MichaelJ13 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Hi everyone Im fairly new to brewing and on my 3rd brew now, i thought that for my 4th brew i would try reculturing the yeast from 4 bottles of coopers pale ale for my apa. the reculture seems to be working well the bottles have been in my cupboard for 2 days and the seem to be foaming a bit when i shake them witch leads me to believe it's ready to pitch (I think). the only problem is I think brew 3 still has a couple of days to go. So my question is should i leave the bottles in the cupboard or put them in the fridge? and also is there any other signs i should look for to tell me if the yeast is ready? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 leave them in the cupboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJ13 Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 how long could i leave them in the cupboard? and does the yeast multiply in there or just re-activate? i'm just a little worried because i have read a lot of posts where the commercial yeast has stopped early and just want to make sure that doesn't happen to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilboBaggins Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Not sure what causes it to stall mate, but my second brew using this yeast stalled at 20 degrees! [crying] Racked it to secondary to wake it up, and it knocked another couple of points off. Ended up bottling in disgust, but they're some fizzy bastards now! Leads me to believe she still wasn't done, as there's way too much gas for 6g per litre priming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJ13 Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 one of the bottles isn't fizzing anywhere near as much as the others is this normal? the others fizz up really well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJ13 Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 i have been doing a bit more research and it seems some people increase the volume of the starter after a couple of days. should i be doing this? especially since i need it to last a few more days until Im ready to brew again. it also seems a lot of people use malt instead of dextrose Im not really sure why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Hello Michael. (Nice to meet you) I've done a number of re-cultures of the Coopers commercial ale yeast now, without any problems. If you follow the guide listed on the forum to the letter, note the timing of when to begin the process before you plan to put your brew down, & especially control the temperature range throughout the process, you won't go wrong. Promise. I've used the re-culture successfully on a low 1.036 OG brew (light beer), a standard 1.040-1.047 OG brew (typical 4.5-4.9% ABV beer), & a heavy 1.050+ OG brew (above 5.5% ABV). All without failure. I used a basic principle in each scenario. 4 stubbies worth work well with a light brew, 6 stubbies worth work well with a standard brew, & 7-8 stubbies worth work well with a heavy brew. No science to my method, just a sense of some misplaced logic. [wink] CC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJ13 Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Thanks chuck I followed the guide listed like you said and it is definetely working i just think i should have waited a few days i just got a bit excited i guess. being a bit of a brew noob I'm still working on my patience. on that guide it says you can store it in the fridge for up to a week has anyone done this with success? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Hello Michael. (Nice to meet you) Hi Tony [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Thanks chuck I followed the guide listed like you said and it is definetely working i just think i should have waited a few days i just got a bit excited i guess. being a bit of a brew noob I'm still working on my patience. on that guide it says you can store it in the fridge for up to a week has anyone done this with success? Yeah mate, stord yeast for weeks/months in the fridge in sterile/sanitised jars.. you do need to keep an eye on vitality/viability if stored too long and have a handle on what pitching rates are required but generally speaking, a good way to go. Personally I do not subscribe to the dextrose feed as per the coopers instructions, but often/mostly, Im not dealing with coopers yeast either. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I've tried re-culturing Coop's yeast a few times with zero success[pinched] . My first was a Mild which I grossly underpitched. It tasted like soap![sick]. Next was Toucan Stout which caught infection[sick]. The last was a real ale that I'm sure it was an underpitch as well[sick]. I wouldn't mind trying again but I am hesitant[annoyed] . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewtownClown Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 You can pitch when your culture is at high krausen Or you can allow your culture to completely ferment, place it in the fridge overnight and allow the yeast to drop out, pour nearly all the "beer" off the yeast cake and pitch just the yeast. Or step it up for more yeast. Like Yob, I adhere to the conventional wisdom that states Dextrose or table sugar is not a good idea for it can cause the yeast to become lazy and only want to convert the simple sugars and ignore maltose. In regards to this yeast stalling, the use of simple sugar to make the starter would be the first thing I would be looking at.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJ13 Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 just thought i'd let you all know i put down brew number 4 on thurday night with the pale ale bottle yeast and it seems too have taken off this morning. it only has a small layer of krausen but it seems to be working, fingers crossed it tastes good! thanks for all your help i will let you know how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilboBaggins Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Or you can allow your culture to completely ferment' date=' place it in the fridge overnight and allow the yeast to drop out, pour nearly all the "beer" off the yeast cake and pitch just the yeast.[/quote'] This is how I do it. I shake the crap out of my starters and I can't bring myself to chuck oxidised starter beer into my nice fresh wort. Another thing to gain by letting it ferment out completely is a taste of the fully fermented starter to check for funny flavours/infection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJ13 Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 sooo everything was going good the readings were coming down but i checked it today and it hasn't really come down in the last 2 days (maybe one point) it's currently sitting at 1.015. one thing that i have noticed though is how gassy it is! i had to pour between 2 glasses for ages before i can take a reading. i have done a few brews with the supplied yeast and never had so many bubbles, do bubbles mean fermentation? if not what should i do? i have already turned the fridge up to 23 and given the fv a bit of a shake. oh and what kind of fg should i be expecting for apa can with 500g of ldm and 250g of dex. any help would be much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 1015 seems a bit high. It should probably get down to around 1009-1010 or perhaps lower since the Coopers yeast is a high attenuating yeast. Normally I would say to try to rouse it but it may be the case that it has just conked out. Two options: 1. Give it a stir with a sanitised spoon or rock the FV, warm it up a little and give it a couple of more days, or 2. Pitch some more yeast (kit yeast??) Your choice, just depends on how much of a hurry you are in to finish it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJ13 Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 what about bubbles? does that mean the yeast is still working? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Not necessarily. It could be dissolved CO2 in the liquid being released. But I'm not a scientist so someone else might be able to explain it better (and more accurately). All I know is that I get bubbles even when fermentation has finished. Some brews more than others though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJ13 Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 so it eventually got down to 1011 so i bottled it. it has now been two weeks since then and i thought i would try one and well it doesn't taste like cpa it has a kind of wine like after taste. I know it's only early but i was wondering if anyone has made a cpa clone and how long was it in the bottles before it tasted good? or is this the taste of stressed yeast? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Hi Michael, i am not sure what flavour stressed yeast gives, unless it was stressed because of high ferment temps, but any wine or vinegary taste is not good and could be the sign of infection. Leave them be and try one every week or so, but you may find they wont improve. Hopefully someone else can give you better news mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJ13 Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 just cracked one open and it tastes great! unbeleivable what a week can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Good to hear that it turned out well! Who would have thought? [roll][cool] This point has been lost on some people but, as I've said before: Coopers commercial yeast will reactivate happily on a feed of sucrose or dextrose but we recommend using a malt based starter for growing up other commercial (or your own) bottle conditioned beer - same applies to commercially available liquid and dry yeast.[rightful] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.