Yeast slants

[Granarian]

Am looking at using a Brewlabs slant (Sussex 1) in my next AG brew. Am very confused reading some of the posts about how to get the yeast ready to pitch. Help!

I get that you mix the slant with 3 tbsp DME and 300ml boiled water - could I just use sugar? Buying DME just to use 3tbsp seems a bit much!!

And how much do I then need to pitch into my wort? Is it the full 300ml for a 20L batch?

So many questions!!!

 

[MyQul]

You can't just use suger for starter. Can't remember why but there is a reason, will have to look as some sources to dig the reason out.

300ml wih of wort isn't very much for a starter as starters are usually 1L-2L. I think they mean you to grow/step it up.

Edit. Off the top of my head I think it's because theres no nutrients in sugar just 'fuel/food'. Kind of like me eating just a diet of lard and no vitamins or minerals

 

[MyQul]

Just had a look at the brewlab site and as I thought, you need to step up your yeast.

I'm guessing you don't have a sir plate and erymyer flask?

just follow the instruction in the following youtube vid. Works really well as I have cultured up a couple of strains from bottle conditioned beers. You don't need to bother squeezing the bottle to try to get air in, just open the top to release C02 as squeezing the bottle may suck in microbes as well as oxygen. Also use yeast nutrient as this really helps.

You'll need 180g of DME if you take your starting step as 300ml instead of 250ml as in the vid. So it makes it a bit more worth it

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UGJ_b-MfbE[/ame]

 

[Granarian]

So, I'm going to brew my "Harveys" style bitter next week, but this time I'm going to use Sussex 1 from BrewLabs. Looking at the BrewLabs website, it says to culture the starter using 300cc of DME - so not stepping up to larger volume as in the sui generis video.....what do people think about that? Clearly much easier and quicker, but will it be as effective?

 

[ManseMasher]

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53673

Worked for me! Word of caution though - when you add your wort to the slant and agitate, be careful you don't loosen the agar slope, or you'll be picking it out of your starter....

 

[McMullan]

How many yeast cells/ml to ferment your planned beer is what you need to consider. Plug some guestimates into Mr malty or similar. I'm guessing a few hundred ml of wort ain't gonna get you too far. Unless you have a complete nutter of a yeast, who's ready to rock n roll at will. Like Myqul suggests, step up your starter. 300, 600, 1000...

 

[Granarian]

Cheers ManseMasher; I've used the recipe before (http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=52392), but with Nottingham Ale Yeast, and it tastes really good. Hoping the Sussex 1 yeast will take it closer to Harveys, but tbh if it doesn't work I'm happy with it as is!

 

[ManseMasher]

How many yeast cells/ml to ferment your planned beer is what you need to consider. Plug some guestimates into Mr malty or similar. I'm guessing a few hundred ml of wort ain't gonna get you too far. Unless you have a complete nutter of a yeast, who's ready to rock n roll at will. Like Myqul suggests, step up your starter. 300, 600, 1000...

I followed Brewlabs instructions and used 300ml. It went off like a rocket. Guessing it's the Yosser of the yeast world!

 

[McMullan]

I followed Brewlabs instructions and used 300ml. It went off like a rocket. Guessing it's the Yosser of the yeast world!

I'll give it a go :thumb:

 

[McMullan]

Sussex1 slant ordered :razz: Have you tried keeping this strain going yourself? My other hobby is collecting brewer's yeast :geek: Just in case the world ends :grin:

 

[ManseMasher]

Sussex1 slant ordered :razz: Have you tried keeping this strain going yourself? My other hobby is collecting brewer's yeast :geek: Just in case the world ends :grin:

Made a starter from it two days ago, using it tonight!

 

[McMullan]

Feck it! got an email today notifying me sussex is out of stock :sad:

 

[ManseMasher]

Feck it! got an email today notifying me sussex is out of stock :sad:

Did they say when it might be back on? They made one up for me in a couple of weeks. I will order some more for later in the year as it keeps for ages in the fridge.

 

[McMullan]

4-6 weeks from www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk. I'll have a look around or wait it out.

 

[McMullan]

Ordered two slants direct from BrewLabs. Actually decided to go for Thames Valley 2 and 3 in the end. TV3 is Fuller's, apparently. I'm going for a 'London Pride', which I haven't done for ages, and then slurry for some winter brews TV2 sounds like it might be interesting in my 'Old Thumber' ale. I'm starting to think slants might be the way forward...

 

[McMullan]

You can't just use suger for starter. Can't remember why but there is a reason, will have to look as some sources to dig the reason out.

300ml wih of wort isn't very much for a starter as starters are usually 1L-2L. I think they mean you to grow/step it up.

Edit. Off the top of my head I think it's because theres no nutrients in sugar just 'fuel/food'. Kind of like me eating just a diet of lard and no vitamins or minerals

I'm planning an experiment for making better starters using sugar and something else very simple, cheap and available in most of our kitchens. To be continued...

 

[MyQul]

I'm planning an experiment for making better starters using sugar and something else very simple, cheap and available in most of our kitchens. To be continued...

I plan on just making real wort starters (RWS) from now on. Take as much wort from the main brew as I need. Grow the yeast in it. Chuck it back in the main batch. Job done.

But then I no chill in the FV so I can take the 1-2L RWS cool it quickly and pitch the yeast in it. By the following day when the main body of the wort is cool enough to pitch, my RWS should be at high krausen so i can chuck it in the wort

 

[McMullan]

I drain the dregs of my wort from the kettle. Chill it overnight, to settle most of the trub. Then prep it for the next starter. Works very well. I'm guessing the yeast have adapted. But I don't always get the volumes I need, unless I use a brew day to make starter wort. I'm going to use marmite, spuds and sugar. I know the yeast will grow well in this. But my quess is they'll adapt to the spuds and when pitched into my beer wort, say, 'WTF's this'?

Edit: http://www.neogen.com/Acumedia/pdf/ProdInfo/7585_PI.pdf