Been home brewing for many years now but stumbled onto your channel and I find it refreshing to watch you explain the details of very important processes that I often throw out the window due to busy schedules
I’m glad it’s helpful! I’ve been working on my brewing process for a while now and have landed on something that’s efficient, consistent, and not too stressful.
I've learned that if you take care of your yeast, it'll take care of you! Can't wait to start overbuilding starters to take my brews to the next level!
I have seen so many methods with the shaken not stirred. I do recommend this version of a starter if you’re using hot head kveik yeast. I just wouldn’t recommend shaking it every hour like you did with that strand of yeast.
Hi, since Kveik metabolism is faster than other Ale yeast, would you still recommend a 48 hs Starter or something more like half of that time, thanks for your advice! I have saved a bit of my last Voss Batch, and was planning to use the stirring plate with the magnetic pill
@@yovaalvarado9773. I have always done a starter for just 24 hours. Works well with even liquid yeast past 5 months. When I asked omga about using a starter they said it never hurts to make a starter. If you don’t like the results with the 24 hour starter go for the 48 hours like you were doing.
Very nice everything done right.(Going simpler do not boil use an electric kettle mix 1/2 cup or 1 cup of dme in the flask.) add yeast nutrient. Can you freeze the yeast ?
Freezing is fine. Have done it with sourdough starter which is just wild yeast. And when I wanted to use it pull it out the day before and thaw in room temp. Then once thaw create new starter
So you said you got the yeast from a local brewer, how did you go about that? Just dropped in and asked for some yeast? I am very new to brewing, currently gathering up my arsenal to start BIAB. Love the videos, you do a great job! 👍🍻
Thank you! Yes if you’re friends with a local brewery they can sometimes give you some yeast, they can definitely spare a home brew amount, but it can be inconvenient to grab, so make sure not to overstep your bounds.
I'd love to see if there's any difference between an ale yeast and a lager yeast - Wyeast 2007 going into a cold lager, should I keep my starter in the refrigerator the entire time? Or will the short turnaround between pitching in starter to pitching into wort be negligible to the yeast?
I’ve done lager starters at room temperature before with no noticeable off flavors. I do usually decant the liquid off the top after crashing like in this video as opposed to doing a warmer vitality style starter.
Enjoying your content so far thanks! So once you have your 'mini' yeast starters, how would you calculate how much to pitch? Are they each good for say a 5 gallon batch?
Yeah it depends, but I use one for a 5 gallon batch. I do another small starter to make that yeast active again and let it multiply before it hits the full batch though. That’s if the batch starts at about 1.060 or below. If it were higher than that, I’d maybe double it up or build another full starter and let it finish completely again. It’s a bit cyclical, but it definitely helps me keep good active yeast on hand to put into new brews.
It depends, but I’ve used them 3-5 months later. Make sure to do another small starter with it before pitching into a brew to make sure it’s still viable. Maybe have a back up dry packet of yeast if you’re gonna check the vitality the same day as the brew!
Yes you can! I haven’t specifically tried to maximize, but if you were to use the same yeast for many brews, you could keep an extra pitch and keep building off of that yeast for probably 10 generations! Basically getting 10x the value from your one yeast packet. Don’t hold on to any one bottle too long or it will lose it’s viability.
I’ve not heard of that! I keep building starters to maintain yeast health, and if I don’t use it I’ll buy more. Not the end of the world, but if you’re brewing often, saving yeast definitely helps.
You can freeze yeast for long term storage. I used to freeze sourdough starter which is just wild yeast when going away. Come back thaw it out and fee it which is basically just creating the starter like he said
Can you make a starter from a dry pack of yeast? Also do you need to remove the oxygen from the jar before storing it? My Jars are 500ml, I'm wondering if I only half fill them will it be ok?
Good questions. For the first, yes. You can definitely make a starter from dry yeast. I do it all the time. As for the second, I have never removed oxygen from the jars beforehand. Yeast need oxygen at the start of fermentation, so I have never felt the need to store yeast in an oxygen free environment before I add it to wort. I usually fill my containers about 90% full, and I know they can handle some pressure. I can’t say for sure that filling jars half full won’t cause issues with later generations of yeast.
I think that thermometer should be an adhesive one, I have received some of those while buying Brewing gear on Amazon, you just paste it to any vessel, very useful indeed d
Pro tip: that flask is lab grade glass and was designed to be heated. Just boil the sugar on your gas stove right in it. And chill then pitch. It’s so much easier.
This is what I do, a single drop of Fermcap stops any boilovers too. I also put the magnet in the boil so essentially everything in the flask is sterile. Also no need to boil 15 minutes, even just 1 minute is plenty
I know this is an old video but how do you have any idea what your cell count is? I know over pitching and under pitching can both be pretty big issues. Just seems like you really have no idea what you’re pitching
Um... you just dumped MOST of your live yeast. You were doing great up until that point. If you want to get rid of the extra liquid, you need to put it in the fridge for about 2 weeks. Over time you'll see the yeast (cloudy liquid) slowly settle to the bottom and clearer and clearer liquid form on top. The yeast layer at the bottom is mostly dead yeast (they can be used as nutrients for the live yeast) the cloudy liquid is all the active live yeast in suspension. So you do a starter like that for a say a week, ass more wort/malt extract every day or 2, then cold crashbin the fridge for 2 weeks so that all the yeast settle. Then pour off the liquid, and might as well drink it, it's Gruit. An unhopped beer. After you "dispose" of the Gruit, you add in a little more wort with nutrients, keep mixing and stirring for about another week, then cold crash again. I like to use a Mason jar with a lid and ring so I can tighten the lid, shake it, loosen the lid, let som air in, tighten the lid, shake it, let it sit. Lately I haven't even been making starters. I've just been making patches when I have my ongoing starter out in the growth cycle, shake it up real good and pour some in to whatever I'm mixing up. You don't want to give it too much sugars at once and don't want it to do dry. You want to try to keep a balance and keep adding oxygen in to promote cellular division rather than alcohol production. There will still be plenty yeast down in the yeast cake/Lees/Trub. But not nearly as many as what's floating around in solution.
@David Cooper not much really. It's basically worth. Not if you're going to store it, you want to cold crash it and pour off most of the liquid so you can put it in a smaller vial to store in the refrigerator. BUT the important step is to cold crash it. Yest there will be plenty of viable yeast in the tube at the bottom. However, the majority of the live active yeast will be in suspension. If you're going to make a batch on your day off, and start this build up a couple days ahead... there's really not much risk of pouring the whole starter straight in, or pouring the liquid in the wort with a lot of the active yeast and storing the trub for later. As long as it's been well covered where you aren't getting a bunch of the bacteria and stuff from the atmosphere into the Erlemeyer flask. If you do leave it open for long extended periods of time, you could get coinnoculation with other microorganisms. With beers, this is more risky than it is with wines, as the pH is typically higher, the gravity and final alcohol content is lower, and the nutrient content is a little more idea for deeming potentially harmful pathogenic bacterias. However, if you pH adjust the wort down to about 3.7, and are making a high grave beer... the worst of your worries is a sour or funky organism getting in there. Nothing harmful can live above about 10-12%ABV. And above about 13% most acetobacters cants really do much. Though others, such as Brettanomyaces, Lactic Acid Bacterias and Pediococcus may still be living and working in ABV between about 10-17%. So basically, keep it covered, pour in the wort with the active yeast, pour in some of the true, then pour the rest of the trub in a sterile vial and throw it in the fridge. Boom. That easy.
really helpful to see your whole walkthrough of the process on camera, including the follow-ups after! thanks!
The chuckle from the woman in the background sounds content and in love.. 😊
Been home brewing for many years now but stumbled onto your channel and I find it refreshing to watch you explain the details of very important processes that I often throw out the window due to busy schedules
I’m glad it’s helpful! I’ve been working on my brewing process for a while now and have landed on something that’s efficient, consistent, and not too stressful.
great call on labeling - always useful
That vessel is actually an erlen meyer
I've learned that if you take care of your yeast, it'll take care of you! Can't wait to start overbuilding starters to take my brews to the next level!
Thanks Jus!
Good video , good info , good beer , peace love dope ...
I have seen so many methods with the shaken not stirred. I do recommend this version of a starter if you’re using hot head kveik yeast. I just wouldn’t recommend shaking it every hour like you did with that strand of yeast.
Hi, since Kveik metabolism is faster than other Ale yeast, would you still recommend a 48 hs Starter or something more like half of that time, thanks for your advice! I have saved a bit of my last Voss Batch, and was planning to use the stirring plate with the magnetic pill
@@yovaalvarado9773. I have always done a starter for just 24 hours. Works well with even liquid yeast past 5 months. When I asked omga about using a starter they said it never hurts to make a starter. If you don’t like the results with the 24 hour starter go for the 48 hours like you were doing.
Great way to save a little $ on brew day.
Definitely! Yeast can add up fast
Very nice everything done right.(Going simpler do not boil use an electric
kettle mix 1/2 cup or 1 cup of dme in the flask.) add yeast nutrient.
Can you freeze the yeast ?
I haven’t looked into freezing yeast, but I’d worry that might kill it. No source on that though. I just keep it in the fridge!
Freezing is fine. Have done it with sourdough starter which is just wild yeast. And when I wanted to use it pull it out the day before and thaw in room temp. Then once thaw create new starter
i like yeast
So you said you got the yeast from a local brewer, how did you go about that? Just dropped in and asked for some yeast? I am very new to brewing, currently gathering up my arsenal to start BIAB. Love the videos, you do a great job! 👍🍻
Thank you! Yes if you’re friends with a local brewery they can sometimes give you some yeast, they can definitely spare a home brew amount, but it can be inconvenient to grab, so make sure not to overstep your bounds.
Cool vid. What’s the method for building up a single 11g packet to pitch into a 200L wort at 1.055?
I'd love to see if there's any difference between an ale yeast and a lager yeast - Wyeast 2007 going into a cold lager, should I keep my starter in the refrigerator the entire time? Or will the short turnaround between pitching in starter to pitching into wort be negligible to the yeast?
I’ve done lager starters at room temperature before with no noticeable off flavors. I do usually decant the liquid off the top after crashing like in this video as opposed to doing a warmer vitality style starter.
Enjoying your content so far thanks! So once you have your 'mini' yeast starters, how would you calculate how much to pitch? Are they each good for say a 5 gallon batch?
Yeah it depends, but I use one for a 5 gallon batch. I do another small starter to make that yeast active again and let it multiply before it hits the full batch though. That’s if the batch starts at about 1.060 or below. If it were higher than that, I’d maybe double it up or build another full starter and let it finish completely again. It’s a bit cyclical, but it definitely helps me keep good active yeast on hand to put into new brews.
@@ProstwithPeter thanks!
Good video Peter. How long can you leave your starters in the fridge before having to use them?
It depends, but I’ve used them 3-5 months later. Make sure to do another small starter with it before pitching into a brew to make sure it’s still viable. Maybe have a back up dry packet of yeast if you’re gonna check the vitality the same day as the brew!
@@ProstwithPeter Thanks Peter.
Can I increase a pk of liquid yeast and split into say 4 -100ml bottles to use later? Have
U ever tried that maximize $$ from one pkmof yeast?
Yes you can! I haven’t specifically tried to maximize, but if you were to use the same yeast for many brews, you could keep an extra pitch and keep building off of that yeast for probably 10 generations! Basically getting 10x the value from your one yeast packet. Don’t hold on to any one bottle too long or it will lose it’s viability.
Great video. Are you mixing glycol with the yeast for long term storage or have you not had problems wit that?.
I’ve not heard of that! I keep building starters to maintain yeast health, and if I don’t use it I’ll buy more. Not the end of the world, but if you’re brewing often, saving yeast definitely helps.
You can freeze yeast for long term storage. I used to freeze sourdough starter which is just wild yeast when going away. Come back thaw it out and fee it which is basically just creating the starter like he said
Can you make a starter from a dry pack of yeast? Also do you need to remove the oxygen from the jar before storing it? My Jars are 500ml, I'm wondering if I only half fill them will it be ok?
Good questions. For the first, yes. You can definitely make a starter from dry yeast. I do it all the time. As for the second, I have never removed oxygen from the jars beforehand. Yeast need oxygen at the start of fermentation, so I have never felt the need to store yeast in an oxygen free environment before I add it to wort. I usually fill my containers about 90% full, and I know they can handle some pressure. I can’t say for sure that filling jars half full won’t cause issues with later generations of yeast.
Hi! Where did you purchase the erlenmeyer with the thermometer incorporated? Thanks!!
I think that thermometer should be an adhesive one, I have received some of those while buying Brewing gear on Amazon, you just paste it to any vessel, very useful indeed d
Great how many 100 ml bottles did u get.
I got 4 pitches worth for standard 5-gallon brews.
It’s called an Erlenmeyer flask not a beaker
Pro tip: that flask is lab grade glass and was designed to be heated. Just boil the sugar on your gas stove right in it. And chill then pitch. It’s so much easier.
This is what I do, a single drop of Fermcap stops any boilovers too. I also put the magnet in the boil so essentially everything in the flask is sterile. Also no need to boil 15 minutes, even just 1 minute is plenty
Use a whisk!
good cat
I know this is an old video but how do you have any idea what your cell count is? I know over pitching and under pitching can both be pretty big issues. Just seems like you really have no idea what you’re pitching
I realize i'm commenting on an old video, so you prolly know now that starting gravity of 1.008 with high amounts of free nitrogen is better.
Um... you just dumped MOST of your live yeast. You were doing great up until that point. If you want to get rid of the extra liquid, you need to put it in the fridge for about 2 weeks. Over time you'll see the yeast (cloudy liquid) slowly settle to the bottom and clearer and clearer liquid form on top.
The yeast layer at the bottom is mostly dead yeast (they can be used as nutrients for the live yeast) the cloudy liquid is all the active live yeast in suspension. So you do a starter like that for a say a week, ass more wort/malt extract every day or 2, then cold crashbin the fridge for 2 weeks so that all the yeast settle. Then pour off the liquid, and might as well drink it, it's Gruit. An unhopped beer. After you "dispose" of the Gruit, you add in a little more wort with nutrients, keep mixing and stirring for about another week, then cold crash again.
I like to use a Mason jar with a lid and ring so I can tighten the lid, shake it, loosen the lid, let som air in, tighten the lid, shake it, let it sit.
Lately I haven't even been making starters. I've just been making patches when I have my ongoing starter out in the growth cycle, shake it up real good and pour some in to whatever I'm mixing up. You don't want to give it too much sugars at once and don't want it to do dry. You want to try to keep a balance and keep adding oxygen in to promote cellular division rather than alcohol production.
There will still be plenty yeast down in the yeast cake/Lees/Trub. But not nearly as many as what's floating around in solution.
What are the downsides to not pouring off any liquid at all?
@David Cooper not much really. It's basically worth. Not if you're going to store it, you want to cold crash it and pour off most of the liquid so you can put it in a smaller vial to store in the refrigerator. BUT the important step is to cold crash it. Yest there will be plenty of viable yeast in the tube at the bottom. However, the majority of the live active yeast will be in suspension.
If you're going to make a batch on your day off, and start this build up a couple days ahead... there's really not much risk of pouring the whole starter straight in, or pouring the liquid in the wort with a lot of the active yeast and storing the trub for later.
As long as it's been well covered where you aren't getting a bunch of the bacteria and stuff from the atmosphere into the Erlemeyer flask.
If you do leave it open for long extended periods of time, you could get coinnoculation with other microorganisms. With beers, this is more risky than it is with wines, as the pH is typically higher, the gravity and final alcohol content is lower, and the nutrient content is a little more idea for deeming potentially harmful pathogenic bacterias. However, if you pH adjust the wort down to about 3.7, and are making a high grave beer... the worst of your worries is a sour or funky organism getting in there. Nothing harmful can live above about 10-12%ABV. And above about 13% most acetobacters cants really do much. Though others, such as Brettanomyaces, Lactic Acid Bacterias and Pediococcus may still be living and working in ABV between about 10-17%.
So basically, keep it covered, pour in the wort with the active yeast, pour in some of the true, then pour the rest of the trub in a sterile vial and throw it in the fridge. Boom. That easy.
@@CrazyIvan865 Thanks!!
TH-cam, more annoying than PowerPoint!
TLDW