My Yeast Propagation Method

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RdeVjun

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G'day all,
I've put this gallery up overnight, its a series of photos showing how I do my rehydration and starter culture with Schott bottles. (Hope that gallery link works, if not, just go to the Gallery link in the title bar.) Individual photos have an explanation of the step, so run through them one by one for details.
It may not suit everyone to use this method, but it works for me plus I have the equipment. Schott bottles are good for boiling and the lids can handle it too, hence my preference for using them.
Suggestions and questions welcomed!
Cheers, RdeV.
 
Nice pics and description RdeV, but why do you bother with a starter using dried yeast?

Cheers,

Screwy
 
Mainly use this for toucans where a large vigorous starter is well advised. Also, can use non- dried yeast.
Yes, could be uneccessary in a lot of situations, granted.
 
Just a small note, you keep saying sterilization and even mention autoclaving action. Neither of this is happening :) Sterilization needs 'autoclave action', or pressure to reach the required temperaturs (~120C), which you cant acheive in a normal pot with tinfoil. A great method for pitching straight away, but you it wouldn't be a great idea to store for long after following this method.

Another thing, don't worry about the shott bottles imploding, I often pressure cook them with the lid done up so the seal is just touching. Theyre designed to air will escape when they are heated but not come back when they cool. After pressure cooking I leave the lid as is till its cool. Results in a nice whoosh of air rushing in when you open it, assuring you that nothing nasty has been breeding in there creating pressure (in which case there would be no whoosh, or a whoosh outwards).
 
Well done RdeVjun,

A bit of effort went into that I will be giving that a read tonight thanks

Pumpy :)
 
Yep, fair enough and quite a valid point Sammus- its not sterilisation at all and is far from autoclaving, but it is much more than just ordinary sanitisation. I suspect that this is the reason BribieG's 1469 went into the garden bed, and this prompted my original thoughts on producing a pictorial guide and going to the effort. Some folks just might find it useful! ;)
Also, thanks for the tip WRT implosion, I had suspected as much but didn't really want to test it. They are incredibly tough, but I don't really want to test them to their limits. Also, the suction when opening would be a great indicator for a wort infection, what a brilliant idea!

Again, this is probably not your everyday, common garden- variety method for dealing with dried yeast, not by a long shot, but has some utility for yeast farming and propagation from small quantities of innoculant, while also having a commoner application in toucan and high gravity styles that may benefit from an enhanced and/or larger starter. So, folks that are happy with their results from pitching dried yeast (yes, I have been), should have no need to add this layer of complexity and the associated risk of infection. Really, its just another option on the tableau.
 
Great read so far.

In all the discussions of the many different yeast storage techniques out there I've never read about drying/dehydrating yeast (I vaguely recall reading something about descacating yeast together with skim milk, but can't remember where).

Has anyone here attempted to dry their yeast? I'm assuming it is too technically involved to be worth it on a home-brewing scale.
 
I like the fact you have cone to the effort to turn your fermenter black to keep UV out... niice
 
I like the fact you have cone to the effort to turn your fermenter black to keep UV out... niice
Actually, it was an accident, trust me! Just a hand- me- down from my elder brother and even then it was just a handy carboy- sized container. Poxed thing only holds 21 litres, guess its one way to strengthen these brews. Works fine with clingfilm.

So, UV is a big issue? Actually no, please don't answer thar, it'll just distract us or someone will inevitably start taking the p*ss... ;)
 
I like the fact you have cone to the effort to turn your fermenter black to keep UV out... niice

Ain't nothing wrong with a nice retro black plastic fermenter. They're grouse, gutter to gutter.
 
I might spray mine pink... it will go faster!

UV is badddddd... MMmmkaayyyY!
 
Back in the 70s Brigalow fermenters were all black.
 
Back in the 70s Brigalow fermenters were all black.
Ah, now here's someone who knows what he's talking about! The manufacturers die stamp in the bottom is 70s era, it could be that old and could even be a Brigalow. I just can't tell you precisely what the stamp is at the mo', its in the fridge still and the stamp's on the bottom, but I'll ask brother or wait until I move it. Well spotted BribieG!

So, back to UV & beer. I'm no physicist, but wouldn't most plastics in fermenter thicknesses be quite reasonable UV filters? In any case, the fridge they go in would probably be an excellent one besides. I just can't see my beer getting skin cancer or whatever might ail it. (boom boom...)
 
I completely destroyed my veg steamer pan / upper pan with holes in bottle / lid thingo by leaving it on the stove on high full of veg. Of course I was on AHB forum at the time :p . Went out to Target and they wanted a fortune for a simple pan set so I got an electric steamer from ALDI for $39. It doesn't boil the water in the bottom to create the steam, instead there's a little steam generator that injects live steam into the stack and it's pretty fierce. Three tier, I can get two 500 ml Schotts in each level and a 500 ml plus a 1000 ml on the top tier and just let it rip for an hour.

steamer.JPG

Obviously the thing can be dismantled in seconds and just the bottom level used for doing one or two bottles.

Admittedly not autoclaving as such, but if any bug remains alive after an hour I'll take it out and buy it a beer. Also I'm using genuine Schotts so there's nowhere for them to hide in the caps and bottles.

Going to use it tomorrow to culture some yeast cake and also store a couple of hunks of cake for use over the next few weeks but of course not planning on keeping it for months.
 
I completely destroyed my veg steamer pan / upper pan with holes in bottle / lid thingo by leaving it on the stove on high full of veg. Of course I was on AHB forum at the time :p . Went out to Target and they wanted a fortune for a simple pan set so I got an electric steamer from ALDI for $39. It doesn't boil the water in the bottom to create the steam, instead there's a little steam generator that injects live steam into the stack and it's pretty fierce. Three tier, I can get two 500 ml Schotts in each level and a 500 ml plus a 1000 ml on the top tier and just let it rip for an hour.

View attachment 26108

Obviously the thing can be dismantled in seconds and just the bottom level used for doing one or two bottles.

Admittedly not autoclaving as such, but if any bug remains alive after an hour I'll take it out and buy it a beer. Also I'm using genuine Schotts so there's nowhere for them to hide in the caps and bottles.

Going to use it tomorrow to culture some yeast cake and also store a couple of hunks of cake for use over the next few weeks but of course not planning on keeping it for months.
What a brilliant adaptation of a simple bit of kit! I think spousie would shoot me if I tried the same caper in her own fairly new one, I have been eyeing it off for a little while with the same thing in mind as it sure pumps plenty of steam into that stack. And absolutely, anything that can survive through all that steaming has to be more than welcome to my beers!

Did your yeast cake capture work out ok into a Schott? I've done some like that, just crack the lid open every few days to relieve the pressure which inevitably builds up from the continuing fermentation, even when stored in the fridge, as they are for a few weeks.
 
Steamed the bottles and caps for an hour and left them in the steamer to cool down. After racking to crash chilling vessel I liquefied the quite solid yeast cake that was left in the primary fermenter with a kettle of water that had been boiled twice and allowed to cool. Pitched a third of the cake (US-05) into my latest Bribie Lawnmower brew and saved the rest into two Schotties, just starting to settle out as well attenuated but will crack daily. I'll now chill them right down to just above freezing but this will be my last generation and I'll get a new packet next time.

Schott_sample_saved.JPG
 
Steamed the bottles and caps for an hour and left them in the steamer to cool down. After racking to crash chilling vessel I liquefied the quite solid yeast cake that was left in the primary fermenter with a kettle of water that had been boiled twice and allowed to cool. Pitched a third of the cake (US-05) into my latest Bribie Lawnmower brew and saved the rest into two Schotties, just starting to settle out as well attenuated but will crack daily. I'll now chill them right down to just above freezing but this will be my last generation and I'll get a new packet next time.
<snip>
Just brilliant! And so heart- warming to see all of our hard- earned being recycled and out there toiling away while doing productive things so far and wide in the community. I'm doing much the same at the mo with some Notto, should be all squared away in a while & just in time for some Longed- for Ale accidental demolition in front of the telly. ;)

The odd fresh new packet probably won't hurt, makes me seriously wonder about the guy that had grown out 20- odd generations. :blink: Must've been getting a bit funky and weird by that stage, or else he was one fearsome yeast ninja: :ph34r:
 
I take a different tack, i love all you guys recycling, think it's great but i have a different problem. The Italian missus (minister of war) only drinks fizzy water... bottled mineral water to be exact. I tend to think that these bottles must be sterile so i re-use the empties to harvest the trub yeast. I drain the last litre from the fermenter to the now empty 2 litre PET.
Refridgerate overnight, and the yeast drops out. I then either bottle it in a stubbie or wake it up for a new brew...
It's still recycling but i re-use the pets only once and ditch them.
 
Just so long as there's no backwash in those PETs, hey flattop??!! Could end up a shade yyeeuuuccchh! :icon_vomit:

Oh wait, maybe the minister only decants to a glass, like most of us sensible HB folks! :p

In all seriousness, some of the bottled PETs (of sometimes just tapwater) are UVed I thought, so you could be on a winner & makes complete sense to me. Saves fartarsing around with steaming & so forth... but you can't boil up a mini- wort in one!
 
I take a different tack, i love all you guys recycling, think it's great but i have a different problem. The Italian missus (minister of war) only drinks fizzy water... bottled mineral water to be exact. I tend to think that these bottles must be sterile so i re-use the empties to harvest the trub yeast. I drain the last litre from the fermenter to the now empty 2 litre PET.
Refridgerate overnight, and the yeast drops out. I then either bottle it in a stubbie or wake it up for a new brew...
It's still recycling but i re-use the pets only once and ditch them.
G'day all & firstly, sorry to keep banging on about this pet topic of mine, tell me to shut up & zip it if you are getting tired of it...
Just wondering a bit about this process of harvesting yeastcake. When you do it this way flattop, with the half- full 2L PET, when you decant it into smaller bottles, do you resuspend it all? Or do you tip off any of the liquid, or target any particular layer? I've seen a few other articles and posts a while back, but I thought I'd just ask the way you do it, as I'm curious about this whole thing. (Can't you tell?? ;) )

The way I reuse a yeastcake, once the brew is off, is to agitate the last litre or so of a brew to stir up the cake, tip that into a few steamed (then cooled of course) 500ml Schotts (usually I get about 300ml in two or three of them) put them in the fridge and when it comes time to reuse one, I allow it half a day at room temp to wake up and then put it into a 250ml starter in a 500ml bottle.

Now, just to give you an indication of how starters can be manipulated, yesterday I put on a darkish ESB k&b on with a largish and evidently quite vigorous Nottingham starter. On Friday I transferred a brew to secondary and just harvested about 400ml of the Nottingham cake into a Schott. Not much liquid, it was fairly thick like custard, refrigerated it overnight, took it back out yesterday morning and just left it on the bench near the stove to wake up from its brief slumber- I could've left it out overnight, but I wasn't sure when I was going to need it. Anyway, once my starter (300ml + 3tsp malt extract in a 1 litre bottle) had cooled to <30degC, I tipped in the cake and it was bubbling gently within fifteen minutes, but I left it to multiply for about four hours, by which point it was bubbling merrily. So, I pitched it at about 5pm yesterday and by 3am this morning when I got up for a slash, I couldn't help myself and took a peek and to my surprise, even at 18 degC, it has a well- developed krausen, the clingfilm is bulging and gravity is down from 1.044 to 1.038 already. Here's a couple of happy snaps, pretty impressive for just half a day's fermenting, I think you'd agree:
BeserkNottoFerm_Apr09_LowRes.jpg
BeserkNottoKrausen_Apr09_LowRes.jpg
But I do hope that this experiment is still worthwhile taste- wise, I know there are probably a few reasons not to overpitch, but I just couldn't help myself... its worth it, even if just to see the Nottingham going completely beserk! Hmmm, maybe a blowoff tube will have to go on this one and at this rate I could be racking or even bottling it at teatime! :lol:
 
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