I’m making a 2.5 gallon batch and have a white labs vial. I’m half inclined to just pitch the entire vial anyway (though I’ve read most suggest doing a starter instead of straight pitching a vial but that’s another story) but I pitched half. I closed up the vial and put the remainder back in the fridge. I’m new to yeast, but would like to start mixing and keeping strands alive/dormant - previously only used dry yeast packets.
Did I just waste what was left?
Will it just hang out until the expiration date or now that freshness seal is broken it will never be the same? What will happen to it?
I would have just pitched the whole vial. If it was just today I would go ahead and pitch the rest. Then you can call your 2.5 gal batch a starter for the next brew.
You could make a 1L starter and add it. Let it ferment and stick that in the fridge when done. That would keep it healthy. Might be fine as is, not sure about that.
A white labs vial has about enough viable cells to pitch into a 1.030 beer without a starter, assuming the yeast is extremely fresh. So depending on your beer style, you most likely under pitched. By at least half. No sense in being frugal when it comes to yeast. You wouldn’t use half the malt or water or hops for a recipe, would you? Guess what? Yeast is at least 65% the flavor of the beer! Pitch the correct amount everytime. Use This pitching calc as a guide
Thanks for the suggestions. klickitat, I pitched the rest. so, do you just scoop some of it when you’re bottling or switching to secondary? do you keep it in the fridge and feed like sourdough starter? I need to do more research.
mtnrock, making a yeast starter is my next project.
thanks for the link major, I saw folks talking about mr. malty but wasn’t quite sure what it was
There are a few good YouTube videos on washing yeast.
For me it depends on how soon I’m going to use it. If right away I just gather about 200-300ml and pitch. Or I wash and store a week or two then use 100-200ml for a starter
Joe Sr. How many generation is it? I had read somewhere when I first started yeast washing that more then 7 generations old could give you a different yeast aspect. Have you ever found that your strain has changed over time?
You can’t really set a number of reuses. You need to pay attention to what the yeast looks and smells like and how it performed the last time you used it.
A local Brewery here never goes beyond 9 generations. They showed us why with a 15bbl fermenter of their scotch (fermented with WY1968 10th Gen) that was at 1.013 and dropping. They were planning on dumping it because it dropped below their accepted FG of 1.016.
Denny is right on. It doesn’t floc as well as I remember from the first batch, but my recollection could be off. The beer still tastes great and has the same flavor profile. I’ll put gelatin in the keg if necessary. I’ve got to be past six generations, but I haven’t been keeping close track.
This one in particular is Ardennes. My tripel (Golden Monkey Homage, thanks Denny) went from 1.092 to 1.012 so the yeast is performing as I expect and as it has in past generations.
I thought about dumping it and starting with a new smack pack due to the flocculation, but I had an empty Rubbermaid thing and space in the fridge, so I’ve got it to use again.
Nope. Slurry collected from a previous batch. Half a vial would be enough to build up in a starter. I certainly wouldn’t pitch it as is.
I grew up a six month old ESB slurry about a month ago and pitched it into a stout. It rocked along and the beer tastes great. I may actually be seeing greater attenuation in the later generations, but for me that’s just fine as I’m starting with some pretty high OGs and don’t want the beer too sweet.
