pitching bottles

[jerly]

This may be a stupid question, but hearing that you can culture yeast from some of the bottle conditioned microbrews, could you just pour the entire beer into some wort? Would the yeast reactivate?

 

[flingdingo]

I'd try making a low gravity starter first. Who knows how old and tired that yeast is. Plus there's not much of it. If it doesn't activate, it's better to waste a quart of starter than a batch of homebrew.

 

[Brewsmith]

Agreed, carefully pour out the beer leaving the sediment in the bottle. Even better, invite some friends and use a sixer. Use the yeast at the bottom of the bottles to make a starter. Then pitch the starter into your wort.

 

[Kaiser]

This may be a stupid question, but hearing that you can culture yeast from some of the bottle conditioned microbrews, could you just pour the entire beer into some wort? Would the yeast reactivate?

Theoretically you could. but here is why you shouldn't:

your wort is not sterile, it is only sufficiently sanitized. In order to keep other to keep wild bacteria and yeast at bay, you need to jave a sufficient pitching rate of yeast. This gives the yeast a head start. Even the vial and the smack pack is already at the lower end of a working pitching rate. There are a few orders of magnitude less viable yeast cells in a bottle.

This much wort, for so frew yeast cells will cause a sluggish fermentation and cause lots of stress on them. Which in turn results in off-flavors.

As the otheres noted, you need to propagate the yeast to a working pitching rate. When you start out small (1st stage is a small starter in the same bottle) you can be more careful about sanitation and cause less stress for the yeast. You can also aerate much more w/o oxidizing your beer.

Kai

 

[sonvolt]

I've been thinking about this as well, but I have a different idea. A lot of folks on this board have been discussing saving yeast, reusing yeast, etc. and the various (and sometimes complex) methods for doing so. Aren't those of us who are bottling already saving yeast?

Here is what I mean: Let's say that I wanted to reuse that Belgian Trappist strain that I used a few months ago. Wouldn't I be able to pop open a bottle of that ale, santize the mouth of the bottle, and use that beer (or at least the sediment on the bottom) to make a starter?

The yeast might be tired, but you would have a good sense of their vitality as you watched the starter.

This sounds much easier than some of the freezing methods I've read about on this board. Would it work???

Personally, I am alright with spending an extra $5.00 (approx) per batch of beer to have fresh and healthy yeasties, but what is wrong with culturing yeasts from our own homebrews?

 

[Lou]

what is wrong with culturing yeasts from our own homebrews?

you're harvesting the least flocculent yeast possible...

 

[sonvolt]

Ahhh . . . so if you did this enough times, you would actually be left with a new strain of yeast with different characteristics of the yeast you pitched initially . . . .

But, isn't this also true if you are reculturing yeast from a commercial bottled beer?

 

[Walker]

Ahhh . . . so if you did this enough times, you would actually be left with a new strain of yeast with different characteristics of the yeast you pitched initially . . . .

But, isn't this also true if you are reculturing yeast from a commercial bottled beer?

I woud be inclined to say yes, but that might depend on the brand of commercial beer. Some breweries pitch new yeast prior to bottling (and sometimes it is a totally different strain than the yeast used for actual fermenation.)

-walker

 

[Kaiser]

Ahhh . . . so if you did this enough times, you would actually be left with a new strain of yeast with different characteristics of the yeast you pitched initially . . . .

But, isn't this also true if you are reculturing yeast from a commercial bottled beer?

When commercial breweries carbonate their beer in the bottle, they add Kraeusen beer for priming. This will carbonate faster, fix some off-flavors and is more reliable in terms of carbonation results. This also means that the yeast getting into the bottle is fresh and healthy.

But there might be another selection criteria that can emphasize certain mutations. Now it matters which yeast cell can live longer than others. I wouldn't worry about this if you culture only one generation from a bottle. But if you culture from old home brew bottles for many generations, then I would expect adverse effects.

But yes, with HB and w/o using Kraeusen beer to prime, you will get the least flocculant cells in the bottle.

Kai