in the fridge recapped for almost a month so I wasn't sure about the whole thing to start so I am really wondering if I should cook up some new wort tonight as well instead of pitching the dead guy dredge into that old wort.

 

[humann_brewing]

Well, I just put the leftovers of a dead guy bomber in and on the stir plate. Wish me luck!

 

[humann_brewing]

Well here is what I have. Do you think I have some healthy pacman going here?

This is after 2 step ups but I am just wondering if this is healthy and pitchable or if this is not what I am looking for. This is my first attempt at harvesting from a bottle.


This is after letting it sit overnight not stiring

about 12 hours later

 

[Tripod]

I know, I know...resurrecting the dead.

This thread is really inspiring! I've been mulling over the idea of harvesting yeast from bottles...finding this is great timing for me. As you seek, so shall you find...

...maybe I should have said "as you use the search function, so shall you find!"



-Tripod

 

[magnj]

Gonna try to harvest some Pacman from Rogue Sig's Northwestern Ale today, wish me luck.

 

[Revvy]

It took four or five days for mine to get going but when it did it took off fast. I'm having a glass of Yellow Snow IPA clone that I made up the recipe for. It tastes better than the real thing! I had a very hard time getting it to clear. First I tried gelatin and it barely did anything. A few days later I tried poly-clar and crash cooling to 32* in a cooler of snow and water. It is more clear than the real thing and tastes better too! I dry hopped half an ounce of amarillo and it gave it a better aroma than the Rogue.

Keep patient with the starter. Mine slowly grew more yeast at the bottom and then one morning it was foaming out the airlock.

No activity to speak of after 24 hours on the stir plate using the hazelnut brown dreg but I think I had too much wort. I had like 1600ml in there.

I went out and could only find a Dead Guy, no one has the Shakespeare stout around here. Anyways, I removed some wort and am down to about 700ml and had to cool the dead guy over night to get the yeasties to the bottom and will try again tonight.

Well here is what I have. Do you think I have some healthy pacman going here?

This is after 2 step ups but I am just wondering if this is healthy and pitchable or if this is not what I am looking for. This is my first attempt at harvesting from a bottle.


This is after letting it sit overnight not stiring

about 12 hours later

Gang, let me say this again!!!

Of over a dozen starters with tubes, smakc packs or bottle harvesting, I have ever only seen one Krauzen or "activity ring" and usually no other "activity."

Just like in the fermenter, fermentation isn't always dynamic...It doesn't matter one blip in your fermenter or your starter flask if the airlock bubbles or not (if you are using an airlock and not tinfoil,) or if you see a krauzen.

All that really matters is that creamy band o yeast at the bottom. If you see ANY then you have exactly the activity you are looking for reproduction!!![/b]

If you poured the dregs of a bottle in 2 cups of wort, and it didn't take off you wouldn't have enough sedimentation is the bottom to even really see. So if you stop your stirplate and you SEE SOMETHING ON THE BOTTOM, then it worked. It's the same for a starter form a smack pack or a test tube, the amount of actually creamy yeast in those is about a t-spoon, the rest is liquid wort and fuel, so if you manage to have even a tiny band that crosses the bottom of your vessel enough to see, THEN YOU HAVE REPRODUCED THE YEAST.

Just like in brewing beers, get out of the habit of looking for any other activity "cues" like bubbling airlocks or krausen (though obviously with be you should see a krausen) but the krausen that may form on the top of a starter, may form quite small and rapidly, and if you are spinning your starter may not appear at all but will be dissolved into the liquid by the motion.

Just look for whats on the bottom....

I know that the posts I quoted are old, but it goes back to my pet peeve of people using the word activity...and ignoring the obvious, like sediment just because you didn't see the superfluous "signs of activity" like airlock bubbling or a krausen.....

 

[magnj]

I poured the Dregs from a bottle of Rogue into 2 cups of 1.040 wort in a growler and it's been 5 days and I have seen no activity and more importantly no white creamy yeast at the bottom. I do see some darker sediment but it doesn't look like healthy yeast.

 

[magnj]

I want to pitch this tomorrow. This isn't creamy but looks like yeasties, will I be ok to pitch?

 

[Revvy]

I want to pitch this tomorrow. This isn't creamy but looks like yeasties, will I be ok to pitch?

Looks good to me.

 

[magnj]

Looks good to me.

Thanks Revvy, never worked with this stuff before and my first time reviving yeast from a bottle, seems to have gone pretty easy. Pitched it into 2 cups of 1.040 wort a week ago, added another 2 cups today.

 

[ElPresidente77]

Has anyone got deadguy to work? I'm reading mixed answers on here.

I AM in fact getting yeast from dead guy. It's just a small dusting 24 hrs later, so as soon as I have enough to get a picture of, I'll post. But I AM raising yeast from the dregs of 2 dead guy 22's.

 

[ElPresidente77]

Success!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38701009@N07/4074905979/

 

[kmcd]

Two weeks ago I brewed an IPA using a 1L starter of Pacman I harvested from a Shakespeare Stout. I pitched at 68 degrees, the fermentation was insane, blow off tube full of krausen and it looked like hurricane in the carboy. Two days ago I pitched a 2L starter from some washed yeast from the IPA into an amber. I aerated the wort that evening (shaking only), then waited until morning to pitch. I didn't see any activity until about 14 hours later, and for the last 24 hours, there has only been moderate activity, 1" krausen, and mild movement in the carboy. This time the carboy is in a sink full of water holding at about 62 degrees.
The fermentation is way less aggressive this time, and I'm guessing it's either because of the lower temperature, or because I didn't aerate again right before I pitched? This is only my 6th beer, so it's all new to me. I'm not too worried about it, but any insights would be appreciated.

 

[wedge421]

62 Degrees is pretty low for an ale yeast. Try increasing the temp next time.

 

[Mermaid]

Because resurrecting dead threads is better than starting a new one...

I don't think this question was answered /verified. Is there any salvagable yeast in the bottom of a 12 oz. bottle of Dead Guy (or multiple 12 oz. bottles of Dead Guy) ??

I ask this stupid question because I'm inspired to brew up one of the Dead Guy clones (way easier than trying to make up my mind on another recipe) and would like to try the Pacman yeast.

Otherwise I have to drive around a bit to find a store that carries the 22 oz. bottles of Rogue.

 

[chuckjaxfl]

Because resurrecting dead threads is better than starting a new one...

I don't think this question was answered /verified. Is there any salvagable yeast in the bottom of a 12 oz. bottle of Dead Guy (or multiple 12 oz. bottles of Dead Guy) ??

My vote is "yes". I start mine from a single 12oz of Dead Guy.

I leave the bottle in the fridge for a couple of days so the yeast settles. Then carefully remove it and placed it on the counter, as to not disturb the sediment. I sanitize everything with a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol. Then open, pour probably 8-10 ounces into a glass, re-cap (I just hold the old one on with my thumb, no new cap), shake up the dregs, and pour into a flask containing 100ml of fresh wort. I step up by adding 250, then 500, at which point I run out of room so I crash, decant, and then add 1L.

 

[NiteOwlBrewing]

I've yet to try the Dead Guy as I couldn't see anything in it at the beer store. I have made two attempts now at the Chatoe Rogue as I can see sediment in the bottom. I'm a little skeptical about the "if there's schtuff in the bottom, it worked" approach. I just decided to "wort over" my first wrangling attempt. I poured the clear beer off that had 3/8" sediment in the bottom into my hydrometer test tube. It read 1.046; I had this starter estimated at 1.040 or so over a week ago. Nothing. The last was much weaker, but I didn't think it had enough to build a cake. I think it is the sediment from my DME break as it all went in. I have successfully wrangled Bells 3 times prior with no issue. Well, I "worted over" the sediment and we'll see if anything takes. Nothing like reviving an old thread...next will be the Shakespeare Stout...

 

[Powers]

my 5th generation of pacman is working on an esb right now. the yeast is very versatile and has done very well for me. i've brewed a brown ale, stout, porter, and two batches of esb.

 

[Powers]

niteowl, the shakespeare seems to be a popular choice for dregs.

otherwise, you could just make the initial investment in a smack pack and propogate accordingly. i grabbed a smack pack (http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10839) early last summer and have been using slurries from yeast cakes and my own bottle dregs since then.

 

[NiteOwlBrewing]

I now have a good store of pacman from yellow snow too. Just pitched two more 2L starters late last night and the were going well this morning.

 

[richbrew99]

I got inspired by all you and tried my own yeast harvesting for the first time with 3 bottles of Shakespeare Stout... Worked like a charm. Going back into a Chocolate Stout I am brewing today.

 

[gravity84]

Lurker posting for the first time here. I harvested some Pacman from two bombers of chocolate stout last week. It looks like I have about a 1/4" of sediment in 700ml of wort, there are still small bubbles rising to the top. I want to brew soon, when is my yeast pitchable? Should I feed it more wort? I was thinking about making a quick and dirty small (3 gal) extract brew to see if the yeast is viable, and in case it isn't, then I didn't put too much effort and money into a bum batch. Should I bother or should I make a full batch?