Making A Starter From Commercial Beer!

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Adam Pike

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Hey all!!!I have a question! Is it worth making or cultivating yeast from say a coopers pale ale and using it as a starter? Do you benefit on costs and flavours? Will it work well or is it not worth all the trouble?Cheers all,Pikey!
 
thats some excellent use of the search function Pikey...well done.
 
Not only does the coopers yeast work well in Coopers type beers it also works well in all sorts of beers. I've used it in APA's, Bitters, Milds, stouts. Basically anything that you might use an English or American ale strain.
 
Thanks for the reply all!!! I really like coopers and yes I would consider a coopers style beer! Could you do this process with any style beer? Even if there was no sign of sediment in the bottom of the bottle?Thanks for the encouraging words @ yum beer!!! And thanks for the link @ bum!!!Pikey.
 
Thanks for the reply all!!! I really like coopers and yes I would consider a coopers style beer! Could you do this process with any style beer? Even if there was no sign of sediment in the bottom of the bottle?Thanks for the encouraging words @ yum beer!!! And thanks for the link @ bum!!!Pikey.

if it's not a bottle conditioned beer e.g. a filtered beer then there is no yeast left to ranch or such a small amount that your task is impossible.
 
Cheers Gareth!
To all, thanks as well for your input! I'll keep you up to date if I decide to give it a crack and the out come.
Pikey.
 
Most of the bigger brewers we want the yeast from (Coopers excluded) filter their beer then use a different strain for bottle conditioning Little Creatures being one example.
Same applies to most of the great Belgian and German beers (there are some exceptions) so you really want to be careful what you choose a bit of judicious Googling might be called for, over the years I have done rather well with the yeast from Gulden Drack and Coopers, but if you want to spend the time and effort required do your research first.
Mark
 
check out you tube mate, there are a couple of good vids on there about reculturing coopers,
far easier to get your head around it when you can see it happening.



Wasnt having a dig before, its just that normally asking a question that has been asked many times before ends up with a fair amount of digs about
not using the search function, you seem to have survived relatively unscathed.

I have used coopers pale recultured in a little creatures clone and it works a treat and its not too much of a hardship knocking over
a 6'er or a long neck or two.
 
Thanks for the reply all!!! I really like coopers and yes I would consider a coopers style beer! Could you do this process with any style beer? Even if there was no sign of sediment in the bottom of the bottle?Thanks for the encouraging words @ yum beer!!! And thanks for the link @ bum!!!Pikey.

The other thing to know is that companies such as wyeast and whitelabs both have heaps of specialist yeast strains. You can get the right yeast for any job (including Coopers) and you dont have to try culturing up from what may be a really low cell count to start with. There are plenty of threads here regarding splitting wyeast packs etc. A pack will be $10 -$15 and I split them 3 ways from new. Culture 1/3 up to the right amount to pitch into my brew volume and have 2 fresh ones for the next two brews. For the $3 to $5 per brew, I dont bother with harvesting from bottles or dregs from fermenters anymore. There is a cost in making the starter, but no matter where you get your original yeast from, the cost is still there.
Only time there isnt a significant cost is taking a cup of slurry and pitching straight into the next batch. I rarely make the same beer twice, so this isnt something I do either.

Anyway, read, read, read and work out what you think will work for you. My tip is though, if you like a certain beer and want to clone it, try to find out the yeast strain they use, (its probably been covered here) then buy it as a vial or smack pack and start fresh. Far easier.

mckenry
 
The other thing to know is that companies such as wyeast and whitelabs both have heaps of specialist yeast strains. You can get the right yeast for any job (including Coopers) and you dont have to try culturing up from what may be a really low cell count to start with. There are plenty of threads here regarding splitting wyeast packs etc. A pack will be $10 -$15 and I split them 3 ways from new. Culture 1/3 up to the right amount to pitch into my brew volume and have 2 fresh ones for the next two brews. For the $3 to $5 per brew, I dont bother with harvesting from bottles or dregs from fermenters anymore. There is a cost in making the starter, but no matter where you get your original yeast from, the cost is still there.
Only time there isnt a significant cost is taking a cup of slurry and pitching straight into the next batch. I rarely make the same beer twice, so this isnt something I do either.

Anyway, read, read, read and work out what you think will work for you. My tip is though, if you like a certain beer and want to clone it, try to find out the yeast strain they use, (its probably been covered here) then buy it as a vial or smack pack and start fresh. Far easier.

mckenry

Cheers mckenryThanks for the input mate! Question answered!
Adam
 
check out you tube mate, there are a couple of good vids on there about reculturing coopers,
far easier to get your head around it when you can see it happening.



Wasnt having a dig before, its just that normally asking a question that has been asked many times before ends up with a fair amount of digs about
not using the search function, you seem to have survived relatively unscathed.

I have used coopers pale recultured in a little creatures clone and it works a treat and its not too much of a hardship knocking over
a 6'er or a long neck or two.
No offence taken mate. I'd actually found out that this could be done from other Internet sites ,not AHB in general!I shall now not bother with other sites and stick to the AHB search function in the future!
CheersPikey
 
Make sure you use the google option when you search AHB. The default search sucks ass.

Absolutely, I usually go back to Google and use my search with AHB attached (Coopers+Yeast+Reculture+AHB). Only been flamed once for not searching - even though I searched :lol:

As for the Coopers yeast, it's easy to reculture - and you get to drink a 6 pack of Coopers! Win/Win!
 
Absolutely, I usually go back to Google and use my search with AHB attached (Coopers+Yeast+Reculture+AHB). Only been flamed once for not searching - even though I searched :lol:

As for the Coopers yeast, it's easy to re culture - and you get to drink a 6 pack of Coopers! Win/Win!

I do this all the time when I make my Coopers Pale Ale, I normally do it to make the mega-swill drinkers a little happier and I don't mind it being on tap for a session beer. I usually buy the long necks tho, I find them really good to bottle in and at the local bottle shop I can normally find them at $4 a long neck.
 
I do this all the time when I make my Coopers Pale Ale, I normally do it to make the mega-swill drinkers a little happier and I don't mind it being on tap for a session beer. I usually buy the long necks tho, I find them really good to bottle in and at the local bottle shop I can normally find them at $4 a long neck.

Cheers mate!Thanks for the advise!!!Pikey.
 
And you can reuse the bottles (if you are bottler), the stubbies are twist top!
 
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