Old pickle, mustard jars for yeast

[trustyrusty]

Hi There, I have old colmans mustard jars, jam jars....etc The lids fit well, and when originally opened they have the click, so must be pretty tight. Has anyone used for yeast washing, harvesting. Mason Jars are not that cheap because of the postage - With postage they are about $5.00 each - not a lot but when I have something that I think will so the job - why not? - although I see BW have some jars (not mason but screw top preserve jars) - I might pop down there. Is there a reason that mason jars have the separate lid. I guess it could be cleaning purposes. Anyhow I put have them through dishwasher a few times each time we have a wash and there is space. And I will do a final hot wash before use. My plan is to also have some aluminum foil on as extra seal, and separation from the lid too? I cannot see an issue but maybe there is...

Just found these, pretty cheap I guess. I wonder if you use with gald wrap too, to make sure of seal.

Ball Quilted Crystal Jelly Jars 8 oz. 12 Pack

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/house-home-jam-jar-6-pack/p/608767/

 

[trustyrusty]

This is the idea I had, think it makes a good seal..

 

[MHB]

I would invest in a couple of 500-1000mL Lab bottles like Schott bottles, made of Pyrex have autoclavable caps...
Way stronger than jam jars, much better heating and cooling resistance and these days there are pretty reasonable knockoff Chinese versions available for $5-10 through some on line home brew shops.
Mark

 

[trustyrusty]

Thanks - so would that be be less yeast washing with 1000ml or 500ml - not as many transfers, because if you have a litre that you could drain the top fluid off once been in the fridge and settled, that should be enough for a batch?

 

[trustyrusty]

mmm what I saw, no knock offs, $39.00 for 1000ml.

 

[MHB]

We have different ideas on how to treat yeast but any how.
Keg King 1000mL Borosilicate... $8.95
KegLand apparently coming soon
Mark

 

[Vini2ton]

I wouldn't worry about the tin-foil. If the seals are good you'll be right. Have you got a pressure cooker for sterilization of water? I have ball jars for storing yeast for a few weeks or what ever, I gave up washing. Fastidious sanitation is essential. I tip 500ml of water from the pressure sanitised water on the yeast cake, stir it up and pour back into the 500ml jar. Then I lightly screw the lid back on so it can vent and place in in a sealed zippy-bag with a liberal spray of phos-acid sanitiser. I woke up a yeast after 48 months, stepped-up with brilliant results. Washing yeast gave me the red-hots in the end.

 

[trustyrusty]

Thanks MHB those bottles look the same that were 39.00.

@Vini2ton I have a few champagne bottles with good lids. I’m think that if chuck in 2 Lt of water after batch finished.. should give me about 4 bottles. I’m sure 1 bottle will give enough for a good starter.... after tipping off all the top liquid after settled in fridge? Or after a couple weeks I make 4 bottles to 2? Thanks

 

[Vini2ton]

Pressure cooker. Starter wort and water. Read up about pasteurisation and such. But what ever you do, don't start a thread about botulism. Ball jars. The look on the lady's face at big W when she asked what they were for. Bunnings, " Do you have hole-saws?"

 

[mongey]

Is this for short term storing?
I use whatever jar we have. Make sure its clean. Dip it all in sanitizer, for a bit then scoop out slurry ,top up with cool boiled water if necessary and chuck it in fridge for next use.

have kept yeast for Over a month an re used with no issues.

 

[trustyrusty]

Yep probably till next brew or after... kind of makes sense, a fair percentage of it is yeast ....

 

[Wolfman1]

Spotlight ball jars for about $20 for a 6 pack. Easy to boil all the bits for 15 mins and I’ve not had a problem with bring back yeast a year old

 

[mongey]

Yep probably till next brew or after... kind of makes sense, a fair percentage of it is yeast ....

The slurry is mostly of yeast. After 24 hours in the jar in the fridge the yeast and beer seperate and it’s easy to tip off the old beer and only have the yeast when pitching

 

[MHB]

Slurry is generally thought to be 40-60% yeast and not all of that being yeast you really want to reuse.
If I was looking to crop yeast and not working in a CCV (which makes it a lot easier) I would rack the beer after 2-3 days to get off the trub (any hot/cold break, hop debris and dead yeast), rack again about a day after reaching FG and before cold conditioning if that is what you do before packaging.
The slurry collected from the main ferment will be much richer in yeast (>80%) and wont have much of the small/thin yeast that is not best for re pitching, as it tends to be less flocculant and more prone to over attenuation.

Before setting of yeast storing here a couple of good links that are well worth a read.
The advantage of Pyrex bottles outweighs the small savings you can get buying jam jars or the like. Loose one brew or even a jar or two of yeast and you are well ahead.
Mark

Wyeast Yeast harvesting....
Escarpment Laboratories A Practical guide to yeast harvesting ( bit more for Pro brewers or those with CCV's)