Question about saving washed yeast

[mkling]

I just washed my first yeast cake (some bottle harvested yeast from Sweetwater Brewing's IPA).

My question is, how cold does the washed yeast need to be stored at? SWMBO sure would appreciate it if I didn't have to keep it in the fridge (4 pint jars is OK, but when I get 3 or 4 strains going, it'll be too much) & the keezer has room. However, often the keezer is set for ale serving temperature (50F in my house). Is this going to be too warm to store washed yeast?

 

[chrisbarnes5000]

I just started washing my yeast also, and I have found this thread to be very useful. Yeast Washing I belive that you can store yeast pretty warm but it will dramatically reduce the time that yeast stays viable. The colder the better. Plus there isno rule that you have to keep four pints of every yeast; you can do one of each and have much more room.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Yeah I just started washing and harvesting too, I love wyeast #1099 whitbread.

Plus there isno rule that you have to keep four pints of every yeast; you can do one of each and have much more room.

Agreed. You can wash a single jar of yeast up to 5 times I believe

 

[mkling]

Yeah, I've already read pretty much the entire Yeast Washing thread, but temperature of storage isn't really addressed in there. (At least not that I can recall after reading 30+ pages.) I was just wondering if anyone had actual experiences or data that gave evidence about the viability of the washed yeast when saved at different temperatures.

And you certainly can save only 1 jar if you want. However, if you intend to only keep it for 5 generations, then it would be nice to save more than 1 jar per generation.

 

[bad coffee]

spend the money and set up to slant or freeze.

Or, just buy a beer-only fridge for the garage. Keep your yeast, hops, ect in there, and keep swmbo happy

 

[XXguy]

Cheap "dorm size" fridges always pop up on Craigslist. You could always snag one of those just for keeping yeast.

 

[AnonyBrew]

I've seen some people save the yeast in baby food jars or even back in the original whitelabs vials to save space.

 

[mkling]

So, everyone's giving me lots of other ideas, but no one is directly saying whether 50F in the keezer is too warm for washed yeast. I'd really prefer to keep it in the keezer rather than buy yet 1 more fridge just for yeast, but I really don't have a sense of whether 50F is just too warm.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

So, everyone's giving me lots of other ideas, but no one is directly saying whether 50F in the keezer is too warm for washed yeast. I'd really prefer to keep it in the keezer rather than buy yet 1 more fridge just for yeast, but I really don't have a sense of whether 50F is just too warm.

50% is not ideal. If you are using dry yeast it would be better to just pitch new IMO. If you are spending more on liquid yeats, then store it for a shorter time at 50 if cash is a problem. Just my uneducated two cents. .

 

[chrisbarnes5000]

I agree with the gnome. I don't think 50 is too warm, it should work for a little while. Storing yeast though seems to be comprised of two variables, temp and time. 50 should work but for a shorter time. If you make a starter with it and nothing happens then it was too warm for too long.