Repitching record?

[Brewmeistermj]

Around this time last year I posted that I repitched Wyeast 1084 about 70 times.
I am now up to about 84 times. This yeast was mfg Nov 8 2004. Has anybody done more? I NEVER wash my yeast. I simply save the dregs from the second racking and store them at 34F before repitching. I only brew IPA & Stout so this yeast works great for me. My brew has always turned out good. Anybody else doing this?

 

[RavenChief]

Around this time last year I posted that I repitched Wyeast 1084 about 70 times.
I am now up to about 84 times. This yeast was mfg Nov 8 2004. Has anybody done more? I NEVER wash my yeast. I simply save the dregs from the second racking and store them at 34F before repitching. I only brew IPA & Stout so this yeast works great for me. My brew has always turned out good. Anybody else doing this?

That is awesome! Could you elaborate on your technique for harvesting yeast? Thanks.

 

[Brewmeistermj]

That is awesome! Could you elaborate on your technique for harvesting yeast? Thanks.

I pour the dregs from the second racking into a 750ml wine bottle with an air lock and store at 34F until I pitch. If you need more details shoot me an e-mail.

 

[hopvine]

That's pretty impressive...I would hazard a guess that after that many repitches, you would have noticed that the yeast is at least somewhat different than the original strain, especially in terms of flocculation. Have you noticed any major differences?

Also, something wild to think about after a few too many brews...do you think there is at least a single yeast cell that has been along for the ride in all 84 brews? If I felt a bit more motivated it could probably be calculated statistically based on your initial pitch cell count and the approximate number carried over between each brew. OR there could be some fermentation science explanation for why something like that is biologically impossible.

Either way it's fun to think about. If that cell exists, it is one lucky and experienced little dude and he's been your faithful companion for 6 years now.

 

[WillPall]

Yeast divide to reproduce and I believe there is an average number of divisions that occur before a yeast cell dies. Depending on your idea of what constitutes a yeast cell being "still alive," a cell could be deemed immortal or you could deem it dead after the first division.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

I'd be interested to see you do a split batch, 10 gallons of wort, 5 gallons fermented with your repitched yeast and 5 gallon with a fresh starter of 1084 from a smack pack. Just to see if it is the same or if any differences have developed over that many batches.

 

[curlyfat]

Although I've never gone to this extent, I used the same chain of 1086 for almost a year. It went in about twelve batches before I got lazy and dumped out the "dregs". My collection is basically the same. I save a hefty amount of yeast from the primary (abot 1/2 gallon from ten gallon batch) in a gallon jug with an airlock in the fridge.

84 is very impressive! Kudos!