Brewlabs Yeast Slants - Pitching Viability and Starter size

[kev]

F40 Scottish & Newcastle

What strains that??

K

 

[rpt]

F40 Scottish & Newcastle

What strains that??

K

One of the many they have but don't list.

 

[kev]

Aye but what beer is it from? They presumably didn't use the same yeast in every beer they made??

K

 

[Good Ed]

Kev, all I know is that it is a S&N strain, you could ask Alison at Brewlab for more info. I've used it a few times in pale ales, it's a clean yeast that lets the hops come through and I've got an average of 77% attenuation.

 

[kev]

Would be interested to find out as I work for the company.

K

 

[johnnyboy1965]

I think what he's actually done there is just propagated sufficient yeasties to split it six ways for future use. I'm guessing here but the next stage, a few days before brewday would be to sling one of the bottles into a carboy with a couple of litres of 1040 wort to make a starter.

I did something similar with WLP550 - I made 3 litres of starter and pitched two thirds of it, storing the rest in 4 grolsch bottles and refrigerating them. I have now used one of the first-generation offspring and made a 2 litre starter from it - it chewed its way through a 20 litre Belgian Blond wort in no time at all. The second first-generation pup is currently scaling up for its own day in the sun - probably Thursday - when I shall tell it to fetch me a Dubbel.

It's all down to economics - £6 for a Wyeast smackpack or a vial from White Labs is a lot of outlay to use once. I plan on not buying another WLP550 for at least a year. When I get down to the last bottle, I shall make another 4 from it - and so on through up to 4 generations.

Top Tip...Don't wait until your down to your last bottle, just in case something goes wrong.