Culturing yeast from craft beers - How do you if it can be?

[trustyrusty]

Hi Can all yeast be recovered from all craft beers? Do they all have live yeasts. Is there a way of looking or testing....?

Is there a list somewhere of which beers can be and what type of yeasts in each beer?

Thanks

 

[Dozer71]

Yeast can be recovered from any beer that is bottled conditioned. A lot of craft beers are, as is Coopers ales. Refrigerate the bottle for a couple of days at least and look at the base. If there is sediment there, it is yeast and can be reultured.

Last one (well only one) I did, poured the beer in a glass leaving about a cm or 2, added cooled wort. It was a 500ml bottle so added 400ml at 1.020 (20g of LDME into boiled, then cooled water). Covered with sanitised foil and shook periodically. After a couple of days transferred to an erlenmeyer flask (or larger bottle) and added 1.5L wort at 1.040. When it was done, poured off enough beer to make it 500ml, swirled and pit i mason jar and refrigerated. Have poured the beer off and added more wort and back in the fridge (unsure if this step is necessary but some recommend to take it from under the beer for better health). Could always freeze as detailed in this forum as well.

Not sure if there is a list for which yeast in which beer. I did email the brewery but they wouldn't divulge the yeast use. Can always ask as the worse that happens is they say no. So I have one suitable for a red IPA at least.

 

[Benn]

Hi Trusty,
Not all craft beers have yeast we can harvest, a lot of breweries filter their beer before packaging, apparently some even pasteurise their beer...
When your at the bottle shop, have a look at the bottle, if there's a layer of yeast sediment at the bottom (Coopers Pale Ale being a prime example) you should be able to re-cuture it into a starter and use it to ferment your home brew.
Have a search on this forum for "re-culturing coopers yeast" and you should find a straight forward "How to" guide.
From what I've read, most of the yeast strains one is likely to find in their average bottle shop is nothing special, a standard lager yeast is often employed for bottle conditioning. Other more experienced Brewers on this forum may offer more accurate information than the above.
At any rate, re-culturing yeast is a bit of fun and a good learning experience, the most difficult part of the process is finding the Craft Beer amongst all the craft beer.
Hove fun with it.

 

[trustyrusty]

Thanks

I just made a Coopers dark ale, I re-used BRY-97 West Coast Ale in the original recipe (I think is a great yeast...BTW) , I wanted to if I could repeat an exact recipe, and from I can tell is the same...

I read somewhere that can only re-culture 4 or 5 times?

I am sure the brewers use the same yeasts we use anyway...

But surely they prime condition the beer in keg or something, would Coopers and others bottle condition - have a warehouse full of bottled beers for a month? That would take a lot of space and time? Surely the condition in a large vat or something and then bottle?

What about Pirate Life in cans ? And I did see a video about another beer - Sierra or something also in a can (think it was a Boston Brewery make) .... You cannot see inside.....I would say most craft beers are not pasteurized, so they should have some live yeast?

cheers.

 

[hirschb]

You can reculture yeast as many times as you want..... the 4 or 5 times thing you read was in reference to genetic drift. The basic principle is that yeast replicates, mutates, and evolves over time. If you want to be certain that the yeast strain you use is exactly the same every time, it's best not to re-use it too many times to avoid genetic drift (this is why prof yeast labs keep copies of their original strains in frozen yeast banks).
As a general rule, do not try to culture yeast from beers that have not been bottle conditioned. Otherwise, there will not be enough yeast to give you reliable results.
The other important thing to note is that the vast majority of craft beers in Australia are using very simple/standard yeast strains that can be bought from Wyeast or White labs. The main reason for harvesting bottle dregs is when the yeast strains used by the brewery are different/unique. There is a huge wealth of knowledge/debate about Coopers yeast, so I will not add to that. I culture bottle dregs constantly, but that is because I mostly make sour/funky beers. In that case, you should check out the mad fermentationalist bottle dreg list: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/p/dreg-list.html

 

[altone]

I have a Thames yeast I've washed and re-used probably 100 times.
It's most likely drifted quite a way from the original but still produces a nice beer.

So I'd say don't worry about how many times you reculture or re-use, just stop using it if the results are not what you expected.

And as for culturing from craft beer dregs - I know for a fact some brewers actually add a different yeast prior to bottling for bottle conditioning.
so it's a bit hit and miss - but still good fun.

Oh and if you meant Sierra Nevada then the bottled version is bottle conditioned and you can recover the yeast but it's a readily available strain anyway
Never tried the cans though.

 

[Matplat]

The other factor to think about is that some breweries use a specific strain of yeast for bottling that is not the same as that which was used for fermentation.....

 

[Brownsworthy]

The other factor to think about is that some breweries use a specific strain of yeast for bottling that is not the same as that which was used for fermentation.....

I know that Murray's use a specific yeast for bottle conditioning when I asked One of the brewers he said it would be pointless as that yeast is designed not to impart any character.

 

[trustyrusty]

Hi I have a bottle of Montieths Pale Ale, quite like it....
Would all boutique / craft beers have live yeast..... I cannot see any sediment in the bottom... is that the only way to know?

 

[indica86]

Surely the condition in a large vat or something and then bottle?

Coopers prime their bottles just like home brewers do and bottle condition.

 

[trustyrusty]

I wanted to know if I can get yeast from the beer mentioned, nothing about conditioning ..Can the yeast be cultured from Montheiths Pale Ale? Thanks

 

[indica86]

**** sorry, I honestly thought the quote below was a question.

But surely they prime condition the beer in keg or something, would Coopers and others bottle condition - have a warehouse full of bottled beers for a month? That would take a lot of space and time? Surely the condition in a large vat or something and then bottle?

 

[spog]

Back in the day this question would/could have been answered with... Do a search FFS.
Glad to read the suggestions and advice given.

 

[trustyrusty]

Hi Guys

Thanks - I restarted the post with getting yeast from a bottle - a post I started... this is the issue with "hijacking" or "going off message" - although useful... I asked a question culturing yeast and got a reply about bottle conditioning... sorry that is why I was confused.. thanks anyway
btw spog what is FFS ?

 

[luggy]

Do a search

 

[indica86]

I asked a question culturing yeast and got a reply about bottle conditioning...

I answered your question about conditioning. At least I think it was you. That is why there was a quote. Like the one above.

Read your other posts. Tell me there is not a question regarding conditioning. I'll then let you know there is because I quoted it.

 

[Killer Brew]

Coopers prime their bottles just like home brewers do and bottle condition.

Using Coopers carbonation drops? Fark that sounds like a painstaking task.

 

[Killer Brew]

Thanks

I just made a Coopers dark ale, I re-used BRY-97 West Coast Ale in the original recipe (I think is a great yeast...BTW) , I wanted to if I could repeat an exact recipe, and from I can tell is the same...

I read somewhere that can only re-culture 4 or 5 times?

I am sure the brewers use the same yeasts we use anyway...

But surely they prime condition the beer in keg or something, would Coopers and others bottle condition - have a warehouse full of bottled beers for a month? That would take a lot of space and time? Surely the condition in a large vat or something and then bottle?

What about Pirate Life in cans ? And I did see a video about another beer - Sierra or something also in a can (think it was a Boston Brewery make) .... You cannot see inside.....I would say most craft beers are not pasteurized, so they should have some live yeast?

cheers.

Re Pirate Life and their product isn't bottle conditioned but rather has CO2 added in bright tanks after filtration. So no harvestable yeasties there unfortunately.

 

[yankinoz]

If you search Probrewer for threads on yeast, you'll find that most of the craft brewers who use that forum work with yeasts from the same commercial sources the brew supply shops carry. How many generations they reuse a yeast varies. There are exceptions, such as PacMan, which was selected by and sourced from Rogue, and I believe the San Diego strain may be another example, but by and large it's the old commercial brewers that have developed distinctive strains. Coopers is an example.

Maintaining a true yeast strain for many generations takes skill.

 

[spog]

Hi Guys

Thanks - I restarted the post with getting yeast from a bottle - a post I started... this is the issue with "hijacking" or "going off message" - although useful... I asked a question culturing yeast and got a reply about bottle conditioning... sorry that is why I was confused.. thanks anyway
btw spog what is FFS ?

For F... Sake.