Yeast Cultivation

[AndyC]

I make bread and pizza so instead of buying yeast I use a cultivation, I have both a Fleishcmann's bread yeast and a sour dough in the fridge

The thing is I know in beer making they go through very elaborate lengths to avoid contamination but I wonder if this is truly necessary

My starters are in mayonnaise jars with holes punched in the lids, I keep them in the fridge and the only thing necessary is to take them out every couple of days and feed them some flour and even after many months my Fleischmann's remains so and my sour dough the same....never any contamination

I wonder if the same simple strategy might not also work as well with beer yeasts...I have some basic brew equipment coming including a Wyeast so I'll experiment with this as I experiment with the various tried and true recipes.

Definitely worthwhile if it works because then I could keep multiple strains and at 7 bucks a pop per wort/mash that's a good savings.

Cheers!

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[Barney Fife]

I just save some of the trubs after fermenting, and put them into a clean quart jar, cap it tightly, and place it in the bottom of the fridge. When I need some new yeast, I draw-off the liquid(it will settle into 3 layers; you'll see...), add some warm water and a bit of sugar, or sweet wort, shake like hell, cover it loosely and wait a day. It should take-off, not like a rocket, but it will be active, and it's now ready to use. I've kept yeast at least a year like this, without issues. Won't hurt to give 'em a pinch of sugar or a cup of fresh sweet wort every few months if you care to do so.

My wife's sour dough sometimes goes years without seeing any love, and it always re-starts when she needs it. Yeast are amazing critters!

[AndyC]

Barney

I never tried cultivating yeast back when I first tried brewing but after doing it for bread I kind of figured it would not be a problem, I suppose a little rye flour and some sugar should provide them a good feed.

Thanks for response, like your handle


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Sure, "elixir for special celebrations and special occasion's"....like Friday and Saturday nights!


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[Prairiepiss]

Just adding flour doesn't sound like a good food for them? What do they get from that?

[AndyC]

Prairie

I suppose the same thing bread yeasts get from it......food


Like Barney says works for bread and sour dough why not for beer yeasts too? besides I have a ton of Fleischmans in my fridge which is what is usually used here I see, so good on that too.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKg7u5hYCsY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow


Cheers!

[rtalbigr]

Just adding flour doesn't sound like a good food for them? What do they get from that?

It does seem odd PP, but it works. When I get my sour dough starter out of the fridge (I keep about a quart), I add 1 cup water and 1 cup flour, no sugar, and when it gets all bubbly I fill the qt jar back up and stick it in the fridge. What left is my starter for the next loaf of bread. I'm guessing there's something in the "sour" part that breaks down some of the starches for the yeast to use.

Big R

[Prairiepiss]

Yeah it just seems odd?

[Dnderhead]

ok yeast will use starch its just slow at it.some better than others.with sour dough you want it to take its time.otherwise it be all fermented out and then you would need to start over.also a long slow rising dough makes a "better" bread more "chewy".like
the italian bread you buy in store.quick rising breads are more like "cake"..

[Prairiepiss]

That makes since. Would there be a preferred flour to use? Like corn or rye? Or just plain ol flour?

[Dnderhead]

id use a "whole" grain flour,more food value or in our case more nutrients.

[AndyC]

Praire

I think you can use either rye they tend to use for sour doughs but I imagine you could us even the All Bran itself.


One thing I noticed is that if the yeast gets underfed it smells exactly like the way people describe the heads here...like acetone....nail polish remover...you can get it right back by feeding it for awhile though


With a culture it seems best to start small and let the colony build itself otherwise you can have this problem

What happens if the colony is too large and runs out of food a bacterium (generally harmless bacteria) takes over and produces these off scents and flavors but once the colony gets going again it kills off the bacteria and cleans everything up

If you get any really weird smells or discoloration then you should throw it out and start over.




The thing is in beer guys get way to obsessive about cultures but if you start sanitized there should be no problem and these are fairly open ferments, just punch holes in a mayonnaise jar lid and leave in the fridge feeding every once in awhile

[rtalbigr]

I always use King Arthur's Premium Whole Wheat in my starter, but then I use King Arthur's Unbleached Bread Flour to make the bread or biscuits.

Big R

[Prairiepiss]

Cool I may start playing with this a little later. I will wait till I get the brew room fridge up and going. Git to much other stuff going on now.

[AndyC]

Rtalbigr


You nailed it buddy King Aurthur is the best flour out there....I bake bread a make pizza dough and with the exact same techniques King Aurthurs flours beat all the other hands down...there is 0 comparison...it is more expensive but you can look for sales

On the baking sites that's what they all say...."get King Aurthur Flour"

Its the "gluten" content

One way to get around this is to buy "natural gluten" its the isolated gluten and a teaspoon or so added to a regular flour makes all the difference in the world

I plan on getting some to feed my beer yeast with using king Aurthur to start

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow


Cheers and Yaargh Y'all

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I'm drinking a bit of gin today....Gordons London Dry...it dont suck or if it does Im not aware of it after 3

[FightnFive]

Old thread, but wondered if anyone was or is still cultivating their own yeast from brew store specialty yeast and how is it going?

I would like to cultivate Burton yeast for Jimbo's Wheated Bourbon, instead of spending $8/5 gallon fermentor.

[MDH]

If you take your yeast, store it commercial glycerine and put it in the freezer it will survive there. Add a single drop of it to a 2l pop bottle that is "Wrinkly" (meaning you can squeeze it/let it expand) from being manhandled. Fill it half way with dry malt extract and sanitized water. Shake it frequently. Squash the bottle flat, let it slowly expand on its own. When it's full, let the gas out, squeeze it, let a bit of air in, repeat the process.

Yeast need oxygen and nutrients to reproduce. It's very easy to turn one single WYEAST package into enough yeast to last you through 20 5 gallon beer batches.

[Koula]

I'd love to see a youtube video of your process, MDH. But also alternatives.

I found a nice guide at the following website: http://suite101.com/article/propagating ... rew-a96880" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

But I'm still confused of course. Malt and wort... why can't yeast be up-sized with sugar water instead? Why isn't this recommended with dry yeasts?

[Skipper1953]

If you're really serious about propagating and preserving yeast you should check out the HomeBrewTalk forum. There is a sub-forum about yeast. There are several threads about preserving yeast that will literally tell you everything you ever wanted to know about yeast but were afraid to ask about. They probably won't yell at you for asking a question that may already have been answered. Just don't mention distilling as they tend to be a little touchy about that and refuse to talk about it.

There really is good reason for brewers to be a bit obsessive about sanitation, etc.