Let's Freeze Some Yeast

[Curly79]

I'm in! Wish me luck. Freezer says its sitting at -18c. Is that a good temp or should I crank it up a bit?

 

[Yob]

that's good man, they'll pretty much sleep below 0'c

 

[Curly79]

Sweet. Got my little vials. That fella who lives round the corner who know a thing or two about home brewing has given me a few pointers. Gunna get a 1.040 starter going with some WL Burton Ale Yeast. How many vials do you think I need to prepare for a
1Ltr Starter?

 

[Yob]

5-6.. you wont get much growth from 1L

that will equal 20ml in each of yeast/slurry roughly if you get the thickness right.. (like slightly warmed honey)

 

[Curly79]

Should I decant then re-pitch from the original starter into a fresh one or is 5 vials all I can expect from one sachet of yeast?

 

[Yob]

If the sachet isn't old, I'd just split into 5, freeze 4 and make a starter from 1..

You then have 4 pure pitches which you'll do starters on anyway..

Ya dig?

 

[Curly79]

Righto[emoji106]. Thanks again mate.

 

[Bruer]

Hey all, I've just made a batch of black IPA. The plan is to split it (22L/2) and pitch US-05 and wyeast B. lambicus. Has anyone had success freezing brett? Given the small batch size I figure I won't need to pitch all the brett, so taking 50ml should be fine I guess.

 

[Yob]

Dunno, think it was asked by those QLDers back a ways, not sure what came of it.

 

[Yob]

Version 2 point something..

5 x 5 to suit 50ml vials, stack-able pinlock on top so air can get under the one on top..

I can just fit in the 3D printer at work.. if I can get away with it..

 

[Exile]

Followed your steps Yob
Had about 2 ml of left over yeast and decided to just mix it in with the last vial I had prepared with the 50 - 50 glycerine & water mix. That was 2 weeks ago and checked it last Friday and noticed the vial looked like it was not quite frozen.
Put it in 600ml of dme for 12 hours and then decanted that into 1 liter of dme yesterday afternoon..
Just checked on it...... its alive

 

[Yob]

welcome to the club!

:super:

 

[Exile]

Forgot to mention its WLP008 East Coast Ale Yeast

 

[Mardoo]

Yep, if you do the 50/50 glycerine water it often won't freeze.

 

[Yob]

But will take longer to expel the glycerine from the cell wall

 

[eldertaco]

Has anyone managed to find glycerine in bottles bigger than 100ml? I've tried a few chemists but they all seem to only stock 100ml bottles of the stuff.

 

[Yob]

Mardoo did a bulk buy a little while back, maybe touch base there

 

[sp0rk]

I'll ask around at work if we know any good sources

 

[Mardoo]

This is the best price I found locally, at the 20L level. Brings it to $12.10 a litre. I haven't looked since though. There was a mob in QLD with a better price, but they never filled my order and stopped responding to emails, so...

 

[eldertaco]

Nice one Mardoo, I found that place earlier but I think I just found cheaper here.

edit: they have a bunch of interesting co2 extracts too, anyone for siberian fir winter ale?