Pitched 2 1/2 month old yeast with no starter

[andyisavinit]

As per title I pitched 2 1/2 month old yeast with no starter. It was a last minute brew decision and I didn't have time to do a starter.

It was wlp007. 1 1/2 days in and absolutely no sign of action. It was about 1/4 of a mug of yeast. So if 50% is dead that's not much. But regardless of quantity (under pitching), will the yeast eventually do something?

Do you think I should sit tight for a bit longer or pitch dry yeast now?

[Jocky]

It should get somewhere but really that depends upon how you originally cropped it and how it was stored.

[IPA]

Patience is a virtue etc. Don't do anything until three days have past. If it starts into life eventually just pray that the wort has not become infected during the wait.

[andyisavinit]

Last night i turned the temp up by 1.5 degrees then this morning still no activity so i gave it a gentle stir. I couldn't resist touching it.

Last time i had a non starting batch (3 days) my wort got infected.

So fingers crossed.

[andyisavinit]

Well I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats to find out what happened.

I'm very excited and very pleased to report that I have a good fermentation occurring. As per usual..rdwhahb.

Just hope it didn't get infected during that 2 day lag.

So another question. Will the yeast be worth harvesting from this batch? As it hasn't had an easy life.

[IPA]

Well I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats to find out what happened.

I'm very excited and very pleased to report that I have a good fermentation occurring. As per usual..rdwhahb.

Just hope it didn't get infected during that 2 day lag.

So another question. Will the yeast be worth harvesting from this batch? As it hasn't had an easy life.

Next time you want save yeast give this method a try. Last week I woke up a sample that was two years old.

36 Hours into the ferment I clear a space in the krausen and remove 500 ml to a sanitised plastic bottle.

I loosely fit the cap and let fermentation proceed normaly. when fermentation has halted I tighten the cap and store it in the fridge.

As you can see there is a nice clean deposit of yeast on the bottom of the bottle. The reason I leave it 36 hours before removing the fermenting beer is that I find you get a much cleaner yeast deposit.
When want to make my next starter I pour most of the beer into a glass for quality control purposes to make sure this is no infection. That is to say I drink it

I then swirl the remaining beer to dislodge the yeast and added it to my starter flask. 12 hours later it looks like this.

I have successfully re-used the same yeast for more than 18 months and more than 12 brews using this method.[

[micmacmoc]

Pleased your brew went well andyisavinit!
Really nice easy to use "how to" IPA! Thanks.
I have some old school milk bottles that wine bubblers fit quite nicely. If I did this and kept it in my brew fridge would it last a month or two?

[alexlark]

IPA, large syringe ordered from eBay so I can follow the same method.

[IPA]

Pleased your brew went well andyisavinit!
Really nice easy to use "how to" IPA! Thanks.
I have some old school milk bottles that wine bubblers fit quite nicely. If I did this and kept it in my brew fridge would it last a month or two?

If you use the old fizzy water bottles as I described you can tighten/loosen the cap as necessary when fermentation slows and then fully tighten when it has stopped. Actually towards the end I loosely tighten to allow excess co2 to escape and then fully tighten. That way you get to drink the beer that you would normally throw down the sink before using the yeast for a starter. Incidentally the first thing I do when bottling or barreling is to fill one of these bottles with the beer and a simple squeeze test will indicate how carbonation is progressing.

[BenB]

I'm curious- do you pitch the starter direct into 2L or step-up?

[IPA]

I'm curious- do you pitch the starter direct into 2L or step-up?

My brew length is 50 litres and I pitch the yeast into 1200 ml in a two litre flask. If it is over 12 months old then it's 500 ml and then 1200 ml.

[rpt]

IPA, large syringe ordered from eBay so I can follow the same method.

What size syringe have you ordered?

[alexlark]

100ml from China. Had it back on the weekend. Big enough to fill a small PET without too much fuss. I've also ordered a few feet of narrow silicone tube for 99p. Might try extracting wort through the air lock hole without removing the FV lid.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182474869035

[Kingfisher4]

I'm curious- do you pitch the starter direct into 2L or step-up?

My brew length is 50 litres and I pitch the yeast into 1200 ml in a two litre flask. If it is over 12 months old then it's 500 ml and then 1200 ml.

Hi IPA,
About to order my 1st liquid yeast and use your method above. Some practical advice for these basic questions would be great:

For a brew length of 25 litres, I assume a 600ml starter would suffice, should I get a 1 or 2 litre Erlenmeyer?

For the starter; is a malt extract solution best and what ratio of extract:boiled water do you suggest? I've seen some people freeze then defrost wort from previous brews as a starter solution.

I have a Grainfather conical so could take a sample of the actively fermenting yeasty 3 day wort directly from the sample port at the conical base (it takes it from above the 1 litre true / yeast dead space); i guess this would be the equivalent of you moving krausen and syringing a top sample from the fermentation vessel?

Many thanks.

[guypettigrew]

It's only what I do, but it works for me:

• Buy a 2 litre Erlenmyer flask

• put 115g of light dried malt extract into a litre of water in the flask and boil it on the hob for 10 minutes. You'll need to swirl it about a lot as it comes to the boil, then boil on a low heat. Or you'll get a really messy boil over!

• Put the flask in a sink full of cold water, with loads of ice if possible. The advantage of an Erlenmeyer flask is it can go straight from boiling on the hob into ice cold water without breaking

• Cool to about 25°C and add the yeast. Shake frequently, or use a stir plate. A couple of days later you'll have loads of yeast.

• Cool the flask to 12°C or below. The yeast will drop out. On brewday tip the spent liquid off the top of the yeast and pitch the sediment into your brew.

Good luck.

Guy