Stretching your yeast

[YamahaXS]

from HERE (http://www.realbeer.com/spencer/yeast.html)

****note: i found this buy googling 'thin beer' in response to looking at another thread. ****

PART 4: Parallel Yeast Cultures
Rick Cavasin sent me (PW) the following method of "parallel" culturing liquid yeasts. This should work with most packaged liquid yeasts, not just Wyeast. The advantages here for the beginner are that (in additon to saving money) it minimizes the problems of strain drift and contamination that can plague yeast ranchers. As for the savings, it makes liquid yeast almost as cheap as dry yeast!

Post follows:
Here's the (poor man's) method for stretching the Wyeast that I (Rick) have been using successfully. This method has worked for me with 4 different Wyeast ale strains (Whitbread, Irish, German, European). It's simple, and requires no special equipment. Also, it allows several brewers to swap yeasts with each brewer propagating one strain.

Briefly, my suggestion consists of converting the original Wyeast package into a number of 'copies' stored in beer bottles. ie. it is a parallel propagation rather than a serial propagation

Step 1: Prepare some starter wort (S.G. = 1.020), see Miller's book for recipe. Basically, you need about 1/2 gallon, but if you make more and can it in mason jars (using standard canning procedures), you will not have to prepare more at a later date. Note from PW--Most authorities now recommend using full strength (1.040), hopped wort for starters.
Step 2: Place 1/2 gallon or so of starter wort in a suitable container (1 gallon glass jug), pitch (inflated) Wyeast package at correct temp. and fit air lock. This is the 'master' starter.
Step 3: Allow to ferment to *completion*. When fermentation has ceased, agitate the 'beer' to suspend all sendiment, and very carefully bottle it.
You will now have about 6 bottles of very thin beer with a good deal of viable yeast sediment in each bottle. Use each bottle as you would use a package of Wyeast - ie. prepare a starter culture a couple days before brewing. This is facilitated by canning wort when you prepare the master starter. All you need to in that case is pop open a mason jar of wort, dump it into a sanitized bottle/jug of appropriate size, pop open one of your bottle cultures, add it, agitate vigorously, and fit an air lock. All yeast starters are of the same 'generation', ie. 'twice removed' from the original Wyeast package (as opposed to the usual 'once removed'). I've had the bottled cultures remain viable for more than 6 months. Observe proper sanitation and wort aeration procedures thoughout. Equipment: 1 gallon jug (for 'master' starter) 1.5 litre wine bottle (for subsequent starters) air lock 6 beer bottles, caps and capper Optional equipment: mason jars and canning pot. Cheers, Rick C.

[Tom C]

INdeed this does work well and I would recommend for yeast strands that you use often are are extremly versitile such as wyeast 1056 American or white labs California Ale. I would not cap these bottles though. I would place an air lock on each to ensire no yeast volcanoes upon opening them to repitch into the starters. I would also do a smell test to each before pitching and if you have any hesitiation go and buy a ready pitch!

Tom C

[toneyc]

Do you refridgerate the bottled yeast or leave it in a cool dark place?

:) Toney.

[Tom C]

I refridgerate it then bring it to room temp for a while before pitching into a new starter.

[sallad]

i just bottled my first batch that used a re-pitched wyeast american ale.

the yeast was first used in an IPA of about 5.2%ABV (1054 -> 1014, apparent attenuation ~73%). after i bottled, i just dumped the old yeast slop from the bottom of my carboy into a sanatized mason jar, and threw it in the fridge. during the first few hours (until its cooled and inactive) i just loosened the cap in order to relieve pressure, thus preventing 'yeast volcanos.'

anyway, i reused it in an ESB that i was expecting to be about maybe 6.5% ABV, but got an apparent attenuation of about 84% making the beer 7.4%ABV (1066 -> 1010)

don't know if reusing like this gives it more alcohol tolerance and a higher attenuation.. but i saved the yeast again and plan to use it soon!

[toneyc]

Wow! Thanks for posting this thread! I made a "parallel propagation" starter batch this morning because I had taken the yeast out yesterday to brew today but it is raining and I did not know if the yeast would survive until tomorrow or if it was going to continue raining tomorrow. So I made up the starter and told Wifey what was going on and she figured it up that at $5-6 per tube, a 6-pack parallel starter would save about $30. If I used one bottle to do another generation, it would save an additional $30 for a total of about $60 savings. To me, that means free beer! And she gets to make up pretty labels for the starter bottles. Since I keg, she kinda misses making labels, I think.

:)
Toney.

[mmmBeer...]

I started reusing yeast last night and curious to see how it goes. I can’t get any white labs yeast here in Ottawa, so I wanted to make the most out of it.

I followed the instructions from the Wyeast website on washing yeast and it worked really well. Although I didn’t need to use the 3rd container this time as there was not a lot of trub to separate. I ended up with about 1qt of save yeast and water. In fact it looks almost identical to the original pitchable tube I got only on a larger scale.

I din’t want ot carry over any trub into the next batch, as I thought it might affect the flavour of the next batch (any residual hops).

I am thinking that I will still drain off some of the top liquid to make more room for the starter (1qt seems like too much liquid).

Figure I’ll create starter to make sure the yeast is still viable, and off we go!