Most Useful Liquid Yeast Strains
Since I don't have a local homebrew shop I'd like to make my online orders as efficent as possible. As I've decided that I should really harvest my yeast I'd like to know what everyone thinks are the 3-4 most useful liquid yeast strains. I think I'd really like to get a vial of the Pacman yeast, and probably a Hefe yeast. What else is there out there that you can't really get in dry form for way cheaper?
I've only ever found around 5 types of dry yeast, whereas, there are DOZENS of liquid yeast. Both Wyeast and White Labs make some excellent yeast.
1056, 1275, 1098, 1318, 2565, 1007, 1010, and the whole White Labs line.
Seriously, the best way to find out what yeast you like is to try several. I have about 10 types sitting in my fridge at any given time. I also have charts for both manufacturer on my wall, so when I'm making a recipe, I can determine exact what I want. Sweet, malty, dry finish, high flocculating...
Dry yeast is good for cheap, but limited selection. I would shell out the $5-7 and get liquid. You can reuse it several times by making a starter, bringing costs down to about $1.50 per use.
I use a lot of British and Hefeweizen yeast myself. At one point, I had 2 fruit beers, hefeweizen, amber, and something else I forget all kegged. It's nice to have selection.
Speaking of which, I need to brew again. Haven't done any in a month.
Nice, I think I'm going to pick up a couple mason jars. Do you usually make a starter and harvest yeast from that or just grab the stuff at the bottom of the primary?
After I rack each beer out of primary, I usually have 1 to 1 1/2 mason jars worth of slurry (or yeast cake as it is sometimes called).
I pour the slurry into jars and label the type of yeast, date, and how many uses.
I have made starters on brew days, but there is no extra yeast cells since I only give it a few hours. You really need to give it 2-5 days.
My method is to take 1 qt of water per mason jar, 1 cup of DME (light, wheat, amber, whatever), boil that for 15 minutes, the last 5 minutes I add yeast energizer, cool it down, store it (now using 2 or 3 mason jars), and use it that day or let it sit and colonize to create more yeast cells.
Saves me plenty of money and gives the beer more alcohol since I now have more yeast.
As stated previously, I can't express it enough, how important it is to use a starter. I use 1/2 gallon growlers and an airlock. Within 24-48 hours, they're at high krausen...just swirl and dump into the primary.
As for reusing the yeast...there'll sure be a whole lot more yeast cake to use after using a starter. And old White Labs vials are great for storage as well.
I guess the point we are making here is that you don't HAVE to make a starter. It is not mandatory. However, it is a good idea. I held off because it seemed mysterious.
Making a starter is SUPER EASY as I described. With a starter, your beer usually starts fermenting faster (I've heard of 2 hours), and you should get more alcohol out of it. Also, reusing your yeast is really going to save you some money. It's just like making beer. The initial equipment costs more, but depending on how often and how much you brew, you definitely make that back, and then some!
Also, you can make a starter with the yeast you just bought. You don't have to salvage it. If you just bought a smack pack, that can be used in conjunction with the DME to make it. Once that has fermented and you have a yeast cake, now you have that much more yeast!
I definitely recommend it.
Does anybody know the shelf life of a yeast cake harvested from a batch of brew?
cubx, do you can your starter wort you make, or do you just store it in the mason jars?
norcalnewb wrote:
Does anybody know the shelf life of a yeast cake harvested from a batch of brew?
cubx, do you can your starter wort you make, or do you just store it in the mason jars?
Shelf life... not sure, but I have let harvested yeast go 4 months and reused it with no problem.
I exclusively use quart mason jars. Right now I have 2 dozen and most are full. I have been told to stick airlocks in them or put plastic wrap with a rubber band around the mouth, but I just put on the lid and keep it very loose.
I missed your post on yeast starter, where is it now? Or, how does one go about making a yeast starter, and incorporating that into the idea of saving your slurry in mason jars?
Car Boy wrote:
I missed your post on yeast starter, where is it now? Or, how does one go about making a yeast starter, and incorporating that into the idea of saving your slurry in mason jars?
I don't feel like searching for it... so here is how I make a yeast starter:
You can either make it on brew day, but it doesn't add more yeast cells, although I recommend making it at least 2 days in advance, the more the better.
I take about a quart of water per starter, along with 1 cup of DME (light, amber, wheat, whatever I will be brewing), put all that into a pot and bring it to a boil for a full 15 minutes. WATCH FOR BOIL OVERS. During the last 5 minutes, I add about 1 tsp of yeast energizer. Not required, but I use it. Cool the pot down to about 80 degrees F (I don't know metric and I don't care), then I take the starter and I either mix it with harvested yeast from another mason jar, or you COULD add your smack pack together with the starter.
My harvested yeast usually fills 1 or 2 jars, so after adding this large starter, now I have at least 3 jars of starter yeast.
Cover it, whether with the cap and a hole drilled for a airlock, plastic wrap rubber banded on, or like me, I just screw the cap back on but leave it VERY loose.
If you really want, after a matter of hours, you can use it, but no extra cells. Best to leave it sit overnight at minimum, or 2-5 days. When at high krausen (lots of foam), it is ready to be pitched into the wort.