Splitting A Smack Pack

[balconybrewer]

hi all,

i am just beginning to deal with the liquid yeast but would like to see a bit more bang for my buck. i have been doing some research on splitting and storing a started but am getting some contradictions, wondering if someone can shead some light on the info???

basically i was intending on doing the following;
1. Smack the pack and allow it to swell as per the directions.
2. Boil up 100g of DME in 1L of water. Leave the lid on and allow to cool
3. Sanitise a 2L PET bottle.
4. Pour in cool wort
5. Pour in your liquid yeast.
6. Add airlock or gladwrap
7. Leave it until fermented out. and yeast flocculated
8. Sanitise 4 stubbies, swirl starter to resuspend the yeast, and pour an equal amount into each stubbie, then cap them.
9. Store the stubbies in the back of refrigerator until you need to use them, then create a starter new starter from each stubbie.


but then i find info like;
"Finished beer is a nutrient-poor waste product to yeast, and forcing it to reside there will cause the viability to drop precipitously (over 50% within 48 hours), no matter how cold it is kept! (http://www.birkocorp.com/brewing/yeast.asp)

can someone please set me straight on this or at least share their practices.

cheers

 

[MCT]

I would transfer from the starter to the stubbies at high krausen, then keep at same temp for a day in the stubbies with glad wrap to get rid of all O2, then cool and cap.
Dunno if this is the best way, but makes sense to me.

 

[goatherder]

Not sure about what you plan to do. It might work but it's not what I do.

I do:

- pressure cook 3 x 30ml polypropylene vials for 15 mins
- prepare a 300ml starter - approx 1:10 DME to water with a pinch of yeast nutrient, boiled for 10-15 mins.
- give the wyeast pack a good shake without breaking the inner package
- cut the top off the wyeast pack
- fill each of the three PP vials with yeasty goodness direct from the pack
- tip the remainder of the pack into the starter. Burst the inner package and add it too.
- put the starter on the stirplate and the vials in the fridge.
- let the starter fire up until there is good visible yeast growth.
- 24 hours before pitching, step the starter up to the final volume required so I can pitch it when it's nice and active.
- resurrect the remaining using the same starter protocol when needed.

 

[mika]

I do the same as you, though I step up to 2x 2L flasks. It's not as far as you should step for maximum yeast growth but it seems to work OK ish. Yes your yeast health will take a dive basically as soon as it's stopped fermenting pretty much no matter what you do. Still, if you fire up a starter for each brew (basically a necessity anyway) there's generally enough yeast to fire up and take off again. It's probably not the healthiest, but IMHO it's still well ahead of a dry yeast (proof to be provided soon !) and won't have a problme fermenting your beer if pitched at the right quantity. I've got some yeast that I built up a year ago and it's not firing real well, so think that could be as far as you can push it.

 

[amiddler]

This question should fit in this forum quite well.

When people talk about stepping up say from 250ml to 500ml, when you go from 250ml to 500ml do you just make up 250ml of wort and add it to the 250ml of "beer" and yeast you already have, or do you make up 500ml pour off the "beer" from the yeast and add your new 500ml.

Just something that has never been clarified.

Drew

 

[Tim F]

When stepping up a starter, I add more wort without pouring any off. I think you'd lose lots of healthy yeast if you decanted any of a starter, unless you chilled it for a fair while first which is kind of against the point of having a starter full of nice healthy active yeast!

To get more life out of smack packs, I prepare 4-5 slants, there's lots of good directions on the net and it's really easy. Then I smack the pack, use a syringe to suck out a tiny bit and add a drop to each slant, and pour the rest of the pack into my starter for the current brew. The slants keep for 3 months easily and I'm pretty confident they will last a lot longer than that.

 

[Sammus]

The OP was asking about splitting yeast the way most people start doing it, not creating slants which is a fair whack more advanced.

Your outlined technique sounds alright ryan, give it a crack, although with that method you want to use your stubbies within a month or two - the reason people start making slants etc.

 

[balconybrewer]

ok sammus so you reckon im pushing it expecting to get any more that a couple of months even if i keep them @ 2-3deg.

how is it so much different from someone culturing yeast from a bottle of coopers that has been in there for 6 months, just a question, i appreciate all the feedback so far.

 

[mika]

I'm not doing slants. 6 months no issues as long as you have a nice amount of yeast in each bottle. As I said, 12 months might be pushing it.

 

[Sammus]

ok sammus so you reckon im pushing it expecting to get any more that a couple of months even if i keep them @ 2-3deg.

Not quite, but if your concerned with pitching rates then its just a bit more hassle the older they get.

how is it so much different from someone culturing yeast from a bottle of coopers that has been in there for 6 months, just a question, i appreciate all the feedback so far.

Not much, the usual method of reculturing coopers yeast (ie pour a stubby or two of sediment into half a L or so of wort and sit for a week) will work, but result in a less than optimal yeast count, whereas following the same process with your stubbies you'll have a significantly better yeast cell count.

I guess after 6 months itll still work yeah, would be better to perhaps decant most of the liquid in the stubby (the yeast will have well and truly settled out after that long. and add 150-200ml of wort. Let it ferment out, then add to 2L of wort for your final step. This same process would probably work better for the coopers thing too.

I used to keep yeast the way you described and noticed longer lag times and slower fermentation after a month or so - the basis for my comment before

 

[Sammus]

I'm not doing slants. 6 months no issues as long as you have a nice amount of yeast in each bottle. As I said, 12 months might be pushing it.

Yeah I was talking more about goatherders post. When someone askes about splitting yeast into stubbies and he comes out with pressure cookers, slants and stir plates it could get a little overwhelming.

edit: just realised goatherder wasn't making slants sorry... but still.. pressure cookers and stir plates still make it sounds more tech than it really needs to be - I do like his method though

 

[Jagungal]

but then i find info like;
"Finished beer is a nutrient-poor waste product to yeast, and forcing it to reside there will cause the viability to drop precipitously (over 50% within 48 hours), no matter how cold it is kept! (http://www.birkocorp.com/brewing/yeast.asp)

can someone please set me straight on this or at least share their practices.

cheers

My understanding of the article is that they are talking about acid washing yeast that comes from the slurry of a finished beer. This is not what you are doing, your starter does not have the alcohol content of a finished beer.

The technique you described will work well, I have used similar on many of my fresh yeasts, often going to a 2 L starter. The only things I do different are adding a bit of nutrient and aeration. The nutrient keeps them healthy and the aeration allows them to multiply. I also let the yeast drop out of suspension and pour off the excess liquid to maximise the yeast per bottle.

 

[hairofthedog]

could you incorporate you starters into you brew day by taking a litre out of your boiler at flame out & split it into 3 stubbies & add a small amount of the yeast for your main brew ?