Brewery Yeast, what to do with it

[JimmyB78]

A friend very kindly got me a jam jar full of nice fresh yeast from Palmers Brewery in Dorset. Apparantly the head brewer said it was enough for a 1bbl brew so obviously have far too much.

What should I do about storing it? it's currently in the fridge, should I make a starter with it or just split it down in to more manageable amounts and store in the fridge?

I'm going to do a brew tomorrow to use a bit of it but ideally want to use this on a continual basis from now on rather than buying packets.

 

[graysalchemy]

How often do you brew? If you brew once a month then you could harvest yeast off the krausan (exactly what they will have done) and keep that for upto 2 months in the fridge (if it is washed). Keeping yeast for any longer you really need to freeze it, but that requires washing it and mixing it with glycerine.

:thumb:

 

[JimmyB78]

Thanks GA

Brew about once a month. Would i need to take it off the Krausen in the first few days of fermentation? I assume this is literally just scraping the top of the foam away and putting it in a sterilised jar?

 

[graysalchemy]

Yes that is exactly what i do. You should be able to keep a good culture going. You are probably best once it has settled in the jar pouring off any unfermented wort and replacing with boiled and cooled water.

 

[JimmyB78]

Great thanks, and if I wanted to freeze some is that just normal glycerin from Boots such as http://www.boots.com/en/Value-Health-Gl ... ml_852418/

 

[graysalchemy]

Yes but you need to make a mixture up of 1/3 yeast slurry, 1/3 glycerin, 1/3 boiled and chilled water. You should only make up small 50-100 samples and keep it in the coldest part of your freezer and preferably in a freezer which doesn't have a frost free cycle.

Having said all of that some members on here just bung it in the freezer. :lol: :lol:

 

[morethanworts]

Sorry to step onto the thread with a question Jimmy, but do you just pitch the water/glycerin/yeast into your next starter? Seeing that WOWs ask for as little as a tsp per gallon or so to improve mouth feel, does the glycerin affect the next beer?

 

[graysalchemy]

I do as I don't think it would make a blind bit of difference with the amount of unfermentables in 5 gallons of wort 20-30ml isn't going to make much difference. On the other hand wine has no unfermentables so just a small amount makes a difference. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[morethanworts]

I do as I don't think it would make a blind bit of difference with the amount of unfermentables in 5 gallons of wort 20-30ml isn't going to make much difference. On the other hand wine has no unfermentables so just a small amount makes a difference. :thumb: :thumb:

Ah - that makes sense. :thumb:

Just bought a couple of Kilner Jars and ordered some 50ml plastic vials, into which it will all be whittled down. I'm determined to get a few uses out of the WY3787 I've got coming. I'm not paying £7 each brew!

 

[JimmyB78]

I went and got myself some pots at lunch ready to break it down to put some in the freezer along with water for my next brew. Got distracted by the Great British beer hunt and forgot to buy any glycerine! doh

The pot of yeast in the fridge is overflowing now so will definitely have to crop some off.