Trader Joes 2009 vintage ale yeast harvest

[lucasszy]

So I decided to harvest the 2009 Vintage ale yeast from TJ's, since its supposedly a seasonal yeast (Belgian/Canadian) and its taken three weeks to get the yeast to where I can harvest it, toss it into a few vials with glycerin and freeze it.

This was my first attempt at bottle harvesting, and here are my observations:

Start the bottle dregs with a really low OG wort. Im talking lower than 1.030. (about 300ML worth)
Work it up by adding a teaspoon of DME every 3 or so days and a touch of water.
After a week or two, dump in a half cup of DME and a teaspoon of yeast nutrient, add enough water to make almost a liter

This made the starter take of for me and now I have a beautiful creamy white yeast that will get freezer stored. I plan on making at least 4 vials of this yeast, as I love the taste of the beer.

Cheers

lucas

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

Hmm, I have a bottle of this in my "cellar" I was about to drink. Would you say this was a good experience?

 

[lucasszy]

Hmm, I have a bottle of this in my "cellar" I was about to drink. Would you say this was a good experience?

Lots of spices and herbs, and alcohol taste, but good nonetheless. Its REALLY busy when it comes to taste, but fun.

I buy them every year, and they never taste the same.... but Im one of those people that really likes what unibroue makes.

Highly recommend!

Cheers

Lucas

 

[herbler]

I'll have to swing by TJ's to check this out. What other beers is it similar to?

 

[lucasszy]

I'll have to swing by TJ's to check this out. What other beers is it similar to?

Simply...NOTHING!!!

 

[herbler]

Simply...NOTHING!!!

hmmm... I'm intrigued!

 

[lucasszy]

hmmm... I'm intrigued!

ITS TOO BUSY!!! And I mean REALLY busy. Definitely couldnt drink these all day, but good!!

Cheers

 

[adamjab19]

My neighbor loves them. I can only have a small glass of it at a time. Like a belgian trippel to me. Heavy malt, spice bomb!

 

[lucasszy]

My neighbor loves them. I can only have a small glass of it at a time. Like a belgian trippel to me. Heavy malt, spice bomb!

Spot On!

1234567890

 

[david_42]

A good beer, though the bottle I have was explosively over-carbonated. Now it's flat and still tasty.

 

[mkling]

Ohhhhh . . . I personally hated this beer. I gave it my lowest rating on BeerAdvocate (though I've only rated around 50 beers -- all craft beers). As lucasszy says, it's really, really busy. Lots of interesting parts of flavors, I just found that they didn't fit together at all.

The yeast should be Unibroue's standard strain though which a lot of people have had great experience with. If it were me though, I'd buy a bottle of Fin du Monde and harvest my yeast off something I really wanted to drink.

 

[Mongo64]

I didn't care for this beer when i tried it either. It seemed like a beer that needed time to mellow to me (hot alcohols I thought). I've got a bottle that I'm gonna keep in the cellar until I feel the urge to try it again... maybe next Christmas.