5 liquid yeasts for £10

[jceg316]

This is on brewuk, the catch is they're all past their BBE. I bought some along with their lucky dip hops (also for £10) and it's an interesting selection, all WLP:

Old Bavarian lager
Czech budejovice (lager)
Bavarian wietzen
Abbey ale IV
Belgian golden ale

I have a beer planned for each using the lucky dip hops I received too. The MFG for all is Januy so starters are needed, according to Brewer's Friend yeast calculator they are all dead. There is probably some life I can culture up, would it be best to put them straight into a small 1.040 starter or is it best to start weaker? If I wanted to play it safe and start with 200ml of 1.020 starter would this have any detrimental effect if the yeast is more viable? I don't think it should but just checking.

 

[Arcs]

Thanks for info man. Personally thinking of investing in some Kveik tho because our summers are getting stupid. I'll look this up during fall though, thanks!

 

[uDicko]

This is on brewuk, the catch is they're all past their BBE. I bought some along with their lucky dip hops (also for £10) and it's an interesting selection, all WLP:

Old Bavarian lager
Czech budejovice (lager)
Bavarian wietzen
Abbey ale IV
Belgian golden ale

I have a beer planned for each using the lucky dip hops I received too. The MFG for all is Januy so starters are needed, according to Brewer's Friend yeast calculator they are all dead. There is probably some life I can culture up, would it be best to put them straight into a small 1.040 starter or is it best to start weaker? If I wanted to play it safe and start with 200ml of 1.020 starter would this have any detrimental effect if the yeast is more viable? I don't think it should but just checking.

Got a link at all?

 

[uDicko]

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/liquid-yeast-lucky.html

 

[MyQul]

Where on the site is this. I'm aware of the lucky dip but couldnt see where you can pick yeasts

 

[MyQul]

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/liquid-yeast-lucky.html

Thats the lucky dip. But if I'm reading @jceg316 's OP correctly you can get pick some out of date yeast rather than a random choice

 

[jceg316]

Thats the lucky dip. But if I'm reading @jceg316 's OP correctly you can get pick some out of date yeast rather than a random choice

You don't get to pick the yeasts, you order and you get a random selection. I guess it's a way the shop can get a bit of money back on spoilt goods.

 

[jceg316]

Thanks for info man. Personally thinking of investing in some Kveik tho because our summers are getting stupid. I'll look this up during fall though, thanks!

No problem, FYI this is rarely "in stock" so it might be a good idea to buy now and make starters to keep alive for use in the autumn.

I tried using Kveik twice and didn't get the fast turnover everyone else seemed to get. I'm now trying a third time and so far it's going well. Third time's a charm and that. Even if it's slow, it can survive the hit temperatures which I guess is most important.

 

[MyQul]

You don't get to pick the yeasts, you order and you get a random selection. I guess it's a way the shop can get a bit of money back on spoilt goods.

Ah, so it is the lucky dip? I Think I misread your post

 

[jceg316]

If I wanted to play it safe and start with 200ml of 1.020 starter would this have any detrimental effect if the yeast is more viable? I don't think it should but just checking.

Just reviving this Q before it gets lost in the pages of the internet.

 

[MyQul]

Just reviving this Q before it gets lost in the pages of the internet.

If your putting a whole vial in, personally I'd use more ml but at maybe same gravity. I'd use at at least 500ml. I put less than half a tsp of year old Gales slurry into 200ml (I used 1.039 gravity) last night and it's chewing through the starter judging by the C02 off gassing and all the foam, when I shake the jar.

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi jceg

If I wanted to play it safe and start with 200ml of 1.020 starter would this have any detrimental effect if the yeast is more viable? I don't think it should but just checking.

... yeah, start small and grow your starter if there's any possibility of reduced viability ... that's the advice that Chris White gives in his book (co-authored with Jamil Zainasheff) "Yeast"

You've got a good selection in the lucky-dip there ... all single strain and no wild stuff ... I thought the BrewUK site suggests you should expect at least some Brett/Bugs, but I guess it just depends what they've got that's not sold (I got three different Brett yeasts (two of which were blends), and two Sacch yeasts (one blend) when I got a lucky dip from them) ... but then, it can be real fun getting ingredients and then trying to work out what to do with them ... a sort of "Ready Steady Brew", I suppose ... have you decided what you'll be making with your selection?

Cheers, PhilB

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi MyQul

If your putting a whole vial in, personally I'd use more ml but at maybe same gravity. I'd use at at least 500ml. I put less than half a tsp of year old Gales slurry into 200ml (I used 1.039 gravity) last night and it's chewing through the starter judging by the C02 off gassing and all the foam, when I shake the jar.

... while pitching a more viable population than you thought you had, into a smaller (and/or lower gravity) starter step may prove to be a "waste of time", in the end ... I think the point behind jceg's question is whether that would that be a problem ("any detrimental effect") ... and other than taking longer because you've gone through a step without growing the population/increasing the viability then there is little chance of detrimental effect ... it is possible that in going through that starter step the yeast population may be even smaller/less viable than it was before pitching into that first step ... but that will be resolved in your next step, anyway

And if the yeast population isn't even as large or viable as you thought it might be, then pitching it into a larger starter step will do far more damage than a smaller one

Cheers, PhilB

 

[jceg316]

Thanks @MyQul and @PhilBrew, I think I will play it safe and start small.

I was expecting some wild yeasts and really esoteric sort of stuff, really pleased with this haul though, especially as I love lagers and now have an extra 2 yeasts I probably never would have bought to play around with. I am gonna do a "ready steady brew" type thing. I think if I wanted to make the exact beers I'd need to buy in a load of extra malts which I CBA to do. I have a ton of hops to use up as well, along with 2 kveik yeasts I'm culturing up (I should quite my job so I can focus on home brewing!).

I do have some ideas with each one:

Old Bavarian lager - schwartzbier
Czech budejovice - Czech lager (will have to use pale ale malt instead of lager malt though)
Bavarian wietzen - Will brew this IPA weitzen type beer I've made before
Abbey ale IV - Belgian stout. Once I have this off the trub will make a tripel.
Belgian golden ale - either a golden, kind of hoppy table beer or tripel karmeliet clone type thing.

Gonna document it somehow.

 

[jceg316]

I'm gonna grow the Czech lager yeast first and I'm gonna experiment by putting it into 500ml of 1.020 wort to start. If it doesn't work, not the endof the world as I have 2 other lager yeasts in stock, but will be good to know for the other strains I have.

 

[JonBrew]

I bought one of these lucky dips a few years ago when brewuk started doing them. I think I got a alt strain, Scottish ale, a funky saison blend, a german lager strain and another I cant remember. I think I ended up using two or three or the yeasts I got - the others got forgotten about and never used.

It's a fun little idea if you brew often, have enough DME on hand and are happy to brew styles based on what you get.

This has got me thinking about a fun challenge for myself though. Order one of these lucky dips up and then try and brew a suitable wort into which all (or a number of) the strains received can then be pitched into.

 

[jceg316]

I bought one of these lucky dips a few years ago when brewuk started doing them. I think I got a alt strain, Scottish ale, a funky saison blend, a german lager strain and another I cant remember. I think I ended up using two or three or the yeasts I got - the others got forgotten about and never used.

It's a fun little idea if you brew often, have enough DME on hand and are happy to brew styles based on what you get.

This has got me thinking about a fun challenge for myself though. Order one of these lucky dips up and then try and brew a suitable wort into which all (or a number of) the strains received can then be pitched into.

Do you remember how they came out?

I do brew often enough, and as I use grain I tend to buy in bulk. If I run out I buy more .It's an ineresting way of brewing and adds a small challenge. I was thinking of doing something similar, with the yeasts that I got I could make a lager base, split it between 5 demijohns and add all the yeasts. I might do that once I've fermented them all in large batches.In the meantime I'm gonna grow them all asap to increase their viability, they'll live in my fridge until I need them.

 

[JonBrew]

Do you remember how they came out?

I do brew often enough, and as I use grain I tend to buy in bulk. If I run out I buy more .It's an ineresting way of brewing and adds a small challenge. I was thinking of doing something similar, with the yeasts that I got I could make a lager base, split it between 5 demijohns and add all the yeasts. I might do that once I've fermented them all in large batches.In the meantime I'm gonna grow them all asap to increase their viability, they'll live in my fridge until I need them.

I grew the ones I used up in starters to appropriate pitching levels and they worked fine. If you brewed up a 25l batch of fairly low OG wort, split into 5 1 gallon DJs, I reckon you could pitch these yeast packs straight in. That way you grow the yeast for future use and get an interesting range of beers to drink and assess each yeast at the same time.