This is what I do. Works triffically and means you use Gen Zero yeast each time.
Don't smack the smack packs before splitting and you'll fill 4 30ml vials easily
I tend to do 3 or 4 smack packs at once... only takes a few minutes and 12 30 ml vials is much easier to store than half a slab of stubbies
And who's had a friend complain about that really yeasty flat beer at the back of the beer fridge... somehow the same doesn't happen to the yellow lidded vials
Just clarifing what you said about liquid yeast. You grab a smack pack and divide it into 4. (Do you smack it 1st to mix the little satchel, if not what do you do with the satchel?) So you leave them in the fridge in jars as is (how long do you think they will keep?). Then on brew day, you grab 2L of chilled wort. Mix it with the yeast. Drop it into the FV and then the rest of the wort on top. Aeriate.
Does this sound about right?
Here is the thread on the subject
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=45866
I use 30ml sterile plastic vials, they're about 2cm wide.
I have found its better NOT to smack the smack pack. This keeps the yeast cleaner, saves time waiting for the smack pack to fully ferment, and means you get about 25-28mls of yeast etc in each vial, rather than slightly overflowing. The yeast is clearer too.
The little sachets of wort/nutrient can be added to you starter volume.
You make a starter. The problem is you're making a starter with only 25% of the yeast that you normally would, this means if you want to do this you may want to build yourself a stirplate and possiby do a double step starter.
I have splits from smack packs which are approaching 12 months old, they should be fine as long as you build them up properly. I'm currently about to build up a 6 month old vial. This will mean I do a 500ml starter on the stirplate, then add another 1.2L on the stirplate, then chill and decant the spent wort, then stir up the remainder and pitch.
I don't pitch the full starter volume as with a stirplate its heavily oxidized and nasty beer that I don't want in my final beer
Now, I don't start the starter on brewday. It takes a few days to build up the yeast to pitching rates, and as I no-chill, I collect the kettle dregs and strain that to get my starter wort, then more than a few days in advance I build up my yeast in a starter.
Once built up the yeast will keep in a fridge for at least a week. Come fermentation day, i pitch the yeast from that starter
Here I am splitting 3 well-swolen wyeasts into 12 30ml vials. I no longer smack the wyeast packs before splitting.
