Starters, Slants, Propagation, What The..? A Bit Lost!

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JulieRush

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hi all. I'm a little confused and I think it's a case of information overload. Not sure if this is in the right place or not... feel free to move if it isn't!

I have recently switched to all-grain, and have been brewing small batches (around 10 litres, scaled using BrewMate) to get into the right practices, and also to give me an excuse to brew more beers more often.

My first AG was a kolsch and it's bottle conditioning - if I can leave it alone! - and my second, an IPA, has now been sitting in primary for 7 days. I'm completely hooked and I don't think I'll go back to kit and extract brewing as it's heaps of fun on brew day creating beer (and I love the smells!!).

The next brew is going to be a weizen, again a 10 litre batch, and I've got a nice activator "smack" pack of Wyeast 3068 to pitch.

I know the pack is optimised for a 5 gallon/23 litre batch. I would like some banana flavours through so will try not to over-pitch, but I was looking for some advice on the best approach.

From an under-pitching perspective I'm thinking about 1/3rd of the pack will be fine in a 10 litre batch. But I'm a bit stuck as to the best approach to split it. All my other beers have been done using dried yeast, and only the last few have used anythign other than what's under the lid on the can of gloop.

Do I smack the pack, wait til it expands then just divide what is in there by 3, pouring 1/3rd into the fermenter and saving the other 2/3rds in stubbies? Or is there anything different I should do?

I've read that some people split the liquid yeast into 6 test tubes using a syringe, others build starters up etc. I've never made a starter before and I've never used liquid yeast before. I've been trying to look at the best options but there's an awful lot of information out there and for a noob like myself it's really difficult sometimes to filter out the stuff that isn't applicable or heed the stuff that is.

The other option I was toying with is making a second 10l batch straight after, and smacking the pack as normal then dividing it across two fermenters at the same time for pitching. Although I think two brews on one day may be pushing it a little for me... maybe... (but I'm open to suggestion to a fairly straightforward AG suggestion for the 3068!)

any thoughts or suggestions on splitting or saving etc the remaining yeasties? If I recall the pack wasn't cheap so I'd rather not waste any of it (I'm a tight-arse! lol!)

any suggestions or help would be most appreciated!

cheers!

Darren
 
Welcome Darren. The link is to a thread by one of our Mods, Batz.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...splitting+yeast
It will give you a good idea on splitting your yeast and storing the residual yeast. Make sure you are happy with your sanitation procedures when handling yeast. No need to smack the pack if splitting your yeast, using the calculator at Mr Malty.com will help you work out how much of your pack to pitch into 10 lts. :D
 
cheers Razz... I'll go have a read :)

my brain's been spinning with all the various info bits on this subject!
 
The next brew is going to be a weizen, again a 10 litre batch, and I've got a nice activator "smack" pack of Wyeast 3068 to pitch.

I know the pack is optimised for a 5 gallon/23 litre batch. I would like some banana flavours through so will try not to over-pitch, but I was looking for some advice on the best approach.

From an under-pitching perspective I'm thinking about 1/3rd of the pack will be fine in a 10 litre batch. But I'm a bit stuck as to the best approach to split it. All my other beers have been done using dried yeast, and only the last few have used anythign other than what's under the lid on the can of gloop.

Do I smack the pack, wait til it expands then just divide what is in there by 3, pouring 1/3rd into the fermenter and saving the other 2/3rds in stubbies? Or is there anything different I should do?

I've read that some people split the liquid yeast into 6 test tubes using a syringe, others build starters up etc. I've never made a starter before and I've never used liquid yeast before. I've been trying to look at the best options but there's an awful lot of information out there and for a noob like myself it's really difficult sometimes to filter out the stuff that isn't applicable or heed the stuff that is.

The other option I was toying with is making a second 10l batch straight after, and smacking the pack as normal then dividing it across two fermenters at the same time for pitching. Although I think two brews on one day may be pushing it a little for me... maybe... (but I'm open to suggestion to a fairly straightforward AG suggestion for the 3068!)

any thoughts or suggestions on splitting or saving etc the remaining yeasties? If I recall the pack wasn't cheap so I'd rather not waste any of it (I'm a tight-arse! lol!)
I think you'll find that the yeast is fine to pitch directly into a 5 gallon batch, but that's equal to a little under 19L, if you are working on 23L batches most people use a starter or accept they will under pitch a little.

As for the rest ... many questions, and probably as many valid and useful answers too, what is best for you, however, mostly depends on your setup and equipment.

My preference is to store the yeast as soon as possible, in its 'virgin' or 'generation 0' state, fresh from the manufacturer. That way - in theory - there is less chance of contamination, mutation or changes in the yeast. It does however require small test-tubes or vials which you may or may not have. Some people find it easier to make a starter and then split and store it, because they most likely already have suitable sized beer-bottles to store the yeast in that way.

If you plan to make similar consecutive beers, re-using the yeast is a very good choice, it's been suggested that the yeast is not at 'its best' until it has been repitched 2 or 3 times. Washing the yeast in cooled boiled water (or distilled water) would be a a very good idea, since it will remove any unwanted hop or break material and other debris, and allow you to re-pitch only healthy and active yeast.

However - so if you were able - you'd get the best results from the yeast by top-cropping it, and either re-pitching it directly or storing the harvested top-cropped yeast.

Carefully washed yeast, stored under water, should keep for quite some time, mostly it depends if you wish to save and store enough to pitch directly, or if you will be creating a starter. I've got some washed-yeast in the fridge that has been there more than a year, and it still looks the same, and even after 8-9months the was still very active when a starter was made with it. The same should be true of saving the remaining yeast from your smacked-pack, decant the remaining yeasty-mixture into a sterilized bottle or suitable container and store it in the fridge if you can't use it immediately.

For the moment, I'd suggest you think about splitting packs when you open them (which might involve purchasing some small vials or test tubes) and learning about starters, or if you don't want to spend a few $ on vials, make a starter and then split the starter into a number of stubbies and store those to save the yeast and re-use it another time.
 
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