Yeast Harvest - Bell's Amber

[NordeastBrewer77]

Thought I would post one more time here since I was the OP. (not sure anyone really cares, except me)

My Bell's 2-hearted clone with harvested Bell's yeast has officially finished fermenting. It took a full two weeks and the airlock has essentially stopped, so I took one more gravity reading of 1.013. (I missed my 1.010 goal, but no sense in splitting hairs)

And also, the sample was absolutely amazing. This is by far the cleanest tasting brew I've ever made. It is a night and day difference between the extract 2-hearted that I've done in the past and now the AG version with harvested yeast. Based on my OG and FG the ABV should be around 6.5%, just short of Bell's 7%.

And last, I ended up saving a bit of the yeast when i pitched so I can't wait to try her out again!

scniiiice!

i'm about to make a starter using the dregs from bell's amber. searched just that here on HBT and found this thread!

i think i'm gonna go with three bottles into 250ml, stepping it up til i have 2L (no stirplate ) . MrMalty says i'll need 253bil cells for 5.25 gal of 1.07 wort. (my ipa is mid to high 1.060s) I figure i'll easily hit that cell count.

i'm looking forward to trying this. i've harvested yeast successfully from my own homebrew bottles as an experiment when i first got into making starters (1056 & 1272), but i've never tried with commercial brews. from what i've read and seen on this thread, there's good results to be had from getting bell's yeast this way.

yay, beer!

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

so after slowly building up my starter, i pitched it into an IPA yesterday. there were signs of activity in the carboy w/in a few hours and this morning it's chugging away quite nicely. i'm wondering if the yeast Bell's uses may be one of the Whitbread strains. the smell and flavor of the starter beer reminded me very much of my last starter for my english brown that was 1098. also the krausen looks very similar to those i've seen fermenting with 1098.

 

[solbes]

I don't know which strain or mutated strain it is. But I know I like it! Excellent flavor. My pale ale is over half gone, and the 2 Hearted IPA is almost done carbing in bottles.

My only complaint is that it seems to take awhile to drop. I used gelatin for the first time in the IPA, so we'll see if that cleared it up.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

My only complaint is that it seems to take awhile to drop. I used gelatin for the first time in the IPA, so we'll see if that cleared it up.

yeah, i'm not concerned about the strain if it makes a good beer. and if you're saying it takes it's sweet time to floc, then maybe it's something other that one of the whitbreads. either way, it's nice to know its a stubborn li'l floccer i'll be prepared to cold crash or add finings before dry hopping. thanks.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

went from 1.065 to 1.013 in 8 days. still very cloudy, but that's to be expected. tastes amazing!

 

[solbes]

Gelatin worked awesome by the way. After 3 weeks in primary, I dropped it to around 38F for a day. Then added the gelatin and then waited another 2 days before bottling. I didn't think it worked all that great since it was still cloudy at bottling.

I was wrong, almost all of it dropped in the bottle. It stuck really nice to the bottom too. Hope yours turns out awesome too.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

i'm currently dropping temps in the ferment chamber (swamp bucket) to the mid to low 50's to encourage the yeast to drop out some. it's been slowly clearing a bit over the last few days, and that was at 62 degrees. i'm trying to get the yeast to flocc as much as possible before i add the first round of dry hops. i'm dry hopping the whole batch with cascade for a week, bottling two gal and dry hopping the other three in separate jugs, one with each of the finishing hops (centennial, simcoe, and amarillo). i'm totally psyched to try the finished brew, the gravity sample today told me that it's gonna be a great IPA. :rockin:

 

[pabloj13]

i'm currently dropping temps in the ferment chamber (swamp bucket) to the mid to low 50's to encourage the yeast to drop out some. it's been slowly clearing a bit over the last few days, and that was at 62 degrees. i'm trying to get the yeast to flocc as much as possible before i add the first round of dry hops. i'm dry hopping the whole batch with cascade for a week, bottling two gal and dry hopping the other three in separate jugs, one with each of the finishing hops (centennial, simcoe, and amarillo). i'm totally psyched to try the finished brew, the gravity sample today told me that it's gonna be a great IPA. :rockin:

Brewed my TH clone today with Bell's yeast too. Missed my OG (still trying to get my efficiency numbers worked out) but it tasted good. I think a 1.055 OG all-Centennial IPA with Bell's yeast sounds mighty fine. I'm just trying to figure out the best temp to hold it at.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Brewed my TH clone today with Bell's yeast too. Missed my OG (still trying to get my efficiency numbers worked out) but it tasted good. I think a 1.055 OG all-Centennial IPA with Bell's yeast sounds mighty fine. I'm just trying to figure out the best temp to hold it at.

sure does! i fermented my IPA like i would with any other american yeast, i started it off around 62 and let it slowly rise up during ferment, it got itself up to around 65 and stayed there. i currently have it sitting at 66-67 one an once of cascades. i'll be bottling two gals on tuesday, the other three will get a second round of dry hops for a week.

 

[pabloj13]

sure does! i fermented my IPA like i would with any other american yeast, i started it off around 62 and let it slowly rise up during ferment, it got itself up to around 65 and stayed there. i currently have it sitting at 66-67 one an once of cascades. i'll be bottling two gals on tuesday, the other three will get a second round of dry hops for a week.

That's kinda what I was planning on shooting for. I think my efficiency problem came because the weight of the mash pushed my false bottom elbow into the bottom so I had to put pressure on the valve to get it to flow. I think I ended up getting some channeling since the grain bed got all jacked up. I'm thinking of cutting some good-sized slots in the elbow fitting so even if it presses on the bottom I still get flow.

 

[pabloj13]

4.5 hour lag time. Not too shabby!! Starters FTW.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

4.5 hour lag time. Not too shabby!! Starters FTW.

not bad at all, man!!

 

[jmf143]

Starters are great in that they allow you to grow enough yeast to pitch the correct amount. That's where the "win" comes from. Starters and under-pitching is still a "loss".

 

[pabloj13]

sure does! i fermented my IPA like i would with any other american yeast, i started it off around 62 and let it slowly rise up during ferment, it got itself up to around 65 and stayed there. i currently have it sitting at 66-67 one an once of cascades. i'll be bottling two gals on tuesday, the other three will get a second round of dry hops for a week.

This krausen seems to stick around a lot longer than 1056. I'm at 6 days and still cooking. The krausen is so white compared to 1056 too. I'm letting it warm a bit now.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

This krausen seems to stick around a lot longer than 1056. I'm at 6 days and still cooking. The krausen is so white compared to 1056 too. I'm letting it warm a bit now.

yeah, mine stuck there for a few extra days too. now that i have a couple gals in secondary, it's dropped completely bright. are you familiar with Wy1272? it acts like this, the krausen of 1272 seems to puff a little at the end of fermentation, then sticks around for a few extra days. it's also real stubborn to flocc, IME. the only difference is the krausen from the Bell's yeast seemed to be real doughy, whereas 1272 gets fluffy and pillow-y. from the tastes i got at bottling my first couple gals, it was hard to tell what kinda fermentation flavors were going on, though. we'll have to wait and see.

 

[pabloj13]

yeah, mine stuck there for a few extra days too. now that i have a couple gals in secondary, it's dropped completely bright. are you familiar with Wy1272? it acts like this, the krausen of 1272 seems to puff a little at the end of fermentation, then sticks around for a few extra days. it's also real stubborn to flocc, IME. the only difference is the krausen from the Bell's yeast seemed to be real doughy, whereas 1272 gets fluffy and pillow-y. from the tastes i got at bottling my first couple gals, it was hard to tell what kinda fermentation flavors were going on, though. we'll have to wait and see.

I can't wait. I just harvested and froze my first batch of yeast (2nd generation 1056). I am excited to freeze my Bell's yeast too. I've got a friend (in Michigan of all places) that I'm gonna send a tube to. Payment for advice as I started to do all-grain!

 

[BBKing]

I preformed the same thing 2 weeks ago with Bells Amber. It didnt work.

Last weekend I harvested PacMan from Rogues Shakespeare Stout and figured out that my big mistake with the Bells was that I used way too much DME to start out with.

With PacMan I used a 2 cup starter with one Tablespoon of DME to start with. Then I moved up to a full quart with 2 1/2 Tablespoons, then moved to 4 tablespoons, and finally to a full quart with 5 tablespoons.

Pitched that starter today into a 1.050 American Amber Ale.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I preformed the same thing 2 weeks ago with Bells Amber. It didnt work.

Last weekend I harvested PacMan from Rogues Shakespeare Stout and figured out that my big mistake with the Bells was that I used way too much DME to start out with.

With PacMan I used a 2 cup starter with one Tablespoon of DME to start with. Then I moved up to a full quart with 2 1/2 Tablespoons, then moved to 4 tablespoons, and finally to a full quart with 5 tablespoons.

Pitched that starter today into a 1.050 American Amber Ale.

yeah, you gotta step 'em up real slow, man. i started in a really small, 250ml starter, 1.02. then built up from there. it worked great, 2/5ths if the batch of IPA i brewed is in bottles, the other 3/5ths are dry hopping, again. i got a real nice ferment out of the yeast.

I can't wait. I just harvested and froze my first batch of yeast (2nd generation 1056). I am excited to freeze my Bell's yeast too. I've got a friend (in Michigan of all places) that I'm gonna send a tube to. Payment for advice as I started to do all-grain!

i'm gonna have to pick your brain about that one day soon, man. i wanna make sure i have the right idea before i go freezing my yeast. it sure would be convenient, though.

 

[BBKing]

yeah, you gotta step 'em up real slow, man. i started in a really small, 250ml starter, 1.02. then built up from there. it worked great, 2/5ths if the batch of IPA i brewed is in bottles, the other 3/5ths are dry hopping, again. i got a real nice ferment out of the yeast.

Word, my bells attempt showed nothing but that real brown colored yeast that tells me that most of our buddies are dead or on their way out. Though I wish I had waited a few more days before I tossed the whole plan out.

The pacman roared like thunder! I stepped up a total number of 4 times before pitching and feel like I could have pitched after the 3rd time stepping up. I got curious this afternoon before pitching and had damn near a quarter inch of healthy khaki colored yeast going on.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Word, my bells attempt showed nothing but that real brown colored yeast that tells me that most of our buddies are dead or on their way out. Though I wish I had waited a few more days before I tossed the whole plan out.

if i remember correctly, it took a couple days for that first starter to start showing signs of activity. after that, every subsequent step up took off like a rocket. i do remember having a bit of doubt with the first stage of the starter, though.

 

[pabloj13]

if i remember correctly, it took a couple days for that first starter to start showing signs of activity. after that, every subsequent step up took off like a rocket. i do remember having a bit of doubt with the first stage of the starter, though.

Yeah me too.

 

[pabloj13]

Just pulled the fermenter out of the swamp cooler tub for the first time. Look at that yeast cake!! That's a 6.5 gallon carboy. I think I'm gonna have a good harvest.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Just pulled the fermenter out of the swamp cooler tub for the first time. Look at that yeast cake!! That's a 6.5 gallon carboy. I think I'm gonna have a good harvest.

nice, man. i had a giant cake too when i racked out of primary. the 3 gal i have in secondary has finally started to drop bright. :rockin: bottling that up on tuesday.

 

[jmf143]

I love this yeast. i've used it on the B2H clone, a raspberry american wheat and just last week an APA. Next up is a Blonde.

 

[pabloj13]

nice, man. i had a giant cake too when i racked out of primary. the 3 gal i have in secondary has finally started to drop bright. :rocking: bottling that up on tuesday.

Down to 1.009 from 1.054! Sample tastes good even after only about a week in primary. A few byproducts for them to clean up, but damn those centennial hops are tasty.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Down to 1.009 from 1.054! Sample tastes good even after only about a week in primary. A few byproducts for them to clean up, but damn those centennial hops are tasty.

:rockin: awesome. i think it was like day 7 or 8 when i took the first FG reading. 1.012 from 1.066 (i think, i'll have to check my notes). aside from the yeast still up in suspension, the beer tasted great. i'm gonna bottle the few gallons i dry hopped twice either today or tomorrow, maybe that'll help keep my paws off the first couple gallons i bottled!

i'll be putting up that blog on harvesting later today after i put together the starter. i wanna wait til i have some pics to include to show the process.

 

[solbes]

I love this yeast so much I decided to devote my next 3 brews to it: Irish Red Ale, Porter, and Russian Imperial Stout. Being somewhat lazy, I will only have to make one small starter for the ~ 1.045 Irish Red. And then just wash and repitch slurries. The Stout is planned to be ~ 1.10 OG, so it will get a lot of slurry.

And I will be freezing a portion of the starter, so I will have lots of future generations to work from.

 

[periwinkle1239]

My 2-hearted (right) vs. Bell's (left). Mine used the harvested yeast. Very hard to tell the difference, although I can.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

View attachment 47741

My 2-hearted (right) vs. Bell's (left). Mine used the harvested yeast. Very hard to tell the difference, although I can.

veddy nice, veddy veddy nice.

 

[pabloj13]

Just racked mine to dry hop. Here is my harvested bounty!!