Yeast Starter, Yeast Propogation, & Bottle Culturing Part 2

[ENOCK360]

Love the video. I have been reading Yeast by Jamil Zaineshef and Chris White but it always helps to watch somebody show you how its done after reading about it. I would love to see a full video of you stepping up a culture from 10mls to a 2 liter starter.

[AdamCanFly]

Wow! This is a great video! It seems like there is no limit to how deep one can go into this great hobby! I've done 5 all grain brews and I think one of my next steps will be reusing yeast. I'm going to favorite these videos for reference. Thanks for posting them!

[airscrew1]

Good video but maybe next time show some close ups of the petri dishes. I used to culture Mushroom spores and that is far more difficult than culturing yeast. To be honest I'm more sloppy than you when propagating yeast but I never get a bad batch of beer.

[subasavage]

@airscrew1 This is but one of many (infinite?) ways to "skin the cat", as they say. I have had VERY good results with this method so I thought I would share. As with everything in life, this is but a tool you can choose to use, or not, for your practices (YMMV!). Happy brewing.

[Aargh28]

Thanks a lot for posting these videos. I brew a lot of mead and I've been wanting to maintain my own yeast cultures for quite a long time. Your methods put home yeast culturing into reach for a much wider range of people. In my previous lab experience it has always seemed like these procedures couldn't be done without very expensive hoods/storage devices.

[subasavage]

@Aargh28 Many thanks for the kind words! I am certainly honored to be of (albeit small) assistance in promoting excellent fermented beverage production. Cheers!

[JustWonderingHowToDo]

On 4:50 you talked about 'bio'-starter wort. What exactly is this?

When you have fermentation in that little 10 ml tube, how to you step it up to get for example a 2 liter starter.

[subasavage]

@JustWonderingHowToDo Sorry for the confusion, I said "vial" of starter wort (the 10 ml tube). My standard procedure is to let the 10 ml vial sit for 2 days (maybe only 36 hours if you see clear activity). Check for activity by giving it a single shake and then slightly opening the top (careful here - it may try to gush out). From there I go to a 100 ml flask of wort for ~24 hours. Then I step up to a 1 liter flask (volume steps of 10x), again for 24 hours.  Repeat to desired final volume.

[ninjaryder1st]

ahhh, good ole Malassezia fur fur.. environmental contaminant.... u should show us how to make plates and what ingredients you use.

[BCMIke22]

Good stuff. I like how you rolled with the punches.

Would love to see a video on just doing the bottle yeast from start to finish if you're open to the idea.

I've been brewing for almost a year now but have never cultured yeast from a bottle and used it, would love to see it done and how everything is supposed to look and go.

[subasavage]

I would be open to it except I've made an international move (to Chile) and there is NO beer here whose yeast I want to culture. If you are used to doing a yeast starter and know how that starter changes "color" (to cloudy off-white) as more yeast are grown, you can use that same indicator when bottle culturing. Pitch dregs to ~100-200 ml starter wort and leave for 2 days. Then pitch to ~1L and look for the color change. If none, the yeast was not viable, otherwise, you're good to go!

[vincezospepe]

Thanks again. I am brewing with White Labs WLP833 a German Bock. They had suggested starting 2L, I am very unsure of this because I have never used Lager Yeast. Would you be able to explain why its more difuclt to start a "Heaver" beer? the starter I made I think was too heavy. 1.070 which was the O.G. of the wart that I had made for the beer. Thanks for all the help. My friends and I like asking you questions because you are very good at explaining the answers in detail.

[subasavage]

Glad to help (though my opinion is but one - there are others)! My opinion on your next question (some others will disagree) is that a starter should ALWAYS consist of a ~1.040 wort, regardless of the OG of the batch being brewed. The purpose of the starter is to grow yeast...the bigger the OG of the batch, the larger the starter you need because some yeast will succumb to the osmotic pressure and die. No need to stress the yeast before they get into your batch, IMHO. Happy Brewing!

[vincezospepe]

Thanks man that was a great clip. Is it ok to be using about 1.5L as a starter and is it ok to make the starter in the carboy that you are going to be using?

[subasavage]

Well, as an avid believer in using a stir plate to make starters, I think that having a stir plate big enough to accommodate a 5-6 gallon carboy is unlikely. If you have one, run with it. Another consideration is the amount of starter wort that will end up in your beer. I prefer to decant off the starter wort before pitching the yeast. If you are doing 5 gallon batches (~19 L), a 1.5 L starter is almost 10% of your total volume...too much to pitch, in my opinion. Good Luck!

[victorscrt]

What isthe purpse of sterilizing the equiptment?

and what do you use to sterilize ?

Also, what would you add the starter to? would regular off the counter beer work for the purpose of fermentation for its co2 generation?

[Amy31415]

@victorscrt

SteriIizing the equipment is very important because the Iiquids are essentiaIIy a cuIture medium that wiII grow any number of bacteria, yeasts and fungi--if you don't remove these other critters, they'II compete with your brewing yeast and probabIy strangIe it out, and you'II just have a IeveI 3 biohazard in your kitchen instead of beer. :)

[Dakota1Rules]

SHES HOT!!!

[subasavage]

One of the many reasons I married her!!!

[jmyaunch]

Thank you! Very useful!

[jmyaunch]

I would like to see how to go from the starter wort to the primary fermentator. Do I siphon out the starter wort and only pitch the sediment? Do I pitch all of the starter?

[subasavage]

This is more a matter of preference. I prefer to leave the starter in the fridge overnight so most of the yeast settles out and then decant off the starter wort prior to pitching. Since I only do 5 gallon batches, a 2L starter may impact the flavor of the beer (~10% of the total volume) if all was pitched. With larger batches, this is less of a concern. If you're trying to repitch to a stuck fermentation, you'll need to pitch actively fermenting yeast so no decanting! Cheers.

[gabrieltroy]

So you start out with inoculating 10 ml of starter, what are the following volumes you use to build up to the full volume of the starter you want? And for a 10 ml vial of starter, are you just borrowing 10 ml from a larger starter you're using for another brew, or are you actually cooking a small amount of starter for your 10 ml vials?

[subasavage]

I usually follow a 10x step so from 10 ml, I pitch that to 100 ml, and again up to 1000 ml (1L). With the 1L step, I actually break the 10x rule and go to ~1.8 L only because that's what 3 (not quite full) quart jars (minus the break material at the bottom) give me. Just convenient. Also, I pressure cook the wort in the vials (several vials will fit into an empty quart jar in the canner) so that when I'm ready to step up, I have all the sterile starter wort ready to go.

[crazyboy0602]

Culturing on a plate is used when you want to grow a small colony of an organism. Generally it is used in microbiology not in zymurgy. A plate won't keep for very long. You would be better off culturing yeast from a vial/packet/primary/bottle in a starter then putting the wet yeast from the starter in a vial with some water and glycerin. This can be chilled to sub zero Celsius and kept for 1-2+ years.

[subasavage]

There's more than one way to skin a cat. I have tried the glycerin mixture and freezing and it works except I was always skeptical about purity (especially if yeast was harvested). What I've shown is ONE way to do it that works very well for me. I am ensured a pure sample every time. You're free to use whatever method works for you. The slants I show in the video easily last for 1-2 years (I always restreak every year just to be sure). The plates last 6 months easily...to each his own.

[philhead1]

great video, thanks.

don't worry have a homebrew

[jpr12345678]

grest vid

[squintana5]

Thanks for the video. I've brewed 81 batches of homebrew, and have always purchases liquid yeast. However I've heard of slants but never knew how they worked and in my mind, it seemed too complicated to try. But your video shows how easy it can be. Thanks again!

Steve

[deathpr111]

Nice vid bro!

[brichards700]

This is a great video. Nice job in going through every single step of the process. I've seen a lot of videos where they just brush over alot of the procedure. Yours is the best one i've seen so far on this topic.

Cheers

[subasavage]

Your comment is much appreciated! Many thanks!

[gabrieltroy]

Your videos are seriously fantastic, and I was wondering if you or your crew originally learned about yeast culturing from a book?

[subasavage]

Actually, my assistant/fiancee in the videos is a microbiologist who cultures all sorts of stuff (not necessarily yeast) and she has taught me all I know about it. As for beer yeast specific info (i.e., step size when growing up from a single culture), there are very knowledgeable folks that are fermentation scientists on the beer forums (i.e., Homebrew on Northern Brewer forum) and they will help with whatever you need.

[rlange2]

Great vids. When you use the Dregs from the bottle what is the liquid that comes out with the yeast. Just beer that was left behind? Also what happens up to the point that it is used in a starter? Thanks for the great videos.

[subasavage]

The liquid is just the last splash of beer that I left in the bottle. Afterwards, I recommend allowing the yeast to wake up and then streak to a plate and isolate a single colony (step up as described in my other videos). Otherwise, if you are willing to take the greater risk of possible contamination, allow the yeast to wake up and fully ferment the starter wort. Then pitch that into ~500-1000ml of new starter wort. Allow to ferment, decant, then pitch. If big beer, step again to ~2000ml.