Harvesting Coopers commercial yeast while drinking one or two at a time

[amberfiend]

those little creatures pale ales on special right now, $32 for 12, i might try to boost their special sauce yeah

[amberfiend]

13 hours ago, loafing_about said:

A bit excited, a bit nervous, to go to the vintage ale after only 2 brews following a 15 year pause but the first brew went well. It was a very simple Sierra Nevada clone (brewmart) with some cascade hops. Tasting good after 3 weeks in the bottle but in hindsight bottled too early and it's over carbonated.

 

ive just put the first few of my bottles from my first kit brew (the lager extract that comes with the kit) in the fridge for the weekend, they have been sitting at room temp for the last few weeks and have become extremely clear , all with a little sediment in the bottom so im assuming they are fully done now.. they are also relatively firm to touch so im thinking they are well carbonated ? thing is, is that i bottled after only 5 days in the fermenter as i was following the instructions given etc, but since then the two other brews i have started are both going to be in ferment for up to two weeks based on the methods of others and their advice here.. so im kind of wondering if i should have left the lager go for atleast another few days ? maybe it will be fine ? should i be expecting any major hissing, fizzing and overflowing when i finally open one of them for the first time ?

[Pickles Jones]

When I did my 1st brew it was the lager supplied with the FV kit. I was disappointed to say the least, it was nothing like lager and tasted horrible. Was going to tip it all out but I put it aside. After about three weeks I tasted it again expecting nothing.  Surprise, it had turned into an acceptable ale!!

[Marty_G]

21 minutes ago, Pickles Jones said:

When I did my 1st brew it was the lager supplied with the FV kit. I was disappointed to say the least, it was nothing like lager and tasted horrible. Was going to tip it all out but I put it aside. After about three weeks I tasted it again expecting nothing.  Surprise, it had turned into an acceptable ale!!

The great thing is the 1st brew you do will generally be the worst.  The kits make it easy to make beer but it doesn't say it will be great.  The think with beer with yeast in the bottle it continues to condition and the longer you leave it the better it will be.  Temp control and use of good yeast is the easiest way to get good repeatable results.   I don't consider myself a home brewer I think of myself as a  "hobby brewer". I do it because i enjoy the process, which i have continued to refine since day 1,  probably more than the beer.  I would say that most of the experienced brewers here are the same. 

[John E Miller]

Would there be enough yeast in two or three stubbies to build up a starter? I imagine you could do it following the same method, it would just take longer right? 

[Pickles Jones]

1 minute ago, John E Miller said:

Would there be enough yeast in two or three stubbies to build up a starter? I imagine .you could do it following the same method, it would just take longer right? 

Yes there is enough yeast but it will not be as vigorous initially and as you say it will take time to build up.

Put the "normal" amount of LDM in the container you are using, shake it and put it in the fridge if necessary, shake each day and wait patiently, don't add extra LDM to start with.

I am assuming you are following the Coopers' method to regenerate their Pale Ale yeast. 

[John E Miller]

Has anyone ever deliberately filled their last bottle with a bunch of yeast and then capped it to keep in the fridge until needed?

[Popo the Reprobate]

46 minutes ago, John E Miller said:

Has anyone ever deliberately filled their last bottle with a bunch of yeast and then capped it to keep in the fridge until needed?

Yeah - you can keep the slurry and re-pitch it into your next batch. There are a few threads here about doing just that.

I would not cap it tightly though as it is still possible for it to build up pressure.

[Malter White]

12 hours ago, John E Miller said:

Has anyone ever deliberately filled their last bottle with a bunch of yeast and then capped it to keep in the fridge until needed?

I'm not sure if what I'm about to write is what you mean but I have harvested the yeast from Coopers (commercial) Pale Ale stubbies as per the video on this site and used it instead of the sachet yeast. Now when I get to drinking the last few bottles of each home brew I swirl the dregs and combine them into one bottle and refrigerate. I then reactivate the yeast with the same method ie. second, third etc generation Coopers yeast.

[John E Miller]

13 hours ago, MUZZY said:

I'm not sure if what I'm about to write is what you mean but I have harvested the yeast from Coopers (commercial) Pale Ale stubbies as per the video on this site and used it instead of the sachet yeast. Now when I get to drinking the last few bottles of each home brew I swirl the dregs and combine them into one bottle and refrigerate. I then reactivate the yeast with the same method ie. second, third etc generation Coopers yeast.

Good to know, but that's not what I meant. 

I mean on bottling day when you get down to the sediment, deliberately getting a bunch into your last sanitised bottle and keeping it in the fridge for the next time you want to use that strain

[Malter White]

4 minutes ago, John E Miller said:

Good to know, but that's not what I meant. 

I mean on bottling day when you get down to the sediment, deliberately getting a bunch into your last sanitised bottle and keeping it in the fridge for the next time you want to use that strain

Got ya now. Yeah, heaps of brewers use the yeast from the trub. I have done so before but I decided harvesting from the bottles gives me fresher yeast, so to speak. They reckon yeast will last around a month in the fridge. I figured obtaining it from the trub gives me a month to use it and that's before I know if it made a good beer or not. By obtaining it from the bottles it extends the time before it's refrigerated and I would have tried the beers it made and whether they were any good or not.

[John E Miller]

10 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

Got ya now. Yeah, heaps of brewers use the yeast from the trub. I have done so before but I decided harvesting from the bottles gives me fresher yeast, so to speak. They reckon yeast will last around a month in the fridge. I figured obtaining it from the trub gives me a month to use it and that's before I know if it made a good beer or not. By obtaining it from the bottles it extends the time before it's refrigerated and I would have tried the beers it made and whether they were any good or not.

Great, that is exactly what I thought... I won't always be ready to brew with that same yeast just a month after bottling

[Malter White]

@John E Miller Another thing I like about using yeast from the bottles rather than the trub is that I don't find the need to wash the yeast. From many of the Youtube videos I've seen, the presenters will sterilise jars, put trub in jars with cooled boiled water, refrigerate to separate yeast from other gunk, pour off and do the same process again. Seems like a lot of unnecessary work to me. I figured if it's been in the bottom of a beer I've just drank it should be fairly free of other gunk and it should be relatively germ free. Of course I don't drink from the bottle as that would increase the chance of bacteria getting in.
Another contributor here, @King Ruddager, did a video where he just dumps a new wort on to a trub he's just gained from a freshly bottled brew. I can't remember if it was a successful brew or not.

Edited November 9, 2020 by MUZZY