A few months ago I had a brilliant idea to save yeast cake in medical pee bottles and chill it down and keep in the brew fridge for future use. They are guaranteed sterile when you buy them so no worries. A week ago I brewed a northern UK brown ale and a couple of days before pitching I made up a starter with 2 pee bottles of 1469 West Yorkshire saved from January. Starter bottle was a sanitised 1.5 litre glass bottle plus some boiled LDME, textbook .....
Nothing happened for two days then on day three there was a collection of white 'lily pads' on top of the starter. Great, 1469 is a top cropper so it's waking up.
Pitched, and for the last week there has been frothy scum and bubbles, but no rocky cauliflower head like you get with 1469.
I did a taste test just now. Vinegar.
Tossed it, and the fermenter will be out in the recycling. A fermenter costs the same as a slab of Tooheys anyway so not going to break the bank.
Lessons?
Nothing happened for two days then on day three there was a collection of white 'lily pads' on top of the starter. Great, 1469 is a top cropper so it's waking up.
Pitched, and for the last week there has been frothy scum and bubbles, but no rocky cauliflower head like you get with 1469.
I did a taste test just now. Vinegar.
Tossed it, and the fermenter will be out in the recycling. A fermenter costs the same as a slab of Tooheys anyway so not going to break the bank.
Lessons?
- Nice idea to save dollars by farming yeast
- Great if you are going to strictly use methods such as slants / autoclave etc and you know what you are doing
- Not a good idea to assume that your bottle of saved trub is pure healthy yeast
- Saving a few dollars by reculturing yeast and saving it is probably going to be offset by losing thirty dollars worth of ingredients and in my case thirty dollars worth of equipment as well. You can buy a swag of yeast for sixty bucks.