AHB Wiki: Using Coopers Bottle Yeast

[db73]

thanks BB.

I'll have another look at doing it tomorrow

Dave

 

[lespaul]

im a little confused about the oxygen/aerating of the starter. doesnt shaking it once fermentation has started produce off flavours? then your transferring it into your wort

also what is the part you mostly want to pitch...the sediment or the liquid?

and so for both questions...is there a way you can shake the starter to get it aerated and help the yeast, but then only pitch the concentrated yeast and not any of the bad flavours?

appologise if this is a stupid question

Edit: im planning on doing a starter with the white rabbit dark ale

 

[BoilerBoy]

im a little confused about the oxygen/aerating of the starter. doesnt shaking it once fermentation has started produce off flavours? then your transferring it into your wort

also what is the part you mostly want to pitch...the sediment or the liquid?

and so for both questions...is there a way you can shake the starter to get it aerated and help the yeast, but then only pitch the concentrated yeast and not any of the bad flavours?

appologise if this is a stupid question

Edit: im planning on doing a starter with the white rabbit dark ale

Best thing to do I find is build your starter up then put it in the fridge at least the night before brew day.
Then next day pour off the spent starter wort on the top leaving the compact yeast at the bottom allow to warm up while brewing and then add 1L of your new wort when its ready and allow yeast to fire up usually 3-6 hours then pitch.

That gives you no off flavours from the starter wort and an active starter you know is ready to go eliminating any pitch and hoping.

Cheers,
BB

 

[lespaul]

champion :icon_cheers:

 

[wynnum1]

when you finish making beer do you bottle some with extra yeast for later date as new starters or start from new and how long does yeast remain viable in the bottled beer

 

[Digger11]

Might be an obvious question (and I am sure it has been answered before but I can't find it) but is their a dry (or wet) yeast equivalent that I can buy that is equivalent to using Coopers recultured ?

 

[lespaul]

Might be an obvious question (and I am sure it has been answered before but I can't find it) but is their a dry (or wet) yeast equivalent that I can buy that is equivalent to using Coopers recultured ?

i think there is something above that says its pretty unique and its worth just doing a starter using the yeast from the bottle if you want the same flavour.

 

[hazard]

I've just made a starter from the dregs of a six pack of pale ale - and this may be best thing about this yeast, because drinking a six pack is more fun even then smacking a smack pack. I'm planning to make a CSA clone based on Tony Wheeler's recipe this weekend, but am planning on harvesting more yeast from the fermenter. Now my question is - in Tony's article in BYO mag he described the coopers yeast as a Burton-type yeast. On this basis I am thinking of using it later on to make an IPA (cos I'm too stingy to but another liquid yeast). Would coopers yeast be good for this style?

 

[BoilerBoy]

I've just made a starter from the dregs of a six pack of pale ale - and this may be best thing about this yeast, because drinking a six pack is more fun even then smacking a smack pack. I'm planning to make a CSA clone based on Tony Wheeler's recipe this weekend, but am planning on harvesting more yeast from the fermenter. Now my question is - in Tony's article in BYO mag he described the coopers yeast as a Burton-type yeast. On this basis I am thinking of using it later on to make an IPA (cos I'm too stingy to but another liquid yeast). Would coopers yeast be good for this style?

I was going to reply earlier to this but decided to think about it further.

I have no issue whatsoever with this yeast working in an IPA, its got a good ester profile and attenuates well, its just reusing the yeast again that unerves me.

My gut feeling and its just a hunch, a guess etc... is that you really want this yeast at its freshest, its already had a life in the bottle and your using it again for your CSA, the esters though great and desirable can get "very" estery under a minimum of stress and wreck a beer.

Coopers yeast is readily available and one stubby is all I ever use for reculturing so I never bother reusing it, its easy enough to start again.

Thats just my personal un scientific guess and you may go ahead with it and it most probably will turn out perfectly fine.

Good luck with it.

cheers,
BB

 

[hazard]

I was going to reply earlier to this but decided to think about it further.

I have no issue whatsoever with this yeast working in an IPA, its got a good ester profile and attenuates well, its just reusing the yeast again that unerves me.

My gut feeling and its just a hunch, a guess etc... is that you really want this yeast at its freshest, its already had a life in the bottle and your using it again for your CSA, the esters though great and desirable can get "very" estery under a minimum of stress and wreck a beer.

Coopers yeast is readily available and one stubby is all I ever use for reculturing so I never bother reusing it, its easy enough to start again.

Thats just my personal un scientific guess and you may go ahead with it and it most probably will turn out perfectly fine.

Good luck with it.

cheers,
BB

OK Thanks BB. You've actually discussed 2 issues:
1. Is coppers yeast good for IPA - I think you said yes.
2. Should re-cultured coopers yeast be recycled - you have concerns with this one. I've though about this, but I always reach the same conclusion which is different to yours (but I could be wrong, and happy to hear other views)) - all yeast has been harvested from somewhere, and all had the same anscestor about 1 billion years ago. So if I put some yeast in a fermenter and they multiply, then the new ones are "fresh", or as fresh as anything else going around? I understand that there can be an issue with mutations if you mkeep using yeast, but it shouldn't get "tired". I dunno, food for thought.

I am harvesting yeast on a regular basis - haven't bought any for a while and I've got slurry from 1084, 1469, 1187, 1056, and 3944 in the fridge. So soon will add coopers!! Following a recommendation from this or another forum (can't remember exactly) I always harvest from the secondary. I assume that this is because any break material, hops trub, dead yeast etc is left in the primary, and I only harvest good healty yeast that falls out of suspension during a week in the frifdge. I wonder if I keep this up, i will eliminate more flocculent yeast and end up with a different strain that doesn't flocc out as much?

hazard

 

[hazard]

Well I made my Coopers CSA Clone on Friday night after work (Tony Wheeler recipe scaled to 25L), and pitched just after midnight. Wort was at 18 deg after chilling, and I set the heat pad to 20 deg and left it.

There were visible signs of krausen by 8am Sat, and by Sat night the fermentor was full. By Sunday morning there is foam pouring out of the fermentor. This yeast really goes! So if I want to re-use this yeast, is it possible to top crop? Or should I harvest from secondary as I usually do? It all looks foamy, I've never tried top-cropping but i understand that top cropping yeast is more lumpy?

 

[ekul]

Does this yeast ever stall?

I've used it a couple of times and every time i've used it it has smashed through the wort in 2-3 days. Currently i have 2 fermenters of the cpa clone but both have stopped at 1018. They both got to this point at day 3. I'm worried that my thermometer may be off causing me to mash too high as this yeast is so hungry i couldn't imagine it stalling, especially twice. (Actually one of them is the white labs coopers strain).

Its early days yet, they've only been in the fermenter for a week but normally it would be bottled by now. If nothing has happened by tmo i'll start my 'yeast rousing regime'. I never thought this yeast would stall.

Any thoughts?

 

[ekul]

Actually, in one of the fermenters the hydrometer was stuck to the side, its actually at 1.008. The other one is still rather high, it has a lot of yeast stuck to the hydrometer, do you think this could affect bouyancy and therefore gravity reading?

 

[asis]

Did they end up finishing ekul?

I've got a starter going at the moment that was stepped up to 1 litre on monday and is still actively fermenting. I want to split this and add half to 2 2 litre flasks. If I pour someof the spent beer off my original starter with out letting it finish or chilling will I lose too much yeast? I need to split it as I have about 42 or so litres to ferment in seperate fermenters.

Thanks

Adam

 

[joshs41]

Anyone been able to re-propogate the yeast ot of a German Heffe bottle eg Franziskanner ??
I think they bottle condition with a diff yeast to the primary yeast,
I d love to get a good heffe yeast for a wheat brew, u know the real Munic jazz...

 

[thekelsobrewer]

for Josh Smith,
have you tried culturing a yeast from the Belgium Wit Hoegaarden?, other than that you could spend $14-$15 on obtaining a White Labs or Wyeast yeast appliccable to the type of Wheat beer you wish to brew.

 

[bullsneck]

Does Hoegaarden use the same yeast for bottling and fermenting?

 

[jyo]

This yeast is a bloody hungry beast. From 1043 down to 1012 in 2 days at 19'. First time culturing this one up and the samples are very promising.
Cheers for the wiki, blokes. :icon_cheers:

 

[BeerSwiller]

From my experience, I have only ever collected the dregs from one stubbies and the yeast have always fired up, depending on the age of the bottle will determine how long it will take.
I have cultured a stubbie up in August that was best after January and took a few days to start but still cultured ok.

 

[Engibeer]

Thanks for all the posts and advice gents.

Currently I have a batch of this brewed as per the AG recipe sitting in a cube.

I attempted to reculture a yeast starter using a longneck dated "best after" 24/1/15

Using a stir plate, with 1000mL 1.050 wort straight up, I attempted to re-start the yeast for about 36hrs

Measured the OG after 36hrs and no activity. Initially I thought there was some activity due to the bubbling.

I just purchased a 375mL dated best after 12/3/15, so much fresher.
Just seeking some advice; starter volume is now ~800mL due to an SG reading I took.

Options:

1. Pitch settled yeast from 375mL straight into this volume
2. Use microwave to sterilise original starter, crash chill again and then pitch settled yeast from stubbie
3. Sterilise starter in microwave, split and step up in smaller increments.
4. Create entirely new starter and set up in smaller increments.


I'm also wondering where the root cause of the issue most likely lies (I know it would be difficult to highlight definite cause). Old stock? Too large an initial starter volume?