Yeast question (wlp001)

[luizffgarcia]

Hi guys,

So i am preparing for my third batch this weekend but i have a question for you.

I bought this "White labs California Ale Yeast wlp001" which is supposed to be used in a 5 gallon brew, but i am only brewing 1 gallon.

The question is, should i just use all this yeast in my 1 gallon? Should i use like 1 third and throw away the rest? Or can i refrigerate the rest?

I paid CAD $8 for this one which is triple the price of a regular yeast here in Canada, so it would be nice not to waste any of it

Thanks for the help

 

[GrogNerd]

I would build a starter, double or triple the size you have now.

then use a pitching rate calculator to figure out how much to pitch into the 1 gallon

save the rest in the fridge for future brews, if you like the results. CAD $8 for 47 more batches

I'm using 001 almost exclusively lately, keeping it the control constant in changing recipes as it ferments clean

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

+1 on doing a starter and saving the yeast. Look up yeast harvesting. In your case, I would divide your starter yeast into separate jars, each containing an amount good for a 1 gal brew. Yeast stored in the fridge will keep for months. When you are ready to use it, take it out of the fridge and let it warm to room temp overnight. Then pitch it into a starter to wake it up and you're ready to go.

 

[luizffgarcia]

Thanks for the replies.

I was pretty sure the exposure to oxygen when i first open the yeast would damage it, since in the label it states it has never been exposed to environment and all!

So the key is temperature, right? Exposing it to air will not do harm?

 

[kombat]

I wouldn't bother with the starter - his beer is the starter. He's brewing a 1 gallon batch, that's about the size I'd make for a starter anyway. I'd just pitch it directly into his beer, then harvest the yeast when it's done and re-use it.

And yes, temperature control is key, and no, exposing the yeast to air will not harm it as long as it's brief and you're in a relatively clean environment (i.e., don't do it while your wife/gf is vacuuming in the next room, spreading contaminants into the air).

 

[ArthurDigbySellers]

Being that this is going to be luizffgarcia's 3rd brew ever, it is highly doubtful that he/she will have the equipment necessary to harvest yeast or will have the time necessary to get it all together before the weekend. Until the OP has the capability to make starters and harvest the yeast, I would suggest using half the yeast and refrigerate the rest to be used fairly quickly quickly on another beer.

 

[kombat]

Being that this is going to be luizffgarcia's 3rd brew ever, it is highly doubtful that he/she will have the equipment necessary to harvest yeast

I use mason jars that held pasta sauce. Every now and then, we'll buy a jar of pre-made pasta sauce from the grocery store. Instead of recycling the jars, I rinse them, then soak them in hot PBW overnight, then rinse, sanitize, and store in my fridge until it's time to collect a yeast cake.

If you use it again within a couple of weeks, no starter is needed. I just let it warm up while brewing, then decant the spent wort and dump the yeast directly into the next brew.

So the only special equipment I use for harvesting yeast are the jars my pasta sauce comes in.

 

[luizffgarcia]

Well the idea of not buying yeast again just blew my mind! lol

I will give it a try, i have lots of pasta sauce jars i can sanitize.

So, here is my plan, since i will use my 1 gallon batch as a startup i will respect the pitching proportion and use one fifth or maybe two fifths of my wlp001, store the rest of it in the fridge and try to harvest 1 pasta sauce jar of yeast from my fermenter.

Does this sound like a good plan? I figure for my next brew i will have both the remaining of my original and the harvested...

 

[kombat]

i will respect the pitching proportion and use one fifth or maybe two fifths of my wlp001, store the rest of it in the fridge and try to harvest 1 pasta sauce jar of yeast from my fermenter. Does this sound like a good plan?

It will work, but if it were me, I'd pitch the whole tube.

Here's the thing, if I were brewing a 5 gallon batch, 1 tube is not enough. I'd make a 2-4 liter starter with the tube, then pitch that yeast.

This is not very different from what you're doing. You're brewing a 1 gallon batch, which is less than 4 liters. It's about the same volume that I would use for an entire vial if I were making a starter for a 5 gallon batch. The only difference is you're using wort you plan to actually convert to beer and drink, rather than usual starter wort (unhopped DME with no temperature control, intended to be dumped). But the proportions are the same.

I also question how healthy/clean the remaining yeast in the vial would be if you were to open it, use half, then try to re-seal it and save it.

Again, you can do what you want, and your plan will definitely work. I generally prefer to overpitch my yeast, so I'd dump the whole vial into your 1 gallon batch, then collect the whole yeast cake in 1 jar and use that whole jar (decanted) for a 5 gallon batch later. Then collect the yeast cake from that 5 gallon batch into 4 more jars (1/4 of the cake in each one), and use each jar for another 5 gallon batch.