Yeast Farming

[wide eyed and legless]

I am going to try to get more of the Angel yeast from China really impressed with what I have trialed recently but I will try my utmost to get their full range. Good idea to have a yeast bank from members to draw from. Reminds me of this.

 

[Tony121]

Been yeast farming for quite a while now just to keep a good supply on hand at any one time however my brother regularly visits the US and is able to bring back some ore obscure yeasts for me, so this should be very interesting.

My question relates to the Kveik yeasts. I've just got a vial of Sigmund Voss that I am going to grow up and split into a fair few vials for short and longer term storage. Kveik usually likes to run very warm, but I can only really find information pertaining to using it for a ferment in a beer. Would I need to keep it up in the higher temperature range of things for farming purposes or the standard room temp will be ok? I'm guessing that because I'm not after any flavours etc from the yeast, just for it to grow, the temperature wont be as critical?

Also - suggestions for any interesting yeasts for my bro to bring back would be welcomed. Also keen to swap a few different types in the near future if anyone wants to get a yeast grow/swap setup. I'm in Brisbane.

Cheers

gloveski has done a lot of work on this yeast, albeit on an alternate forum. Can’t link but a search with a c b should bear fruit.

 

[eviljesus]

gloveski has done a lot of work on this yeast, albeit on an alternate forum. Can’t link but a search with a c b should bear fruit.

Thanks mate I will have a look!

 

[devoutharpist]

Going to have my first crack at harvesting some yeast off a brew.

What sort of brews does everyone harvest from? From what i understand, you want low gravity (under 1.050 or is that even too much?) and something that isn't hoppy? I am planning to do a best/strong bitter to build up some stocks of London III.

Gonna be fun getting it out of the snubnose...

 

[Weizguy]

Going to have my first crack at harvesting some yeast off a brew.

What sort of brews does everyone harvest from? From what i understand, you want low gravity (under 1.050 or is that even too much?) and something that isn't hoppy? I am planning to do a best/strong bitter to build up some stocks of London III.

Gonna be fun getting it out of the snubnose...

I harvest/recover yeast from bottled homebrew. Also Coopers Vintage, Coopers Pale and various British ales.

 

[Yobbo]

Been yeast farming for quite a while now just to keep a good supply on hand at any one time however my brother regularly visits the US and is able to bring back some ore obscure yeasts for me, so this should be very interesting.

My question relates to the Kveik yeasts. I've just got a vial of Sigmund Voss that I am going to grow up and split into a fair few vials for short and longer term storage. Kveik usually likes to run very warm, but I can only really find information pertaining to using it for a ferment in a beer. Would I need to keep it up in the higher temperature range of things for farming purposes or the standard room temp will be ok? I'm guessing that because I'm not after any flavours etc from the yeast, just for it to grow, the temperature wont be as critical?

Also - suggestions for any interesting yeasts for my bro to bring back would be welcomed. Also keen to swap a few different types in the near future if anyone wants to get a yeast grow/swap setup. I'm in Brisbane.

Cheers

Surprised you didn't get more engagement with this, I've got tons of yeast but none of that kveik yeast as yet...

Any melbourne peeps got some? I may have time to put a batch down in the next month, I'd live to grow and store some regardless

 

[Grmblz]

Surprised you didn't get more engagement with this, I've got tons of yeast but none of that kveik yeast as yet...

Any melbourne peeps got some? I may have time to put a batch down in the next month, I'd live to grow and store some regardless

I've got kviek king, Voss, and Loki. High temp's for a real citrusy (think mandarin) flavour, and low temp's for a more neutral effect. At high temp's (35c) it ferments like a beast, done in 3 to 4 days but low temp's more like 8 to 9 days (1050 to 1065 og) Traditional harvesting is done at high krausen, taken from the foam on the top and dried, but sludge dried out on paper towels seems to work just as well although it may change after several generations whereas the traditional method seems to keep the strain intact. My sludge drying has included hops in the mix (50 to 75 gms pellets 23 ltr) and hasn't seemed to make any difference, although it's early days generational wise. The real beauty of the kviek's is you just dry it out to store, no messing about with glycerine, preforms and freezers. Sorry Yobbo I'm NSW far South coast

 

[hotwaterpls]

Been yeast farming for quite a while now just to keep a good supply on hand at any one time however my brother regularly visits the US and is able to bring back some ore obscure yeasts for me, so this should be very interesting.

My question relates to the Kveik yeasts. I've just got a vial of Sigmund Voss that I am going to grow up and split into a fair few vials for short and longer term storage. Kveik usually likes to run very warm, but I can only really find information pertaining to using it for a ferment in a beer. Would I need to keep it up in the higher temperature range of things for farming purposes or the standard room temp will be ok? I'm guessing that because I'm not after any flavours etc from the yeast, just for it to grow, the temperature wont be as critical?

Also - suggestions for any interesting yeasts for my bro to bring back would be welcomed. Also keen to swap a few different types in the near future if anyone wants to get a yeast grow/swap setup. I'm in Brisbane.

Cheers

How'd you go with the Kveik harvesting @eviljesus ? Also in Brissie (north west) - don't have a lot of space (or any experience, yet) for harvesting yeast but would be interested to try out the kveik if you managed to harvest. Also interested to know what kind of yeasts you're getting from the US! Pretty new to it all but trying to be a sponge and absorb as much as I can.

 

[trustyrusty]

My first attempt.. done all the yeast washing... I had 6 jars and a 500 ml bottle. Let everything settle for an hour or 2. Tipped out top fluid, tipped 3 jars into each other, topped up 2 farms with 500 ml. 6th jar had a bit over, kept for a test. This morning I took the half jar chuck some sugar and warm water... looks like it’s working... would the one jar be enough for a 23 l batch? See photos, I think they are 200 ml.

 

[trustyrusty]

My first attempt.. done all the yeast washing... I had 6 jars and a 500 ml bottle. Let everything settle for an hour or 2. Tipped out top fluid, tipped 3 jars into each other, topped up 2 farms with 500 ml. 6th jar had a bit over, kept for a test. This morning I took the half jar chuck some sugar and warm water... looks like it’s working... would the one jar be enough for a 23 l batch? See photos, I think they are 200 ml. View attachment 118220. Don’t know why post is duplicated, can admin delete one..

 

[Dingerb]

Hi guys.

Just a quick noobie question......

I've been brewing beer and wine for quite a few years, but never tried yeast washing/harvesting.
Closest I've got, is to syphon off the fermented beer and use the yeast/trub left in the fermenter straight into a new brew.
That worked fine, but I'm now in the situation where I can't always brew straight away due to work commitments

I usually just use a new packet of dry yeast/ or the odd smack pack each time I brew

So my question is......

Once I've done the initial washing as described at the very beginning of this thread, could I then transfer to test tubes for storage?

Would there be enough yeast in test tubes to make a small starter and then follow the usual process building up to a larger volume starter?

Regards

Davie

 

[The Mack]

Once I've done the initial washing as described at the very beginning of this thread, could I then transfer to test tubes for storage?

Would there be enough yeast in test tubes to make a small starter and then follow the usual process building up to a larger volume starter?

Yes absolutely, I generally store them in larger amounts than test tubes- say specimen jars of 50- 60 mL volume. Up to 6 months in the fridge 1st step is usually a 500mL starter and the yeast from that into a 3L starter.

Of course there's always the option of over-building your initial starter from the smack pack and splitting from that, in many ways that method lets you keep the yeast conditions pretty similar across generations (help to reduce genetic drift as the wort is always 1.040 at the approx same growth temperatures) but is not as cost effective as harvesting post ferment if that is your goal.

 

[Dingerb]

Hi Mack,
The test tube ideas was more to do with storage space in my fridge than anything else.

I'll probably just source small jars and do it as suggested.

regards

Dave

 

[Grmblz]

Hi Mack,
The test tube ideas was more to do with storage space in my fridge than anything else.

I'll probably just source small jars and do it as suggested.

regards

Dave

If you have spare freezer space look into freezing using glycol.