Yeast Chellenge

[retourrbx]

I bought a vial of WLP007 a few days ago, for the price of postage. It was best before end of March 2011. I then, stupidly, put it in the freezer, forgetting that that was a no no for liquid yeasts, and froze it solid for the last 24 hours .

The question is, if I pitch the yeast into a DME starter, will it come back to life??

Place your bets please.

Interesting to find out how hardy this yeast is.

 

[Wez]

Giving this a YES

 

[dennisking]

I thought freezing would kill it, hope I`m wrong though.

 

[craigite]

Yes. Could be proved wrong, but I'd expect it to work. Might take up to 3 days to get going but my money is on it working.

Keep us posted. :thumb:

 

[Aleman]

Its a possibly from me . . . It may take some time though as the number of viable cells will be reduced considerably

 

[retourrbx]

should I do 200g in 2L or should I step it up from something a little smaller?

 

[unclepumble]

Yeast Banks store cells in liquid nitrogen for years, & the yeast come back to life no worries (under lab conditions however) Jim (Evanvine) stores liquid yeast in the freezer as do quite a few others on here, It will be fine.

Just make up a starter look after it well and don't worry too much.

UP

 

[evanvine]

I've not had one fail yet, but it can take up to 48 hrs to show signs of activity.

 

[luckyeddie]

The advantage of starting small with starters, especially if you suspect that you have stressed or killed many of the yeasts, is that you will see evidence of fermentation far sooner than if you pitch into 2 litres. In your case, I doubt you've killed too many.

That's why when I propagate from a bottle I use no more than 50 mls initially.

Then, if I've seen no activity inside 4-5 days, I would come to the conclusion that it's a goner. Saying that, I grew on some Chimay yeast a few weeks ago and it was pitifully slow at the start (it was 'third time lucky' too after I'd abandoned two previous attempts). Eventually it got going slowly and over the next fortnight I got it going like a train, doubling the wort each day or two, and up to a good 2-3 mm depth of yeast in the bottom of a demijohn in 2 litres of wort which I split and saved in the fridge.

Today, I opened one of my bottles to make a starter prior to me kicking off LE AG#10 in a couple of days time. I tested the excess wort's gravity before I tipped the yeast into a demijohn - down to 1012 - so I tasted it - utterly fantastic. It's the first true vindication that I have in fact cultured Chimay yeast and not some wild rubbish.

If I hadn't started with such a tiny amount, I would have never seen anything and would have ended up abandoning this try too.

 

[evanvine]

I've read your post twice now LE.
Are you saying, the fewer the yeast cells, the quicker the the ferment starts? :wha:

 

[orange]

I went for yes, but i'm not sure why. :)

 

[31bb3]

Any life yet then ?

 

[luckyeddie]

I've read your post twice now LE.
Are you saying, the fewer the yeast cells, the quicker the the ferment starts? :wha:

No, EV - my bad for not making my methods and reasons for employing them clear.

The smaller the amount of liquor for the same amount of yeast, the quicker you - or rather I - may spot the evidence of fermentation (bubbles).

Originally I washed the dregs of a bottle straight into a demijohn using a couple of hundred mls of wort - there was just far too much surface area in the demijohn to spot any activity and too little yeast to make any measured impression either on the SG of the wort or the pressure in the DJ even in a couple of days.

Now I add a small amount of wort directly into the bottle, cap with foil and shake to aerate. Usually there are some visible signs after 2 or 3 days, then I know 'something' is happening and I will add more wort. I always use a 10% solution w/v so once I've got enough volume of wort collected, I can do a gravity reading to confirm whether it's fermentation or wishful thinking (or residual foam from the initial aeration).

I have very poor vision and just cannot see the tiny bubbles (see Vossy's 'how to' on WOW) that can signal slow fermentation, so by using small vessels at first I give myself a chance of seeing something.

 

[retourrbx]

the demijohn I'm going to start it in is currently full of wine

I'll get it in before the end of the week though :thumb:

 

[evanvine]

Thanks for the explanation LE, Iwas begining to have doubts on my power of reason!

 

[craigite]

Thanks to Evanvine's previous posts about freezing yeast, a few weeks ago I put two samples in the freezer.
Well, this post got me thinking. I could brew today and use the frozen yeast.
Made a starter yesterday evening and pitched the yeast that had been frozen, 100g dry malt in 2 litres water.

16hrs later.

I'd say it worked, let's see how the brew works out.

 

[luckyeddie]

Thanks for the explanation LE, Iwas begining to have doubts on my power of reason!

Doesn't always work though, EV.

I've got a Westmalle that is stubbornly refusing to kick off at the moment. It's no big deal because I have some of the same type I did a few weeks earlier, but I had a bottle of Westmalle Tripel in the fridge which was just asking to be drunk on Friday night like the whore it is, and I thought 'waste not, want not' and tipped 50 mls of wort onto the bottle dregs. 3 days in and nothing visible so far, but I'm going to let it go a few days longer before I condemn it to the sink.

 

[evanvine]

I thought 'waste not, want not' and tipped 50 mls of wort onto the bottle dregs. 3 days in and nothing visible so far, but I'm going to let it go a few days longer before I condemn it to the sink.

50 ml not a lot LE, think I'd be tempted to add some DME or sugar before I binned it.

 

[luckyeddie]

I thought 'waste not, want not' and tipped 50 mls of wort onto the bottle dregs. 3 days in and nothing visible so far, but I'm going to let it go a few days longer before I condemn it to the sink.

50 ml not a lot LE, think I'd be tempted to add some DME or sugar before I binned it.

4 days in, and going like a train, EV. I had kept it at 18C for 3 days (the temperature that both Westmalle and Westvleteren Monasteries pitch at - they use the same yeast for all their beers), then last night I noticed the first signs of fermentation (pinprick bubbles around the edge). I clicked it up to 23C. When I got up this morning I had an inch of froth.

I shall be increasing to 30 grams of spraymalt in 250 mls tonight, then a litre on Thursday or Friday.

Win!

 

[evanvine]

I shall be increasing to 30 grams of spraymalt in 250 mls tonight, then a litre on Thursday or Friday.

Win!

Well done. :thumb: