Gales 1977 Silver Jublilee (Yeast)

[MyQul]

Hi @MyQul
Just reading through this old thread, as it's popped up as 'new activity'.
I haven't yet played with starters, but find it fascinating, as I hadn't realised you could culture / clone this stuff.
Given that I may look to 'have a go' at this, and seeing as I brew 10-ish litre batches, would you care to share how much yeast in the bottom of a 2 litre pop bottle is about enough please?
A pic with a ruler paints a thousand words :)
Thanks

I dont have a smart phone so unfortunately cant post a picture. Tbh I prefer a 5L DJ now to make my starters up in. The amount I use for 10L is about 1cm up the DJ. I havent used a pop bottle for a long time now but iirc its about 2cm. Like I say because I eyeball it based on previous fermentations, how soon they start and how aggressive they are it's a little hard to describe

 

[UKSkydiver]

This is great info - thanks (because right now, I have no frame of reference)
Extrapolating that somewhat and approximating demijohn dimensions, 16cm x 25cm cylinder volume calc gives ~ 5 litres
So 16cm x 1cm is ~.2 litre = 200ml, probably slightly less due to the curvature of the base. But it gives me much more of an idea.
Thanks.

 

[MyQul]

This is great info - thanks (because right now, I have no frame of reference)
Extrapolating that somewhat and approximating demijohn dimensions, 16cm x 25cm cylinder volume calc gives ~ 5 litres
So 16cm x 1cm is ~.2 litre = 200ml, probably slightly less due to the curvature of the base. But it gives me much more of an idea.
Thanks.

I have no idea about those numbers because I'm so crap at maths but, yes its a 5L DJ. I could measure it if you like.

Tbh, I dont think I explained myself properly. Although the yeast is about 1cm up the side of the glass it's only about 1mm-2mm thickness along the bottom and not 1cm uniform thickness. It thins out as it climbs up to that 1cm up the side of the DJ. Like I say, hard to describe.

At the end of the day, aim for an overpitch rather than an under until you get used to how much you need

Maybe I should measure how much yeast I've got one day

 

[MyQul]

@UKSkydiver I normally make a starter using dried yeast. I normally put 1g of dried yeast into 600ml of 1.037-1.040 wort for 10L. So you could do a trial run of this using whatever pop bottle/DJ/whatever your going to use to give you a good idea of how much yeast you need for 10L

 

[UKSkydiver]

I have no idea about those numbers because I'm so crap at maths but, yes its a 5L DJ. I could measure it if you like.

(Online cylinder volume calc, I'm not a mathematics-guru - far from it)

Tbh, I dont think I explained myself properly. Although the yeast is about 1cm up the side of the glass it's only about 1mm-2mm thickness along the bottom and not 1cm uniform thickness. It thins out as it climbs up to that 1cm up the side of the DJ. Like I say, hard to describe.

At the end of the day, aim for an overpitch rather than an under until you get used to how much you need

Ah - I see - I thought 200ml sounded like a lot, but who am I to question? :)

Maybe I should measure how much yeast I've got one day

That would be awesome.
Thanks for explaining - I know I ask some pretty random questions at times.
Cheers.

 

[MyQul]

(Online cylinder volume calc, I'm not a mathematics-guru - far from it)


Ah - I see - I thought 200ml sounded like a lot, but who am I to question? :)


That would be awesome.
Thanks for explaining - I know I ask some pretty random questions at times.
Cheers.

I think we cross posted - see my post no.64 about how you could see how much yeast I use when I make a starter from dried yeast

 

[dan125]

My 1L starter hasn't appeared very active at all over the last week, despite being regularly swirled, but a slightly thicker layer of something has developed at the bottom:



But the gravity has barely dropped in a week so I'm now wondering if I'm just seeing an accumulation of trub build up from the successive starters.



Either way it isn't looking good

 

[marshbrewer]

After leaving the jam jar sized started in the fridge for ages to settle, I could see a proper layer of yeast so in Friday I out it in half a L of 1040° starter. It's fermenting away happily; with a nice krausen. Once it's finished, I'll bring it in a 2.5L starter and see how I get on.

Did you get anywhere with yours @dan125 ?

 

[dan125]

After leaving the jam jar sized started in the fridge for ages to settle, I could see a proper layer of yeast so in Friday I out it in half a L of 1040° starter. It's fermenting away happily; with a nice krausen. Once it's finished, I'll bring it in a 2.5L starter and see how I get on.

Did you get anywhere with yours @dan125 ?

No. It just didn't get going in the bigger starter. Had to ditch it.... I have one more old bottle from Terrym in the fridge, but think I will wait until the weather cools before I try it.

 

[marshbrewer]

That's a shame. This is mine now on day 3. The plastic bottle is all warped because I poured hot wort into it! There is a nice krausen and also a thick layer of yeast on the bottom. The yeast is very dark, much darker than any yeast I've used before. I hope this isn't a bad sign. I'm confident that I will have enough cells for a 2L starter next.

 

[marshbrewer]

I've chilled the 1L pop bottle for a few days and there was enough yeast to fill it up above the bottom bit, if you see what I mean. I've let this rise to ambient temperature and then pitched it into a 2L 1040 starter @ 21°. I've put this in the fermentation fridge set to 19°, but with the cooling outlet unplugged, so it can bubble along at it's own rate.

The 'beer' from the 1L starter was incredibly fruity. Hard to tell if that was good or bad as it's heavily oxidised from being shaken 3 times a day and doesn't contain any hops. The 2L starter will just be left alone, no shaking or stirring. I will see what that tastes like when it's fermented out. I've put Graham Wheelers recipe for Ind Coope Double Diamond (the proper one, not the keg piss) into brewfather and will give that a spin if this doesn't turn out infected. I'm not sure how authentic it is as there is no sugar in it (I'm pretty convinced it would have had some invert in there) but the fact it is all malt and isn't dry hopped will hopefully make it a good candidate for harvesting the yeast from the trub. Watch this space!

 

[marshbrewer]

Tragic news.

The 2L starter just didn't seem to get going at all; unlike the others, there was no sign of activity and the amount of yeast didn't increase. I left it alone, and went today to take a gravity sample just to make sure it had definitely died, and there was mould on the top of the starter, and also in parts of the airlock and it smelt rank. So, it looks like I messed up at the final hurdle and have lost the yeast. Really annoying as I was one step away from pitching it into a brew. Sorry @terrym, looks like my plan to be sending you a bottle of Double Diamond brewed with this yeast has been scuppered.

 

[terrym]

Tragic news.

The 2L starter just didn't seem to get going at all; unlike the others, there was no sign of activity and the amount of yeast didn't increase. I left it alone, and went today to take a gravity sample just to make sure it had definitely died, and there was mould on the top of the starter, and also in parts of the airlock and it smelt rank. So, it looks like I messed up at the final hurdle and have lost the yeast. Really annoying as I was one step away from pitching it into a brew. Sorry @terrym, looks like my plan to be sending you a bottle of Double Diamond brewed with this yeast has been scuppered.

No worries.
In the days when brewery workers were given a beer allowance my Dad, who worked at Ind Coope, used to bring home two bottles of DD every day. But he was not much of a drinker, so a young terrym would help him out.

 

[marshbrewer]

No worries.
In the days when brewery workers were given a beer allowance my Dad, who worked at Ind Coope, used to bring home two bottles of DD every day. But he was not much of a drinker, so a young terrym would help him out.

Now I'm double gutted!

Might have to brew the recipe anyway, just for laughs as I've no idea what DD tasted like! Watch this space.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Now I'm double gutted!

Might have to brew the recipe anyway, just for laughs as I've no idea what DD tasted like! Watch this space.

Both Burton Bridge and Cheshire Brewhouse do versions of Draught Burton Ale, which was the cask version of DD (not to be confused with Burton ales, which were completely different, whether on draught or in bottle).