Yeast Culture

[CheaperPlease]

ok, I've got a good idea of how this works and was wondering about some cheaper ways to obtain my yeast. Alot of the beers i buy have a bit of yeast in the bottom of the bottle, if i collected this from a few bottles... say a 12 pack of Blue Moon, and dumped it into a starter (1/4 cup DME and a quart of water) would this double my yeast and give me enough to use for brewing or would this yield a wasted 1/4 cup DME? Ofcourse I would be using this yeast for a blue moon clone and was figuring if i wanted the very same yeast they use, there is no better place to get it than the bottom of the bottle.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Just remember, this isn't the brewing yeast it's the bottling yeast.

 

[CheaperPlease]

Bottling yeast? I'd say that Blue Moon, owned by coor's and produsing massive amounts of beer on the daily dosnt bottle condition there beer... although i could be wrong, I was under the impression that the yeast that came to rest at the bottom of there bottles was from the brewing process like most belgian brews. Same as the beer i have in my fridge i brewed, also holding a layer of yeast same as Blue moon, yet i used no 'bottling yeast'.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I'm all for reusing yeast, but wheats, an ale, are usually bottled with a lager yeast or at least a different yeast than they used to ferment with.

We, as homebrewers, just prime our beer (the yeast we used to ferment with is still in there).

 

[Cheesefood]

HB -

Are you saying that they fiter the beer, then add new yeast to bottle condition with? Otherwise there will still be the original yeast in there AND the bottling yeast (assuming they use it). So if the original yeast is still in suspension, he could pull a sample from the top of the bottle, dump it into a big starter solution and get a good culture in a few days.

 

[david_42]

The least expensive way has to be washing the yeast from your previous brews. There have been several discussions. This at least lets you work with a known yeast strain.

 

[homebrewer_99]

HB - Are you saying that they fiter the beer, then add new yeast to bottle condition with? Otherwise there will still be the original yeast in there AND the bottling yeast (assuming they use it). So if the original yeast is still in suspension, he could pull a sample from the top of the bottle, dump it into a big starter solution and get a good culture in a few days.

I haven't been able to confirm the filtering part, but yes, they do add new yeast for conditioning. Remember, I'm a Hefe Weizen nut. Many HWs also use the gyle process for conditioning.

I guess my point with the other poster was that he should brew as normal then add a "starter" using the yeast he re-cultured. One problem he may encounter is "how much" do you use for bottle conditioning? Remember, we only use 6-11 oz of yeast to begin a starter for a 5 gal batch (to ferment). Do you use 1/2 of that to condition? Or 2 oz? I've head of some people just dropping a few yeast grains into each bottle. Chances are both will work, but you'd have to stand-by at the ready to sample some bottles at different stages to make sure you don't overcarbonate. You know, as I read what I wrote I couldn't see a downside to that.

As for taking the beer from the top, isn't that a waste of a good beer to drink? That's why we use what's on the bottom.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Bottling yeast? I'd say that Blue Moon, owned by coor's and produsing massive amounts of beer on the daily dosnt bottle condition there beer... although i could be wrong, I was under the impression that the yeast that came to rest at the bottom of there bottles was from the brewing process like most belgian brews. Same as the beer i have in my fridge i brewed, also holding a layer of yeast same as Blue moon, yet i used no 'bottling yeast'.

I hear what you're saying, but if you make a German Kellerbier you don't even prime it before kegging.

 

[Sephro]

I gave this a try with a 6 pack of SNPA....
This is what I got the next day

So this is not the same yeast they use for fermentation? They have a different strand of yeast to bottle with??

 

[homebrewer_99]

That looks like a great sample. :rockin:

The straight answer for your question is that I do not know. It may be what SNPA uses. You could always give it a try by splitting that starter, use half of it and make another larger one.

Good luck.

 

[Walker]

That looks like a great sample. :rockin:

The straight answer for your question is that I do not know. It may be what SNPA uses. You could always give it a try by splitting that starter, use half of it and make another larger one.

Good luck.

I believe it has been posted here on this forum that SN uses a different strain of yeast to condition than they use to ferment.

FYI: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is fermented with regular old Wyeast 1056 American Ale or white labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast (in fact, SNPA is the actual SOURCE of the wyeast 1056 strain.)

edit: as far as I know, Blue Moon also uses 1056 for fermenting, too.

-walker

 

[user 574]

The least expensive way has to be washing the yeast from your previous brews. There have been several discussions. This at least lets you work with a known yeast strain.

I'm with Dave on this one. Unless your just into "can I do it" I really don't see the effort worth the result. re-using liq yeast slurry (wash it as well) that you purchase multiplies a great deal. One save usually gets you three more batches worth. Use one, save from that batch now you got 5 bottles/jars full etc. Before you know it you have more than you have room to store and at least you know what you got.

 

[Sephro]

I believe it has been posted here on this forum that SN uses a different strain of yeast to condition than they use to ferment.

FYI: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is fermented with regular old Wyeast 1056 American Ale or white labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast (in fact, SNPA is the actual SOURCE of the wyeast 1056 strain.)

edit: as far as I know, Blue Moon also uses 1056 for fermenting, too.

-walker

I had read places that SNPA does use normal american ale yeast... I just had a 6 pack of it and some free time so...

 

[BrewStef]

Remember, I'm a Hefe Weizen nut. Many HWs also use the gyle process for conditioning.

HB99,

Do you have an outstanding extract w/ steep grain Hefeweizen recipe? I LOVE that style - in particular the non-export Ayinger hefe. I used a kit recipe once which turned out pretty good (actually got a ribbon in our county fair), but it seemed to be missing something (plus it was way too dark.) I used White Labs Hefe yeast (not the Hefe IV.)

Any hefe recipe lauded by a hefe nut would be most appreciated.

Cheers

BrewStef

 

[CheaperPlease]

Thanks for all the help, there has been 10 posts since i last looked so this is a lot to take in. Also when it comes to the filtering of Blue moon it says on the bottle that it is a unfiltered wheat and as my glass sits before me at the moment I can actually see bits of yeast floating around even after i didnt pour the last half an inch and kept the yeast slurry in the bottom (which is a muddy looking mess and looks to be even more than i get from my homebrew), so i would say they do almost nothing in the way of getting that crap out of there. As for 'washing the yeast' how would i go about that? If i am asking people to give me info I could easily search for please tell me so i can quit wasting time grilling you lot. As for the use of gyle in Blue moon I would hope... that has to be the very cheapest way to carbonate there beer. Although i would guess they force carbonate and bottle instead... we are talking about brewing for the masses... not for the love, I seriously doubt still that Coor's sells a single bottle conditioned beer.

 

[Walker]

As for 'washing the yeast' how would i go about that? If i am asking people to give me info I could easily search for please tell me so i can quit wasting time grilling you lot.

you can search the forum for "yeast washing" and find the relevant threads.

-walker

 

[CheaperPlease]

Thanks, i actually ended up reading your instructions for yeast washing. Im sure i will end up doing this so ill be posting the results soon... I hope somebody remembers this conversation by then.

 

[Sephro]

Just remember to use boiled water because the lack of o2 in it will help make the yeast go dormant.