• Welcome to National Homebrew Club Ireland. Please login or sign up.
March 28, 2024, 08:26:52 PM

News:

Want to Join up ? Simply follow the instructions here
Not a forum user? Now you can join the discussion on Discord


Whitelabs WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast

Started by DCLavs, October 19, 2014, 08:41:17 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

DCLavs

Have never used this before (only ever done kits with dried yeast) but purchased a vial for my first BIAB which will be a stout...if I make a starter can I refill the vial with some of this to be used for another brew or would I be better washing (which I've never done before) and recovering yeast?

Tom

I use sterilised lucozade pop bottles to store the used yeast in, as it fits a rubber bung and airlock nicely. But yes, in short,  you can do what you just asked. Take care sanitizing, and try and get the middle layer of creamy yeast (or just funnel loads of whatever yeast in to your lucozade bottle.

Remember, whitelabs yeast club is a nice Brucey Bonus, and you're 2.5% of the way to a free vial!
http://www.whitelabs.com/customerclub

DCLavs

Cheers Tom.

Can I take some of the yeast starter though and put that into the vial for future use?I've read up on washing the yeast after use but wondering if I can store some from the starter before I pitch?

Tom

Only if you've built up a starter large enough to pitch AND to store (as in, twice the size minimum).

This is a whole new kettle of frogs, to be honest. Start with Yeast by Zainasheff and White (book), then ask Bubbles for some yeast culturing stuff! This is definately where it starts getting fun, anyway. But I've definately run my course, as far as advice is concerned!

So, will we be sampling this stout at the next MCB meet? ;)

Drum

Quote from: DCLavs on October 20, 2014, 11:30:50 PM
Cheers Tom.

Can I take some of the yeast starter though and put that into the vial for future use?I've read up on washing the yeast after use but wondering if I can store some from the starter before I pitch?

Yes you can store some of your starter for future propagation, just make sure you sterilise the container you are going to store the yeast in. I usually harvest some trub when im transferring to secondary or bottling and put it in a sterile bottle or mayo jar (boiled to sterilise).

Saving a small portion of your original starter from a fresh vial is probably a good idea as it reduces the risk of contamination of the yeast during the rest of the process. But if you only save a small portion you will have to do a few progressive starters to have enough yeast for your next batch. the fewer yeast cells you have to culture from, the longer it will take to grow enough to ferment a batch. But yes it can be done easily enough, you can grow all the yeast you'll ever need from a single cell if you really want to.

DCLavs

Quote from: Tom on October 20, 2014, 11:57:56 PM
Only if you've built up a starter large enough to pitch AND to store (as in, twice the size minimum).

This is a whole new kettle of frogs, to be honest. Start with Yeast by Zainasheff and White (book), then ask Bubbles for some yeast culturing stuff! This is definately where it starts getting fun, anyway. But I've definately run my course, as far as advice is concerned!

So, will we be sampling this stout at the next MCB meet? ;)

:) if it passes my quality control Tom then no bother.Thanks.

Cheers Drum for the info.

DCLavs

Interesting read here: http://www.woodlandbrew.com/2012/12/yeast-washing-exposed.html

Seems like he's saying to skip the clean and just pitch the slurry.