Exploding Yeast Culture

[lokpikn]

Ive had a stubbie of culture blow last night in the fridge and am wondering why :blink: This is the third lot of differant cultures ive botteled and had no problems with the older ones. I have got them in the fridge to try stop any further fermenting. I know ive left fementable suagers in the bottels but i understod that it had to be done this way and by placing them in the fride it would stop fermenting. the bottle also blew from the bottom so im wondering also where do bottels normally blow from the cap or as mine has done im thinking the bottle could have been at fault.

 

[Steve]

Ive had a stubbie of culture blow last night in the fridge and am wondering why :blink: This is the third lot of differant cultures ive botteled and had no problems with the older ones. I have got them in the fridge to try stop any further fermenting. I know ive left fementable suagers in the bottels but i understod that it had to be done this way and by placing them in the fride it would stop fermenting. the bottle also blew from the bottom so im wondering also where do bottels normally blow from the cap or as mine has done im thinking the bottle could have been at fault.

Yeah - some keep ticking away even at low temps. Ive had to loosen the lid every couple of days when the bottle gets hard (plastic bottles)....or just leave the lid loose so they can release by themselves.
Cheers
Steve

 

[mje1980]

It's a pain in the butt, but ( haha ) try to use 600ml PET bottles, then you can just unscrew them slightly every 24 hors until not much co2 escapes. Then you'll be right. Also, if on the rare chance they do blow, it's only plastic, not glass. Also, make sure the yeast satrter or whatever has fully fermented out before bottling samples.

 

[KillerRx4]

I learned a lesson last week about bottled yeast cultures.

It was a 600ml PET bottle about 1/2 filled with trub from previous fermentation.

I found out its not good to take it out of the fridge & allow it to warm to room temp before opening.
Upon cracking the lid open (only 1/2 turn mind you) I managed to spray wall to wall of the kitchen with yeast... :blink:

In future I will crack the lid slightly to release any pressure as soon as it comes outa the fridge :lol:

 

[lokpikn]

Well i must say im glad i posted as after reading your msg ive checked all my others i just gad to clean up after tahking the lid off and culture went evey where . So im in the process of cracking all the bottels and recapping.
Thanks heaps for the tips ill be going to pet on the next one for sure

 

[Steve]

Well i must say im glad i posted as after reading your msg ive checked all my others i just gad to clean up after tahking the lid off and culture went evey where . So im in the process of cracking all the bottels and recapping.
Thanks heaps for the tips ill be going to pet on the next one for sure

Still be careful though with the PET bottles - they explode also. I think from memory a bloke called Jim-Perth showed pics of one that had exploded in his fridge last year.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Steve]

Found it:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...bottle&st=0

Cheers
Steve

 

[lokpikn]

Thanks heaps steve
I read the entire thing very helpful. I will go to pet coke bottels and might look at just leaving the lids a bit loose to vent for a few weeks than check evey second day or so as it will not take up much time to do this.

 

[Trough Lolly]

Lokpikn,
You might want to get some holed rubber bungs and a few spare airlocks from the homebrew shop - when I decant my cultures to 600ml PET bottles, I seal with the rubber stopper and airlock fitted - after a couple of days, the refrigerated starter goes dormant and I can happily seal with a cap and not have to worry about bottle bombs when I want to use the stuff - and yes, if you are removing the starter from the fridge, crack the seal as soon as you can and if you expect some action when it gets back to room temp, just put in a cleaned stopper and airlock to avoid a handheld fountain!
Cheers,
TL

 

[Linz]

Well i must say im glad i posted as after reading your msg ive checked all my others i just gad to clean up after tahking the lid off and culture went evey where . So im in the process of cracking all the bottels and recapping.
Thanks heaps for the tips ill be going to pet on the next one for sure

Still be careful though with the PET bottles - they explode also. I think from memory a bloke called Jim-Perth showed pics of one that had exploded in his fridge last year.
Cheers
Steve

Hopefully Kook will post his pic again of the 2l PET bottle that went of in his spare bedroom at 1-2 am....and its a pic of the ceiling!!! looks like someone emptied a schooner on the floor!!

 

[peas_and_corn]

I first step up my liquid yeast in PET bottles and I put a sanitised balloon over the opening. Any CO2 has a place to go and I'm happy.

 

[lou]

I was reading over at the wyeast website that it is better not to store yeast under pressure. Pressure seriously lessens yeast health/viability etc. I haven't done this much but will start to ensure my yeast containers have little or no pressure in them in future - at least for stuff i want to keep for quite a while

lou

 

[MHB]

Oztops are great.
They screw right onto a PET bottle and have a silicone rubber airlock built into the top.
If you havent seen them have a look at The Webpage
The kit comes with about half a dozen tops, apart from being an easy way to make cider and the like they are one of the best yeast storage devices I have found.

MHB

 

[Guest Lurker]

I have oztops, but I dont like using them for yeast starters, prefer a slightly loose cap because:
1) If you get yeast krausen through them they are quite hard to clean between the layers and
2) Chris White was adamant in his talk over here that a very small amount of back pressure makes a big difference to yeast activity, to the point that he doesnt recommend airlocks. So oztops which are designed to create a carbonated drink tend to put too much pressure on the starter.

But the oztops do make a very nice fizzy alcoholic cranberry punch.

 

[apd]

Yeast farmers...don't forget chillers excellent instructions on washing yeast:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...?showtopic=3697

You end up with your yeast stored in sterile water rather than a fermentable solution so the yeast will actually go dormant because they have nothing to eat. Hence, no pressure and no risk of explosions.

Having said that, I still wish Jim in Perth had taken a photo of his fridge...

 

[Trough Lolly]

Yep, Chiller's article is a goodun.
As with everything in brewing, there's two sides to a story - especially regarding storage of yeast. I've been reading some interesting probrewer forum threads that suggest that the careless storage of yeast in sterile water may encourage yeast autolysis. Others advocate the storage of yeast in a weak wort solution that has alcohol present to assist in protecting the yeast cells from damage or bacterial infection whilst they remain dormant.
I've roused yeast that's been in stubbies for more than 2 years and made infection free beers, no probs. As Chiller suggests, you need to be really clean and lets face it, if you done have a good sanitation protocol, you're really behind the 8 ball when it comes to storing and maintaining your own collection of yeast.
Cheers,
TL

 

[Stuster]

I am just making a starter from some slurry saved in the fridge. Wort made up and cooled, I opened the yeast vial to be greeted with a smell that is probably autolysis. Ahhhhhh. This is the first time I've had this problem with yeast starters stored under water in the fridge and it's all your fault, TL. :angry:

 

[apd]

I've been reading some interesting probrewer forum threads that suggest that the careless storage of yeast in sterile water may encourage yeast autolysis.

Yes, well, having advocated storage in sterile water, my careless storage resulted in a furry mass atop the water in one of my containers. I'm sure the water was sterile (at some point), just not the headspace inside the container. <_<

 

[Stuster]

Provoked into a bit of internet searching by the other yeast thread, I found this thread on yeast storage. Basically, it is suggested that longer term yeast storage be under water (not distilled). Didn't work that well for me recently, but mostly starters have seemed to kick off faster than before when I used to store yeast under beer. And no risk of explosions either.