Cooper's Yeast

[chiller]

Has anyone cultured from a Coopers bottle and used the same yeast over a number of brews. I've used it from a single starter but have never bothered to maintain it as a "farmed" yeast. Hence I've only bothered to use it for one brew then dumped it.

How many times from the single original collection from the bottle have you brewed a beer. Have you noticed any changes in flavour, attenuation, clarity or any other characteristics compared to brew one?

Living in Adelaide it is easy to get very fresh bottles for cultivating yeast.

Steve

 

[braufrau]

Has anyone cultured from a Coopers bottle and used the same yeast over a number of brews.

Yep.

How many times from the single original collection from the bottle have you brewed a beer.

SO far about 4 I think, including the original starter from the bottle.

Have you noticed any changes in flavour, attenuation, clarity or any other characteristics compared to brew one?

Nope. I plan to ditch it and start again in a couple of brews, just in case.

 

[BoilerBoy]

Living in Adelaide it is easy to get very fresh bottles for cultivating yeast.

Steve

Thats the thing, I dont use it often enough and when I do it's so easy to reculture from fresh bottles.

Infact, I plan to do an Anzac biscuit ale soon from a thread inspired from last year using this yeast.

BB

 

[SJW]

I have had a few cracks at firing up yeast from a Coopers bottle with no luck. Any tips?

 

[braufrau]

I have had a few cracks at firing up yeast from a Coopers bottle with no luck. Any tips?

So did it just not take off? Guess it worth ferreting in the bottle shops fridge for the latest "bes after" date.

I use more or less the method in the wiki.
Start with 500ml of 1.040 wort which happens to be 1 part dried extract to 10 parts water.
Boil that to pasteurise it and cool in an ice bath.
Add the coopers dregs (about 1/5th of the bottle) to wort in 2l flagon with the lid on loosely.
Sit it on the stir plate or give it a good shake every time you pass it for one or two days.
Step it up with another litre of 1.040 wort and stir for another day or two.

I pitch the lot because I do partials and so I don't have to worry about diluting the wort or "contaminating" with DME
but some people decant the liquor off the top and pitch the yeasty dregs. Don't forget to taste it before you pitch. It does taste odd, but not off.

 

[SJW]

1/5th of a bottle. I never left that much. Must give another crack one day

 

[Kai]

Living in Adelaide it is easy to get very fresh bottles for cultivating yeast.

Steve

yep, that's about why I've never reused it. still culturing and loving the yeast though.

 

[chiller]

yep, that's about why I've never reused it. still culturing and loving the yeast though.

The only problem I see there Kai is the aweful tasting nutrient thats above the yeast.

Steve

 

[lowtech]

Same as the above.
With a ready and fresh supply always available there would seem little need to farm it.
Aside from the obvious uses in an Aussie type ale, what other styles have you people used it in that have worked well?
I found it to be a little too fruity in an all ammarillo american wheat beer I did once.
This yeast always seems to lend a belgian character to Sparkling Ale to my palate.It really doesn't need a big hop kick in the tail of the beer to hide or clash with character of the yeast.

L.T

 

[poiter]

I washed some of the yeast cake from a previous brew and stored it under cooled boiled water and am using it today in a pale ale using cascade pellets and NZ styrian goldings flowers from Beerbelly. They smelled great from the packets.

It's the first time I've used cascade hops, so I'm not sure how the flavours will match. The starter is till clean and fresh smelling, so should be OK. The extra volume of yeast just made the building of the starter was quicker-less steps needed. Cool weather will make it easier to keep the temp down and to control the fruity characters.

Will have to wait to see about flocculation and attenuation.

 

[lowtech]

Cool weather will make it easier to keep the temp down and to control the fruity characters.

Will have to wait to see about flocculation and attenuation.

This yeast works quite well at around 16c, any thing over 18c can start to bring out the bananas in it.
It's always produced a fair bit of diacetyl early in conditioning in my experience, but does a great job of cleaning it up if given a couple of weeks.

 

[Kai]

The only problem I see there Kai is the aweful tasting nutrient thats above the yeast.

Steve

Dare I say it, I'm still quite fond of that nutrient. It might be a little thin-bodied but I love the flavours the yeast provides. It's also a perfect beer for when I tire of drinking creatures pale.

 

[Airgead]

This yeast works quite well at around 16c, any thing over 18c can start to bring out the bananas in it.
It's always produced a fair bit of diacetyl early in conditioning in my experience, but does a great job of cleaning it up if given a couple of weeks.

Yep. I use the coopers as my standard house yeast for a bunch of stuff. 16-18 is ideal. Above that and the esters start getting out of control. Above 22 and its like drinking a banana smoothie with hops. I had a refrigeration failure once and the batch hit 28. More bananas than Queensland in that batch...

Cheers
Dave

 

[warrenlw63]

Yep. I use the coopers as my standard house yeast for a bunch of stuff. 16-18 is ideal. Above that and the esters start getting out of control. Above 22 and its like drinking a banana smoothie with hops. I had a refrigeration failure once and the batch hit 28. More bananas than Queensland in that batch...

Cheers
Dave

Ditto. Got a batch of Willamette Sparkling Ale firing with it now. Pitched @ 15 degrees and fermenting at 16. Smells clean as a whistle ATM.
Doesn't really need to be any warmer. Will gladly work at low temps.

Warren -

 

[Airgead]

Ditto. Got a batch of Willamette Sparkling Ale firing with it now. Pitched @ 15 degrees and fermenting at 16. Smells clean as a whistle ATM.
Doesn't really need to be any warmer. Will gladly work at low temps.

Warren -

I found 15 to be a tad cold. It tended to floc out at the slightest provocation if I fermented lower than 16. Could be my thermometer is reading a degree or so out but just keep an eye on it if you are fermenting round 15-16 and if it starts to floc out early, warm it up a degree.

Cheers
Dave

 

[lowtech]

Just out of curiosity, what are you guys collecting from predominantly?Sparkling or Pale?

I have a hazy memory of some one telling me once that coopers don't use a single yeast variety to ferment their ale range.
Not confirmed and a little dubious to my mind, but I thought I'd put it out there to see if any one can elaborate.

L.T

 

[BoilerBoy]

Just out of curiosity, what are you guys collecting from predominantly?Sparkling or Pale?

I have a hazy memory of some one telling me once that coopers don't use a single yeast variety to ferment their ale range.
Not confirmed and a little dubious to my mind, but I thought I'd put it out there to see if any one can elaborate.

L.T

In the end it may not matter a great deal, but I use the pale as its lower in alc content than the sparkling which I was told makes for a happier yeast for the purposes of reculturing.

As for more than one yeast variety being used I also remember hearing this, but have no idea :unsure:

Cheers,
BB

 

[Airgead]

In the end it may not matter a great deal, but I use the pale as its lower in alc content than the sparkling which I was told makes for a happier yeast for the purposes of reculturing.

As for more than one yeast variety being used I also remember hearing this, but have no idea :unsure:

Cheers,
BB

I think mine originally came from the sparkling but its been living on slants in my fridge ever since.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Snow]

With all the banana this yeast produces, has anyone out there made a decent hefeweizen with it?

Cheers - Snow

 

[warrenlw63]

I never get the banana bit. I reckon some people must ferment too close to the sun. :lol:

When I reculture from the bottle I get banana but that being said I'm usually holding it around 25 degrees or sometimes more to fire it up.

Sanity says keep it under 20. No banana at all then. You get some bread/rockmelon but no bananas.

Would be interesting to try a wheat with it though Snow. Make a good hot weather fermentation experiment. My guess is you'd also get a healthy slug of diacetyl {butterscotch} and fusels with it too though.

Warren -