Tony B
Well-Known Member
I’ve only been brewing a short time and always wondering… is this going to work?
A couple months ago I started a frozen yeast bank. I overbuilt a starter of 2 strains I was using and made small vials of them for freezing. Each vial contains 5ml yeast slurry and 5ml cryo-preservative. Wednesday night, in preparation for a batch, I decided to use a vial of Lutra and build a starter. I had moved the vial to the refrigerator the night before. Then as I was preparing the 1.6L starter wort, I set it in a glass of starsan solution to warm to room temp. I pitched it and set it on the stir plate.
Next morning, it didn’t look much different, but I had hopes and a pack of dry yeast as backup in case it didn’t work. When I got home from work it had a nice krausen on top and had turned a lighter, milky color.
It worked! Pretty amazing to me. 5ml of slurry should turn into about 200 billion cells and be ready for pitching this weekend. Top is just after setting on the stir plate. Bottom is 24h later.
A couple months ago I started a frozen yeast bank. I overbuilt a starter of 2 strains I was using and made small vials of them for freezing. Each vial contains 5ml yeast slurry and 5ml cryo-preservative. Wednesday night, in preparation for a batch, I decided to use a vial of Lutra and build a starter. I had moved the vial to the refrigerator the night before. Then as I was preparing the 1.6L starter wort, I set it in a glass of starsan solution to warm to room temp. I pitched it and set it on the stir plate.
Next morning, it didn’t look much different, but I had hopes and a pack of dry yeast as backup in case it didn’t work. When I got home from work it had a nice krausen on top and had turned a lighter, milky color.
It worked! Pretty amazing to me. 5ml of slurry should turn into about 200 billion cells and be ready for pitching this weekend. Top is just after setting on the stir plate. Bottom is 24h later.
