Yeast harvesters assemble

[MitchBastard]

Howdy folks. 
Im pushing crud up hill to get the yeast I want for my next saison. Seems like WLP568 is sold out nation wide. However I’ve got enough bottles remaining from a previous batch to muster up a culture from  bottle dregs…..would the yeasties from 4 bottles be sufficient? 
 

im also not planing on drinking 4 champagne bottles worth in one go, instead 1 per day for the next 4 days and tipping the dregs into a jar each night and fridging it. Until I need to kick off my starter……any problemos??

 

finally, for those that bottle harvest…what’s a good starter size to start with to get to a 2 litre starter??

 

thanks gang. 

[Shamus O'Sean]

1 hour ago, MitchBastard said:

Howdy folks. 
Im pushing crud up hill to get the yeast I want for my next saison. Seems like WLP568 is sold out nation wide. However I’ve got enough bottles remaining from a previous batch to muster up a culture from  bottle dregs…..would the yeasties from 4 bottles be sufficient? 
 

im also not planing on drinking 4 champagne bottles worth in one go, instead 1 per day for the next 4 days and tipping the dregs into a jar each night and fridging it. Until I need to kick off my starter……any problemos??

 

finally, for those that bottle harvest…what’s a good starter size to start with to get to a 2 litre starter??

 

thanks gang. 

I'm just spit-balling here, but if a six pack of Coopers is enough to harvest for one of their standard brews, you would think that four longnecks worth of your Saison dregs would be enough too.

When I last harvested from Coopers bottles, I decanted and drank three one night.  Recapped each screw-top bottle and put it back in the fridge.  The next night did three more.  On the third day I did the Coopers reactivation process.  All went well.  I imagine you could pour the dregs into a jar, but why not just leave them in the bottle for a day or two until you are ready to do the first step of your starter.

I guess the right starter size depends on how much good yeast you start with.  For me I would do a Coopers sized starter firstly to reactivate the yeast.  So 600ml with 60 grams of LDM.  This should give you 30 -50 ml of good yeast.  Containing 45 - 75 billion yeast cells, at @Greeny1525229549's rule of thumb of 1.5 bil cells/ml. Then I would do a second step starter using 1 litre with 100 grams of LDM.  Decant off as much of the 600ml of liquid from the first step as you can, leaving enough to swirl up the yeast to pitch into the 1 litre starter.  That should give you somewhere around 200 billion cells, which should be good for about 20 litres of 1.050 OG wort.

Follow my advice with caution.  I am no expert, but I am good at using the Brewfather software.  Let's see if you get any corroborating advice from others.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Yeah you could make a starter out of 1 bottle even you would just have to step it up more. When I make a starter off coopers I usually do the same as you have suggested. Decant into the sanitised jar over a couple of days. Or as Shamus suggested just recap the bottle. You should have plenty of yeast in your 4 bottles but depending on age and the alcohol content of the saison it might not be that viable. I'd start with a smallish 400ml starter volume. Watch how quick she takes off. If its quick then you had a bit of viability there and can probably go from 400ml to 2L. If its slow you might have to go half way or so to 1L and then to the 2L to build up enough cells. Unfortunately without a microscope it's difficult to know how much you have in the first place.

[Malter White]

I've only bottle harvested Coopers commercial ale yeast from Coopers stubbies and I've done subsequent generations from my own PET longnecks. 3 longnecks is sufficient for that particular yeast. I usually swirl the sediment and condense into one bottle and put back in fridge if I'm not drinking in one go. That way my fridge isn't full of emptyish beer bottles.

One thing to be mindful of: The Coopers yeast gives off a bread or fruit scent if it's healthy. I'm not sure what the scent would be for Saison to determine it's health.

[stquinto]

I was going to ask a serious question about harvesting a Wyeast Yorkshire yeast, as to how much was necessary, but I suspect I answered my own question …

Christ, I’ve not seen that since I suggested replacing breast milk with curry on the first-born

Not really enough to get a brew going, eh?

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

39 minutes ago, stquinto said:

I was going to ask a serious question about harvesting a Wyeast Yorkshire yeast, as to how much was necessary, but I suspect I answered my own question …

Christ, I’ve not seen that since I suggested replacing breast milk with curry on the first-born

Not really enough to get a brew going, eh?

OOP'S better slip down to the LHBS for some yeast   after you have cleaned up of course !!

[Lettucegrove]

3 hours ago, stquinto said:

I was going to ask a serious question about harvesting a Wyeast Yorkshire yeast, as to how much was necessary, but I suspect I answered my own question …

Christ, I’ve not seen that since I suggested replacing breast milk with curry on the first-born

Not really enough to get a brew going, eh?

 

Use the remaining yeast to make a starter and you can't go wrong

[MitchBastard]

Thanks gang! 

[stquinto]

Got a question about Coopers Commercial yeast - how long can I keep a starter viable in the fridge? I’ve got 1cm in three bottles of Coopers Pale Ale waiting to make up a yeast starter (with three more I’m sure I can drink) but wasn’t planning on a recipe using this yeast yet. If I make up the starter how long will it keep? 
Cheers

[Pickles Jones]

27 minutes ago, stquinto said:

I’ve got 1cm in three bottles of Coopers Pale Ale waiting to make up a yeast starter

I'm not sure the best way to conserve Coopers Pale Ale yeast from the remainder of a bottle waiting to make into a yeast starter is not doing something promptly. I wouldn't be using any of it if left in the "empty" bottle overnight or longer as I think/know it will be spoiled.

I can't offer anything regarding how long the starter will keep under these circumstances, however I am sure you will get some good info from other brewers.

[stquinto]

1 hour ago, Pickles Jones said:

I'm not sure the best way to conserve Coopers Pale Ale yeast from the remainder of a bottle waiting to make into a yeast starter is not doing something promptly. I wouldn't be using any of it if left in the "empty" bottle overnight or longer as I think/know it will be spoiled.

I can't offer anything regarding how long the starter will keep under these circumstances, however I am sure you will get some good info from other brewers.

@Pickles Jones cheers mate, good point. I have kept bottles with a cm in the bottom with the cap back on for up to a week and it made a blinder of a starter - I made a brew A from it (added the pit yeast too), kept the trub left over in two sterilised jars, and used one each in a Vintage 21 and a Real IPA. Both were bubbling away quite furiously after less than 8 hours. I think the best bet is to collect the trub from the two aforementioned brews (they'll be done in a cuppla days) and bin the thre bottles of Coopers I have unless anyone else has a different opinion.

Cheers