Stealing yeast from bottles....?

[fretlessman71]

I was just looking at a recipe for a Sierra Nevada clone, and it calls for "Sierra Nevada yeast." It went on to state that this culture was taken from two bottles of SN. Questions:

1) Does it matter if it's the same variety of SN beer that the cultures are taken out of?

2) Around here, the yeast seems to get mixed in with the beer a little too much; I don't see any at the bottom of the bottle anymore. Anything I can do?

3) Just how would one go about doing this in the first place?


If there is only the one yeast strain for all of the SN ales, this would go a long way toward supporting my theory that yeast has a huge effect on the outcome of a beer. Whaddya think?

[sallad]

i have yet to try this, but i have read up on it.. basically, get a bottle of SNPA, and let it settle so all the yeast is on the bottom. boil up a small, 8 oz starter with OG ~1040-1045. gently pour out about 80% of the beer into a glass (and promptly empty glass into belly). add starter wort to the bottle, and cap with an airlock. after the starter does its thing (2-3 days probably), boil up a standard sized starter (about 1quart or so) and empty your mini starter into it!

[Fast_Eddy]

I've read about doing it the way Sallad suggested above - but I could never understand why you just don't make a medium starter wort and then pour the whole beer into it. Then you don't have to worry about whether or not it settled sufficiently.

Then you can either pitch that or you can wash the yeast and step it up again.

[toneyc]

I think I have read on this very board that Sierra Nevada does use the same yeast for most if not all of their beers and that it is a commercially available yeast. I *think* it was Wyeast 1056, anybody else remember this?

:)
Toney.

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by toneyc
I think I have read on this very board that Sierra Nevada does use the same yeast for most if not all of their beers and that it is a commercially available yeast. I *think* it was Wyeast 1056, anybody else remember this?

:)
Toney.

I was able to partly confirm this with searching. Take a look at the link below.


http://www.foamrangers.com/brewhouse/AleYeast.html

[b3s]

well, i've never done it either, but i do know that papazian covers it fairly thoroughly in the complete joy of homebrewing.

i was just re-reading this as i was thinking it might be nice to harvest some yeast from a couple of brews...notably chimay cinq cents for the 2nd version of my dubbel.

[mortong]

They do use the same yeast to bottle and brew. A few weeks ago someone on the NB forum sent them an email asking. Then sent back an email telling him that it is the same, and wishing him luck with his homebrewing. =) Sounds like a great attitude they have there.

Geoff

[evilredlight]

thats a great idea
I am going to start some yeast from a schnieder weisse
then I am at least partially on my way to brewing a clone !!!!

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by evilredlight
thats a great idea
I am going to start some yeast from a schnieder weisse
then I am at least partially on my way to brewing a clone !!!!

Be careful, though - many German breweries(not just German but I've read an article or two that used them as an example) bottle with a different yeast than they brew with.

[evilredlight]

so they add more yeast and sugar to the bottle?

that seems strange

would that carbonate the beer faster or change the taste?

I guess it is tradition or something, but if they do it obviously works because it is delicious!!!

[toneyc]

I would think that they do it specifically to prevent people from harvesting their yeast strain. Proprietary protection.

:)
Toney.

[evilredlight]

I was curious so I was just on their web site
this is exactly what they have on the site


Yeast: Exclusively top-fermented

so i don't think they add a different bottling yeast.

and it was invented in 1800 and something and they didn't have to worry about homebrewers stealing their yeast back then!