BlackSands Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 And... getting back on topic, I'm actually wondering what the fuss is with the Coopers yeast anyway? Apart from re-activating being a cunning way of luring you into buying a 6-pack does the yeast itself offer anything in particular that could just as easily be achieved with another strain, at a fraction of the cost of the 6-pack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiekraut Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 7 minutes ago, BlackSands said: And... getting back on topic, I'm actually wondering what the fuss is with the Coopers yeast anyway? Apart from re-activating being a cunning way of luring you into buying a 6-pack does the yeast itself offer anything in particular that could just as easily be achieved with another strain, at a fraction of the cost of the 6-pack? It is supposed to bring along some banana flavours and one can smell the banana in the reactivated yeast. If it does anything else, I don't know. But yes, I think it is a clever plot to sell more beer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 7 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said: It is supposed to bring along some banana flavours and one can smell the banana in the reactivated yeast. If it does anything else, I don't know. But yes, I think it is a clever plot to sell more beer I think you can get banana from other strains, like some of the hefe yeasts. I guess if you were keen you could even do your own blend - a mix of hefe and US05 for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 They usually recommend it when you're trying to get as close as possible to a Coopers commercial beer, but it gets used in whatever one wants to use it in. WLP009 is apparently the same or a similar strain. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 4 hours ago, BlackSands said: Yup... we get shafted for most essentials here. Aside from petrol prices, we get screwed for gas and electricity, broadband, general produce, rents and well, pretty much everything you need for day-to-day living... except packaged beer! We do have lower income tax rates mind you... And no capital gains tax (yet). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thirsty Jim Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Well, my LHBS will sell me WLP009 for $12.95 ... which is more than 6 PA's from Aldi costs. Also, once you have mastered the art of harvesting your own yeast doesn't that mean you could continue to harvest the yeast from your own brews ? Teach a man to fish ... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 (edited) 43 minutes ago, James of Bayswater said: Also, once you have mastered the art of harvesting your own yeast doesn't that mean you could continue to harvest the yeast from your own brews ? Teach a man to fish ... And in fact you don't have to get overly complicated with the 'art' of harvesting. Many brewers simply scoop out a jar of slurry and reuse that. Works a treat. I reuse slurry 3 - 5 times before starting from a fresh packet so saves me maybe $200 - $250 a year. Edited October 21, 2019 by BlackSands 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John304 Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 that's exactly what I do, reuse 5 times 6 at most, then a new one. Keep it in the fridge up to 6weeks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 CCA is extremely versatile in my opinion. Ferment it cool at 17 and it’s great in an IPA or pale ale. At 18 you have the classic Aussie Pale and or Sparkling ale. Up the temp a couple of notches and you have an English type yeast which makes a nice English ale or stout. It’s also a big point of difference in the Aussie market. I don’t know any others that bottle condition and they obviously leverage it for there DIY range as well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malter White Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 I think I'm going to put my yeast harvesting days behind me for the time being. While it was exciting to give it a try, I've determined the time and effort don't warrant exploring this any further for now. A stalled ferment and then trying to remedy that. Now a few days in the bottles I've got bathtub ring. The upside to this lesson was I got to drink a 6 pack while doing so. Back to kit yeast for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malter White Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 Sorry, that's not a great photo but there is a ring of gunk around the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Sounds like a secondary fermentation has kicked off in the bottles. I have had this happen a number of times -a fermentation that appears to have finished but once bottled it kicks back into life. Other times, when the tell-tale 'bath ring' appears much later I've suspected a wild yeast has kicked into gear. The disturbing of the yeast during a transfer often seems to reinvirgorate it... but oddly and rather annoyingly, deliberately stirring up the yeast in a stuck fermentation rarely does! Maybe this is the ultimate cure for a stuck fermentation - bottle the beer, wait for the bath-ring to confirm fermentation has restarted, and then pour it all back into the FV for completion! Anyway, thankfully you've used PET bottles so you can keep an eye (hand) on the bottle pressure and release when necessary! As for the Coopers yeast reactivation, I've never tried it and I'm thinking I probably never will but I think you'd need to be really keen for that particular strain to want to bother. I'm lazy and would rather spend the time looking for suitable alternatives! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 18 minutes ago, BlackSands said: ...disturbing of the yeast during a transfer often seems to reinvirgorate it... but oddly and rather annoyingly, deliberately stirring up the yeast in a stuck fermentation rarely does... Might it be to do with oxygen>? Transfer exposes the brew to O2 in the bottle as it pours but unless one is extra vigorous with FV stirring, only the surface is exposed to air? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 1 hour ago, Journeyman said: Might it be to do with oxygen>? Transfer exposes the brew to O2 in the bottle as it pours but unless one is extra vigorous with FV stirring, only the surface is exposed to air? Well, yeah the idea of stirring a stuck fermentation is in fact to reintroduce some oxygen into the wort/beer so a good vigorous stir would be required... if that is indeed the problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Just trying to understand as much as possible about this new potentially addictive hobby I am starting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Just now, Journeyman said: potentially addictive hobby Potentially? It's obvious you're already well past "potentially" 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porschemad911 Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 On 10/21/2019 at 11:37 AM, BlackSands said: And... getting back on topic, I'm actually wondering what the fuss is with the Coopers yeast anyway? Apart from re-activating being a cunning way of luring you into buying a 6-pack does the yeast itself offer anything in particular that could just as easily be achieved with another strain, at a fraction of the cost of the 6-pack? It's an excellent yeast flavour wise IMO. Reactivation has varying levels of success, but when you get a good pitch and keep it going for a few batches it gets better and better. It's the only strain I've felt bad about pouring the slurry down the sink because I couldn't use it over winter. It was on such a roll! If it struggles a bit on the first batch it's never going to come good though. Cheers, John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 10 hours ago, porschemad911 said: If it struggles a bit on the first batch it's never going to come good though. Surely you could harvest the slurry it does produce and build a healthy starter from that? If there's living cells capable of reproducing then there must be some hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malter White Posted October 24, 2019 Author Share Posted October 24, 2019 On 10/21/2019 at 11:02 AM, Aussiekraut said: I have reactivated Coopers yeast for the first time and now I'll see how it goes. I put down the Vintage Ale 19 yesterday and added the harvested yeast from the plastic bottle and the kit yeast as the recipe suggested. So far, not much is happening but it's been less than 24 hours. Put down another beer, a simple k&k with MJ Liberty Bell yeast and that one is already happily bubbling away, with a nice krausen on top. Let's hope the other is just slow. Vintage is in the fridge @18C, the other is brewing at ambient temps, sitting at around 20C as of this morning. Hi Aussiekraut. Did your Vintage Ale get going? My attempt of harvesting the CCA yeast got a speedy start but then stalled. Greeny suggested a fresh starter will kick off pretty rapidly, which mine did but I probably didn't have a high enough cell count = underpitched. I'm curious how yours is going due to your slower activity at the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiekraut Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 9 minutes ago, MUZZY said: Hi Aussiekraut. Did your Vintage Ale get going? My attempt of harvesting the CCA yeast got a speedy start but then stalled. Greeny suggested a fresh starter will kick off pretty rapidly, which mine did but I probably didn't have a high enough cell count = underpitched. I'm curious how yours is going due to your slower activity at the start. It seems to have worked but it's not particularly fast. I put it down on Sunday and took a sample on Wednesday. SG was still at around 1040. Will take another sample on Sunday when the dry hops go in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malter White Posted October 24, 2019 Author Share Posted October 24, 2019 Good luck. I hope it works well for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 I did some searching but didn't find an answer... Looking for yeast and keep finding refs to using multiple packets of (name) yeast for 23 L brew. Can I just use 1 pkt and make a starter from it? That would increase the yeast cell count? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 On 10/21/2019 at 11:07 AM, BlackSands said: And... getting back on topic, I'm actually wondering what the fuss is with the Coopers yeast anyway? Apart from re-activating being a cunning way of luring you into buying a 6-pack does the yeast itself offer anything in particular that could just as easily be achieved with another strain, at a fraction of the cost of the 6-pack? The CCA strain is very unique. You only need to drink a Coopers commercial beer to see why. As Greeny mentioned it is very versatile & can be used very effectively on many different styles of beer. On 10/21/2019 at 11:27 AM, BlackSands said: I think you can get banana from other strains, like some of the hefe yeasts. I guess if you were keen you could even do your own blend - a mix of hefe and US05 for example. I tried this once many years ago before I fully understood specific yeast strains & how they influence beer styles. I used the Wyeast German Wheat 3333 on a batch looking for that banana ester/character. I got it alright, but a @#$%ing wheat beer along with it! The CCA strain is definitely not a wheat beer strain. If anything it has English Ale strain heritage. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 My Coopers Vintage 2019 got from 1.066 to 1.010 over 12 days. A mix of CCA yeast from six bottles plus the English Bitter yeast from the can (following the recipe). I wish I had used the yeast from 2-3 more bottles of Coopers Pale Ale and just used that. Nevertheless I will be harvesting and using in a future brew. Probably the XPA or the Session Ale. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiekraut Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 On 10/25/2019 at 8:45 AM, MUZZY said: Good luck. I hope it works well for you. I just added the dry hops and took a sample. It's down to approx. 1020 now after a week. So it is working ok I'd suggest. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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