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What's in your yeast bank?

Brewmex41

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Just took a look at the different yeasts I have in the fridge, and I am curious as to how many different yeasts you all have in your stock right now.
I'll start:
Rogue Pacman, my personal fav. I brew lots of dipas and this yeast will get me into the 80s for %attenuation no problem
Us-05, a classic!Kolsch ale yeast, good for brewing in colder weather
London ESB yeast, havent tasted anything i've brewed with this yet, as none of it is ready to go.
Bohemian Lager yeast currently in a 1 gallon starter batch of beer, going to try my hand at some Lager brewing now.
and a packet of Champagne yeast I bought but havent used yet.

I also had some Belle Saison, nottingham, and San Fran Lager yeast but I cant for the life of me figure out where they ended up after I moved.
 
I don't tend to keep a lot of yeast but I've got a couple of packets of Mangrove Jacks lager yeast. I've also got some WLP029 Kolsch and some WLP007 Dry English which is my favourite strain. I tend to buy all my ingredients a couple of days before I brew.
 
WLP 029 Kolsch/German Ale hybrid, US-05, S-04, WLP02 English Ale, Nottingham.

these are my go to varieties.
 
I keep yeast around to save money. There are a lot of yeasts I like to use that dont come in dry form.
My favorite, like I mentioned, is the Rogue Pacman yeast. Instead of spending $7.50 per brew, I build a starter bigger than I need. I will pitch what I need and save the rest in a mason jar for later.
Since I do a lot of IPAs and other hoppy beers, spending between 2.50-4 bucks per oz of hops, my brews are already pretty spendy as it is, so to save that money on yeast helps. I also buy base malt and the most common hops i use in bulk, like Columbus, Simcoe and Nelson Sauvin.
 
I've never thought of making a starter and saving some for later. It's a great idea. Do you use a stir plate? How long will it last in the fridge?
 
I use a growler and shake it every time I walk by it.
I usually do 150g to 1.5 liters of water. Since i know i am going to brew pretty much every weekend, I will make a starter about a week in advance. Once its done fermenting, ill put it in the fridge until brew day. Then I will take it out, decant some of the starter wort into a mason jar, swirl the liquid and the slurry together and pitch what I need, then the rest will go into the mason jar. Since I use it for another starter, it should be fine in there for quite a while.
 
spending between 2.50-4 bucks per oz of hops

That's crazy! Go to http://www.hopsdirect.com/ and buy them by the pound. I paid less than twenty bucks a pound last time I stocked up.  And that included shipping.
 
I buy bulk hops when I can. The most common ones i use are Columbus, centennial, Simcoe, nelson sauvin and magnum. I can't really afford the upfront cost to buy all those by the pound at once so I buy what I can in bulk, then buy by the oz as needed.
 
Oh, and I usually get hops from Yakima Valley Hops. Good prices and Yakima is only a few hours drive away from where I live, so shipping is real quick!
 
Brewmex41 said:
I use a growler and shake it every time I walk by it.
I usually do 150g to 1.5 liters of water. Since i know i am going to brew pretty much every weekend, I will make a starter about a week in advance. Once its done fermenting, ill put it in the fridge until brew day. Then I will take it out, decant some of the starter wort into a mason jar, swirl the liquid and the slurry together and pitch what I need, then the rest will go into the mason jar. Since I use it for another starter, it should be fine in there for quite a while.

I've done the same thing a few time and added clean wanted to the mason jar to fill up the rest of the head space. Don't know if it's necessary or not read it somewhere. In your experience how long do they keep? I haven't had the guts to use any as I'm always worried bout it being "expired". 
 
Brewmex41 said:
I buy bulk hops when I can. The most common ones i use are Columbus, centennial, Simcoe, nelson sauvin and magnum. I can't really afford the upfront cost to buy all those by the pound at once so I buy what I can in bulk, then buy by the oz as needed.

How do you store your hops?  Please comment on my post " [BSHB] Preserving and Storing Hops " I'd be very interested in any comments you might have. Thanks
 
I don't know how long they last because i use them pretty quick. Usually no more than a month before i make another starter.
 
I've used harvested yeast up to six months after harvesting.  After 1 month, I make a starter well enough in advance.  Less than one month, and I'm not too worried about them.  Heck, I harvested the dregs from the bottom of bottles of a previous beer  that I've made, so that I can make it again, without paying for the yeast.  I start about 2 weeks in advance when I do this.  That yeast was WLP300 and had been in the bottle for 7 months when I harvested it.

I've only had one starter made from harvested yeast that didn't take off out of about 75 batches.
 
I feel much safer about brewing when I prepare a starter in advance and know it is viable yeast. I keep a packet of us 05 at all times just in case something goes wrong, or if i accidentally kill the yeast or whatever might happen.
 
My yeast bank is something I really depend on!  Come to think of it, it's the one thing I could least do without.  Over about an 18 month period my yeast bank has grown to include quite a few different yeast strains.  There are others I'd like to get, but these keep me busy and keep my yeast fridge full:

WY1007 German Ale/Alt                              WY2633 Oktoberfest Blend
WY1084 Irish Ale                                        WY3056 Bavarian Wheat Blend
WY1272 American Ale II                              WY3724 Belgian Saison
WY1728 Scottish Ale                                  WY3726 Farmhouse Ale - Platinum
WY1968 London ESB                                  WY3944 Belgian Wit
WY2007 Pilsen Lager                                  WLP001 California Ale
WY2112 California Lager                              WLP568 Belgian Style Saison Blend
WY2124 Bohemian Lager                            WLP840 American Lager
WY2565 Kolsch                                            WLP940 Mexican Lager

Most are 1 quart (or more) of slurry in a mason jar.



 
I store all my yeast in Mason jars (or similar), under beer, in a freezer set at 35F.  I have brewed with yeast that was stored up to a year.  All it needed was a good 2 step starter:  1 liter SG 1.020, followed by 1.5 liter SG 1.040.  Normally, if I have a strain that has been stored for 6 mo. or more, I make a starter to build up a fresh population, even if I'm not going to use it right away.
 
Do you do this for the cost savings, ability to brew whenever/whatever, or what?  I know people that keep yeast slants, but full jars must occupy some amount of space somewhere at home.  I bet some small LHBS don't carry many more strains than this with recent dates on them.
 
I do it to save money and also so i can control my beer closer. I don't like to just use US 05 For all my beers when there is a better yeast for the job that will contribute something specific to the brew that i want. Like fruity malty flavors from English yeast or banana clove from hef yeast. Or ill use pacman to get 85% apparent attenuation on a west coast style double ipa for example.
 
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