Yeast harvesting/growing/bank

[allentwnguy]

I was wondering of anyone has tried this or your thoughts.

Yeast has just jumped $.49 a vial so it's time to think about a yeast bank. My thought is to make a large batch of 1.040 wort (DME), sterilize a bunch of pint or quart mason jars and process (fill, boil, seal) the wort into smaller sterile jars. Then when making a starter grow a slightly larger starter. When I pitch the yeast I would open a mason jar and pitch some starter into the wort, let it grow on a stir plate then put it in the fridge. That way I would grow the yeast I had without much fuss and have a larger yeast count to use on my next starter. And repeat. I should be good for a few generations.

I generally only use 5 different yeast strains and would only bank the specialty ones. Nottingham is super reasonably priced to pitch new each time. But $7 for the White Labs yeast strains is pushing it IMHO.

Thoughts? Other than me being cheap!

 

[brew_ny]

sounds like a good plan

and no you are not being cheap

all the best

S_M

 

[LLBeanJ]

Your plan is fine. There are several ways to approach this. I do something similar, but when I save off my extra yeast from a starter, I just put in a sanitized mason jar and refrigerate until I need to make another starter, which will also be a little larger than needed. I've kept some vials going for over two years this way. Canning starter wort to speed up the starter making process is a great way to go.

Also, there's this...

http://brulosophy.com/methods/yeast-harvesting/

 

[allentwnguy]

Your plan is fine. There are several ways to approach this. I do something similar, but when I save off my extra yeast from a starter, I just put in a sanitized mason jar and refrigerate until I need to make another starter, which will also be a little larger than needed. I've kept some vials going for over two years this way. Canning starter wort to speed up the starter making process is a great way to go.

Also, there's this...

http://brulosophy.com/methods/yeast-harvesting/

Yeah there are so many different angles to think about. I guess it comes down to what gives you the result you want and what is easiest for you.

I thought about this yesterday when I made a 2.5 liter starter for a Bohemian Pilsner. I don't want to yeast wash. So I thought of making a 1.5 liter "standard" starter and pitching .5 of it into the sterilized mason jar with more wort. The only reason for this is to grow it a little more before next use and to raise the yeast count rather than miss on numbers. I don't know yet.... either way it's going to make beer!

 

[allentwnguy]

I have to stop reading!!!!

I just read a post... lhommedieu posted about saving extra wort for starters and I was "like" hummmmmm. Why buy DME when there is always some wort/beer left over. Just dilute to 1.035 - 40 and can it! My canning pot can hold 6 jars. Working the numbers a Quart canning jar can hold 500ml with enough space to pitch some of the starter. Next batch of beer a little more grain to the mash and save some wort!!!

BUT!!! In order to save it for any length of time it needs to be pressure canned at 250* for at least 10 mins to kill bacteria spores like botulism. So.... for now I'll just harvest a little sort and some yeast from the starter for next brew.

 

[JonM]

If you already have the pressure cooker, it's only a small step to do this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=133103

I've used the mason jar method, but I've found that it's hard to tell if the yeast is viable or not. When it was bad, I'd only find out as I was pouring slurry into the starter and caught a whiff of autolyzed yeast stink. This lets you start with a pure culture every time.

 

[LLBeanJ]

BUT!!! In order to save it for any length of time it needs to be pressure canned at 250* for at least 10 mins to kill bacteria spores like botulism. So.... for now I'll just harvest a little sort and some yeast from the starter for next brew.

You can also freeze that leftover wort and boil it when you are ready to make a starter with it. I do this every now and then, as it does seem like a shame to dump perfectly good wort.

 

[allentwnguy]

If you already have the pressure cooker, it's only a small step to do this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=133103

I've used the mason jar method, but I've found that it's hard to tell if the yeast is viable or not. When it was bad, I'd only find out as I was pouring slurry into the starter and caught a whiff of autolyzed yeast stink. This lets you start with a pure culture every time.

Yes I had read some of this thread. It seemed like a lot to go through. I don't know if I brew enough (25 batches a year) to go through slants. Perhaps getting a slant group together here might be an option. Who knows?