Rescuing Yeast From Old Bottles

[jasonsbeer]

So, how old are the bottles you have rescued yeast from?

I bottles a stout almost one year ago. I have two bottles left that have been stored in the basement. The temp probably averages about 70*. Do you think I can rescue yeast from these to brew a christmas stout? I've seen discussions about rescuing yeast from bottles that are only a couple of months old, but what do you think of this situation?

 

[Nanobru]

I dont recommend reviving yeast from bottles if you can avoid it for a few reasons. First is the wide availability of yeast on the market. Second is the yeast found in some commercial bottles is not the strain used to ferment in order to protect the house strain, but have better bottle conditioning characteristics. Lastly, the yeast in a bottle is sitting in its own waste, and what ever does survive likely will not perform as well as a new pitch.

 

[marc06]

I say do it, there is not reason not to. It will probably take a step up starter to get the quantity of yeast need for the next batch, but you save the $$$ on new yeast, and get to do more brewing relatived activities!!!

 

[COLObrewer]

I've found that yeast is a lot more resilient than alot of people give it credit for, if it's a yeast you want to rejuvinate and you have the patience, I say go for it.

Keep on brewing my friends

 

[ajf]

Back in the old days when you couldn't get good yeast, I used to do it all the time.
When I moved to America, and could only get back to England once every 12 - 18 months, I'd buy a 6 pack of Worthington White Shield, which was my sole source of yeast till the next time I could get back. I never had any problems. The 6 pack only gave me 6 brews, and I used to use the yeast from one or two of my bottles to start a new batch. After about 4 - 5 generations, I went back to another bottle of the original 6 pack. Most of the yeasts harvested from my brews were fairly fresh (probably 2 - 3 months old). The yeasts I collected from the bottles I bought were sometimes over 2 years old.
Now I can get good yeast fresh, I do that, and never go beyond 3 generations as the yeast does mutate a little with each generation. I now also know that it is better to harvest the yeast from the primary, rather than a bottle, but as each vial of yeast typically produces about 20 - 30 brews (for my house ales), the actual cost of yeast only comes out to about 30 cents per batch.

-a.

 

[jasonsbeer]

Just to wrap this up - I went ahead and took the yeast slurry from the bottom of two bottles. I made a small starter and let it sit on the stir plate for two days. I then stepped it up to 1 quart and after a day I have a ton of krausen going on in my starter.

Looks like WLP004 does just fine after 11 months in bottles.

Thanks