Harvest Yeast From Bottle.. Does this look right?

[smAllGrain]

Just as the title says I am trying to harvest yeast for the first time & am wondering if it should look like this? Starter was 1.018 & added the dregs Saturday, now 4 days ago. I didnt see any activity but read online that I might not, or could easily missed it. Last night I made another 1.020 starter & this is what it looked like this morning.. Am I on the right track or should I toss it?

 

[flars]

Looking like very clean fresh yeast. Do you know what strain of yeast was in the bottle? Sometimes the yeast in the bottle is not the yeast used for the fermentation, but a different neutral yeast for conditioning.

 

[SnakeRidge]

That looks healthy to me. You're right that with these small starters you might not see any activity. One thing to look for is a very light kreutzen ring on the glass right above the liquid level. I step up yeast from slants (very small amounts of yeast) and that's the only way I can tell something happened sometimes.

 

[antony]

Looks good to me, I'd just keep building it up, see where it takes you.

+1 to flars comment, it might not be the yeast you were looking for.

 

[day_trippr]

Try using 1.040 starter wort, you're likely under-amping with such thin blends...

Cheers!

 

[smAllGrain]

Looking like very clean fresh yeast. Do you know what strain of yeast was in the bottle? Sometimes the yeast in the bottle is not the yeast used for the fermentation, but a different neutral yeast for conditioning.

I am not sure, this came out of a local brewery's Belgian Golden Strong. I was hoping it was the Belgian strain so I could make a clone. Guess I better email the brewery and ask if they use a different yeast for bottling.

 

[smAllGrain]

Try using 1.040 starter wort, you're likely under-amping with such thin blends...

Cheers!

Once I hear back from the brewery I think I will step it up. Need to make a starter either tomorrow or Friday.

Thanks everyone for the responses!

Cheers

 

[Brew_G]

Try using 1.040 starter wort, you're likely under-amping with such thin blends...

Cheers!

It's good practice to start with weaker starter wort when harvesting because the yeast has been in a hostile environment for a while. Weak wort won't stress the yeast, but it will allow for growth. Once you decide to step up you can start increasing the SG of the wort to get more exponential yeast growth.

 

[smAllGrain]

Just got a response from the brewery!

"Thanks for your question. We do not currently bottle condition the Blonde Fatale, so if there is sediment in the bottle, it would be from the original yeast settling out. That is normal for that style of beer, since it is technically unfiltered.

We do centrifuge our beers, so there's typically less sediment than before we did that, but please let me know if it is a significant amount or if you notice any issues with the beer."

Looks like I got the Belgian Yeast I wanted! Going to make a starter tomorrow or Friday with the yeast I have and then throw it in a low gravity Blonde. Once fermentation is done I will wash the yeast and then attempt to clone this 8.5% ABV Belgian Golden Strong.

Thanks again for all of the responses

Cheers

 

[smAllGrain]

Here goes nothin. First starter ever! Hope this takes off. Brew day set for Saturday!

Cheers

 

[smAllGrain]

Hey we have foam!! Boom!

 

[SnakeRidge]

Hey we have foam!! Boom!

Success smells sweet...and malty.

 

[falkaveli]

Congrats!

 

[smAllGrain]

Hey hey back at it again

 

[smAllGrain]

Boom! Looks like we have a winner