Don Runk
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 6/10/12
- Messages
- 71
- Reaction score
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I have cultured a heap over the last year and found a method that has had a 100% success rate for me on all beers i've done it with. Even imported beers that have been kept in god only knows what conditions for god knows how long. And using only one stubby not a full six pack.
It may be dumb luck i’ve never had a failure this way but thought this might help some people or at least give them a starting point. When i first started looking all i found was info on coopers methods which never worked out well for me on imported beers.
keep bottle undisturbed in fridge for 2 days i.e not in door of fridge.
boil 100ml water 10g DME and a pinch of yeast nutrient (or a pinch of dry yeast, even bakers yeast works) for 10mins w/lid on or foil cover.
cool starter (w/lid on) in water bath etc.until room temp.
Spray sanitize beer bottle and opener. Open and GENTLY pour beer into a glass leaving 2 fingers worth in the bottle (3cm). Sanitize neck and flame with lighter if possible before and after pouring. cover with sanitized foil immediately and allow to slowly come to room temp.
once beer and starter wort are room temp spray/flame everything again and pour wort into beer bottle ONLY up to four fingers (6cm) and discard the remainder of the starter wort. Adding too much starter at this stage will only stress the yeast further. Cover the beer bottle again with foil and give a good swirl to aerate and suspend the yeast. Rubber band the foil on if you wish.
Leave bottle somewhere warmish to promote growth (but obviously not too warm). I leave mine on top of a tropical fish tank @23c. Give it a swirl as often as you can.
After 24h for a local beer or 48-72hrs for an imported /stressed beer i will then step up to 1litre.
same again but 1000ml water 100g DME with a pinch of nutrient boiled and cooled to room temp then add the WHOLE beer bottle contents to that starter and put on the stirplate.
once that’s done in 24-36hrs you should have around (approx) 150 Billion cells which can be a little low for a single batch but it’s still more cells than you’ll find in a dry packet.
It's worked out well for me. *off to buy another dead guy ale*
It may be dumb luck i’ve never had a failure this way but thought this might help some people or at least give them a starting point. When i first started looking all i found was info on coopers methods which never worked out well for me on imported beers.
keep bottle undisturbed in fridge for 2 days i.e not in door of fridge.
boil 100ml water 10g DME and a pinch of yeast nutrient (or a pinch of dry yeast, even bakers yeast works) for 10mins w/lid on or foil cover.
cool starter (w/lid on) in water bath etc.until room temp.
Spray sanitize beer bottle and opener. Open and GENTLY pour beer into a glass leaving 2 fingers worth in the bottle (3cm). Sanitize neck and flame with lighter if possible before and after pouring. cover with sanitized foil immediately and allow to slowly come to room temp.
once beer and starter wort are room temp spray/flame everything again and pour wort into beer bottle ONLY up to four fingers (6cm) and discard the remainder of the starter wort. Adding too much starter at this stage will only stress the yeast further. Cover the beer bottle again with foil and give a good swirl to aerate and suspend the yeast. Rubber band the foil on if you wish.
Leave bottle somewhere warmish to promote growth (but obviously not too warm). I leave mine on top of a tropical fish tank @23c. Give it a swirl as often as you can.
After 24h for a local beer or 48-72hrs for an imported /stressed beer i will then step up to 1litre.
same again but 1000ml water 100g DME with a pinch of nutrient boiled and cooled to room temp then add the WHOLE beer bottle contents to that starter and put on the stirplate.
once that’s done in 24-36hrs you should have around (approx) 150 Billion cells which can be a little low for a single batch but it’s still more cells than you’ll find in a dry packet.
It's worked out well for me. *off to buy another dead guy ale*