Simple Yeast Storage Procedure

[fun4stuff]

I'm really happy to get an answer to one of my questions, and am hoping someone can answer the other question below. Is this an acceptable procedure for freezing yeast? Cheers!

6) Place the jars in the fridge (or freeze with 10% glycerin) until you are ready to use them.
I opted to refrigerate two jars and freeze four jars. The procedure for adding 10% glycerin to freeze was still unclear to me after reading the post and doing a search. I wasn't sure what to do here, so opted to estimate about 360 ml of slurry per mason jar and added 40 ml of glycerin to make a 10% glycerin solution (40 ml glycerin in 400 ml total). Is this an acceptable procedure for freezing the yeast? I used food grade glycerin that as far as I can tell is 100% http://www.essentialdepot.com/product/GLYCERIN-VEG-USP-1QUART.html

Google how to freeze yeast for beer. There are a few important points that are missing.

 

[pwnshop]

Hey guys. I posted on August 11th that i tried this for the first time, though I topped off with boiled water. I am going to brew up a pumpkin ale to get ready for fall on Saturday August 29th. I wanted to know if I should make a starter or if its still ok just to pitch the slurry that has been in the fridge? I'm wary about reusing yeast as I have never tried it before!

thanks

 

[rhys333]

Hey guys. I posted on August 11th that i tried this for the first time, though I topped off with boiled water. I am going to brew up a pumpkin ale to get ready for fall on Saturday August 29th. I wanted to know if I should make a starter or if its still ok just to pitch the slurry that has been in the fridge? I'm wary about reusing yeast as I have never tried it before!

thanks

At only a couple weeks old you're fine to just go ahead and pitch it. Just decant most of the liquid off the top first. I recently pitched a 2 month old slurry without any issues.

 

[pwnshop]

At only a couple weeks old you're fine to just go ahead and pitch it. Just decant most of the liquid off the top first. I recently pitched a 2 month old slurry without any issues.

Ok. So say I only use half of the slurry, can I keep the rest somehow? Just pour in some boiled water and recap the jar? I only kept one mason jar for this, I guess i should buy some canning jars for next time and split it up.

 

[rhys333]

Ok. So say I only use half of the slurry, can I keep the rest somehow? Just pour in some boiled water and recap the jar? I only kept one mason jar for this, I guess i should buy some canning jars for next time and split it up.

Personally, I wouldn't. The more you handle it the higher your chances for an infection. I would just use what you need, toss the rest, then harvest the next generation into 3 or so separate jars.

 

[pwnshop]

Personally, I wouldn't. The more you handle it the higher your chances for an infection. I would just use what you need, toss the rest, then harvest the next generation into 3 or so separate jars.

great thanks you've been a big help

 

[Eiffel]

Hey guys. I posted on August 11th that i tried this for the first time, though I topped off with boiled water. I am going to brew up a pumpkin ale to get ready for fall on Saturday August 29th. I wanted to know if I should make a starter or if its still ok just to pitch the slurry that has been in the fridge? I'm wary about reusing yeast as I have never tried it before!

thanks

My pumpkin just finished bubbling and I used my one month old slurry. Based on the recommendations in several of the pumpkin recipe threads to use two packets of yeast, I added an extra packet of US-05 to my wort on top of the slurry. It bumbled nice for 5 days.

I do not know if it is necessary to go that heavy with yeast but so far it has worked for me. Good luck!

 

[rhys333]

@pwnshop
I missed the pumpkin part when I said to harvest from your next generation. I'm sure you're aware anyway, but just to clarify, don't harvest and reuse your slurry from the pumpkin batch.

 

[pwnshop]

@pwnshop
I missed the pumpkin part when I said to harvest from your next generation. I'm sure you're aware anyway, but just to clarify, don't harvest and reuse your slurry from the pumpkin batch.

Yeah I figured since I'm doing a pumpkin I wouldn't harvest again. its only us-05 so i don't care about keeping it around. It's more for getting the experience saving yeast so I can save and reuse some of the more expensive stuff.

 

[christyle]

I pitched some London ale yeast harvested in June into a KBS clone last night and had zero signs of activity this morning. Hopefully I get something tonight...

Edit: Nope, nothing after 24 hours, no glob forming on top, nothing. I rehydrated and pitched some Notty instead.

 

[oujens]

I pitched some London ale yeast harvested in June into a KBS clone last night and had zero signs of activity this morning. Hopefully I get something tonight...

Edit: Nope, nothing after 24 hours, no glob forming on top, nothing. I rehydrated and pitched some Notty instead.

How much did you pitch? What was your OG? I have 600ml of 2206 that was harvested 7/15 which I am planning to pitch into a munich helles tomorrow, but I'm getting cold feet. I'm so used to having a starter these days. Thinking I might still be able to make a starter out of 200 ml to make sure I have the right amount of healthy yeast when its time to pitch. Someone hit me with the RDWHAHB!

 

[christyle]

I forget what the amount was, I don't really measure it. I fill one or two small mason jars (Maybe the pint size?) with yeast/trub when I want to harvest it, then decant and pitch. Probably about 400mL of junk. I've made starters for one or two, and i've direct pitched. I like to make a starter just to be sure, but enough people talked of direct pitching I just went for it. My OG was 1.08 on this one.

 

[rhys333]

My OG was 1.08 on this one.

Your high gravity is probably a factor in the long lag time with this one. Sometimes it just takes a while too. My direct pitches usually take off in 6-18 hours but I had one that took a little over 24.

 

[christyle]

With all the talk of people not needing very much yeast, using part of their mason jars, etc, I figured I might be overpitching. Interesting. I put into the calculator on mrmalty for slurry (First time i've used it) and it said I needed about 1300mL of slurry? That seems like a ton, but the viability listed really drops off after a few weeks.

I figure this batch had enough issues, why not get some mutant Notty/London ale mixture in the batch as well

 

[rhys333]

I've been using Woodland's 1.5B cells/ml as a base point for calculating slurry amount. Going by this you'd only need about 250 ml in 5.5 gal, or 300 if you played safe and said 1B cells/ml. It works well for me, but I keep to 1.040-55 starting gravity. Maybe someone else can report on their experience pitching slurry into bigger beers.

...what was the gravity of the beer you harvest that slurry from, and how old was the slurry?

 

[enkamania]

I took the plunge and harvested my yeast. I won't be able to freeze it. I was wondering how long it will last at cold fridge temps.

 

[christyle]

It's a 1.06 milk stout I harvested back in June or so. Either way, the hybrid mix of yeasts is chewing away now.

 

[fun4stuff]

I took the plunge and harvested my yeast. I won't be able to freeze it. I was wondering how long it will last at cold fridge temps.

I recently used yeast cake I had kept in my fridge for 6 months. Made a starter, then stepped it up twice. It was slow at first, but became much faster with each step.

 

[MannyEdwards]

So is it OK to have hop debris in the yeast slurry and pitch it?

 

[christyle]

It's not the best, but not the end of the world. It will probably impart some flavor in lighter beers, how much, i'm not sure.

 

[fun4stuff]

So is it OK to have hop debris in the yeast slurry and pitch it?

Mine had hops in it. Haven't tasted the result yet.... I'm guessing not that big of difference.

 

[gromitdj]

So is it OK to have hop debris in the yeast slurry and pitch it?

This is why I took to overbuilding my starters by 100B cells and saving it (Brulosopher Style). This way I never have to wash it, worry about how clean it is, or worry about it being stressed.

 

[brettwasbtd]

This is why I took to overbuilding my starters by 100B cells and saving it (Brulosopher Style). This way I never have to wash it, worry about how clean it is, or worry about it being stressed.

You're missing the entire point of this thread. Having hop and trub is not that of a big deal if your repitch the yeast within a few weeks. Another starter (assumed from your 100 billing cells) I'd not needed as in your scenario. This is a no frills easy method.

And no, hop sludge doesn't make a huge difference from my experience

 

[gromitdj]

You're missing the entire point of this thread. Having hop and trub is not that of a big deal if your repitch the yeast within a few weeks. Another starter (assumed from your 100 billing cells) I'd not needed as in your scenario. This is a no frills easy method.

And no, hop sludge doesn't make a huge difference from my experience

No, I get the point of the thread. I'm lucky if I get to brew once a month. So I was just pointing out that if he is concerned with it, there are alternate methods. It doesn't get much easier than splitting your starter in half before pitching.

 

[A50SNAKE]

hi all, I took my slurry from my attempt at Ed Wort's Bee Cave Brewery Hefe, and I put it into 250ml jars...when the first post says "pint" jars, he meant 500ml jars right? did I mess up? or would just using two jars to make a starter or pitch into another batch work?

thanks for the help...this was my first attempt at yeast reusing

 

[christyle]

There's a lot of people in here discussing proper pitch rates, and that's great and all, but if you were to re-use that yeast in the next few weeks and direct pitched, it would probably be fine. If it's longer, a starter would help it take off quicker.

 

[rhys333]

hi all, I took my slurry from my attempt at Ed Wort's Bee Cave Brewery Hefe, and I put it into 250ml jars...when the first post says "pint" jars, he meant 500ml jars right? did I mess up? or would just using two jars to make a starter or pitch into another batch work?

thanks for the help...this was my first attempt at yeast reusing

You're fine with the smaller 250ml (half pint) jars. Guessing you'll have maybe 150ish ml of yeast in each, which is enough for direct repitching in many cases. If you end up brewing a bigger beer or storing it for a long time, just use multiple jars or one jar with a starter if you prefer.

 

[A50SNAKE]

There's a lot of people in here discussing proper pitch rates, and that's great and all, but if you were to re-use that yeast in the next few weeks and direct pitched, it would probably be fine. If it's longer, a starter would help it take off quicker.

You're fine with the smaller 250ml (half pint) jars. Guessing you'll have maybe 150ish ml of yeast in each, which is enough for direct repitching in many cases. If you end up brewing a bigger beer or storing it for a long time, just use multiple jars or one jar with a starter if you prefer.

thank you both for your help and info...I am very excited to be saving a bit of money. liquid yeast is a bit costly up here in Canada, if I can get two-four brews from one vial...I am a happy happy camper!

 

[christyle]

thank you both for your help and info...I am very excited to be saving a bit of money. liquid yeast is a bit costly up here in Canada, if I can get two-four brews from one vial...I am a happy happy camper!

If you get another jar or two, you could get 3-4 uses out of 1 vial, and that's just the first generation, it can multiply every time. I haven't bought liquid yeast in awhile now...

 

[A50SNAKE]

If you get another jar or two, you could get 3-4 uses out of 1 vial, and that's just the first generation, it can multiply every time. I haven't bought liquid yeast in awhile now...

yeah, that's what I am hoping for...and there is no shortage of jars from the buy & sell sites....I was just too lazy to type all that last night.

:rockin: