theCougfan97
Well-Known Member
Will I need a stir plate if I am going to start washing and recycling my yeast?
I am leaning towards the DIY stir plate. The next question(s) would then be how big of a flask do I need? Can it just be a mason jar? And how big should the stir bar be?
Mason jars do not have a flat bottom, so it can be hard to make them work. that said, I did use a 2L pickle jar for a year or so successfully. Flasks are better. For <1.060 ales you can get away with a 1L flask. Lagers or big ales will need a 2L (and big-gravity lagers may need upto 4L).I am leaning towards the DIY stir plate. The next question(s) would then be how big of a flask do I need? Can it just be a mason jar? And how big should the stir bar be?
Shameless self-plug here, but I did a quick youtube video for my brewclub (I manage our yeastbank) on how to make pitchable amounts of yeast on the cheap. You'd be starting off with larger numbers of yeast than we do with the bank, so you'd want to modify the process to take that into account (i.e. jump straight into a full 2L culture; no need for the ~250ml). None-the-less, your upfront costs are a bit of DME and an empty 2L soda bottle...
Bryan
I am leaning towards the DIY stir plate. The next question(s) would then be how big of a flask do I need? Can it just be a mason jar? And how big should the stir bar be?
Get at least a 2L. You will discover that a 1L is too small the first time you use it.
Exactly, skip the smaller step and go right to the big one:So if I have a smack pack of Wyeast 3068 for a hefeweizen (which I'm told I should do a starter for a 5 gallon batch with an OG of 1.049-1.053) I can skip directly to the second step of this video? So how much DME and Water would I need to boil to be at step two? Also, how far ahead of time should this be made so that I can put it in the fridge for a day so that I can decant off and only pitch the slurry?
jflongo said:Also, keep in mind, the date of the yeast. "According to YeastCalc" not sure if this is 100% true, but you lose about 10% viability every month past the production date.
I'm talking liquid yeast. Not sure how that pertains to dry.
jflongo said:I'm talking liquid yeast. Not sure how that pertains to dry.
I am guessing dry or wet doesn't matter, my question is really when the degradation you referred to occurs. Is it from first day of purchase or between brews while I am saving washed yeast for my next brew? The difference being in the latter scenario I would only have to buy each yeast strand once and just keep washing and reusing.
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