MockY
Well-Known Member
I have a yeast bank with around 10 different strain that I rotate through. I save yeast via larger than necessary starters, and not from slurries. Basically, I generally brew something with the oldest ones in the bank just to keep them healthy and somewhat fresh, and the bank therefor tells me what I'm brewing next.
Now, as we all know, the longer a strain sits in the fridge, the more cells will die. At times a strain have been 5 months old before I use it. The resulting fermentation in the beer from said starter have been on par and nothing negative has happened (as far as I could tell) and it performed as expected.
However, you will evidently use dead cells as well and a portion of those zombie cells will ultimately end up in the jar I saved from the starter.
Since these cells will hike along in the saved sample, I would think that some are just as many generations old as the sample itself. Or do they get eaten up by their comrades or vanish by themselves after a while.
My question is, what negative effect can this have for the beer you brew as well as future starters?
Now, as we all know, the longer a strain sits in the fridge, the more cells will die. At times a strain have been 5 months old before I use it. The resulting fermentation in the beer from said starter have been on par and nothing negative has happened (as far as I could tell) and it performed as expected.
However, you will evidently use dead cells as well and a portion of those zombie cells will ultimately end up in the jar I saved from the starter.
Since these cells will hike along in the saved sample, I would think that some are just as many generations old as the sample itself. Or do they get eaten up by their comrades or vanish by themselves after a while.
My question is, what negative effect can this have for the beer you brew as well as future starters?
