multi purpose yeast

[Tabb]

So I'm thinking about starting to save yeast. I'm curious about whats a good all purpose yeast that works ok or good for whatever?

 

[LLBeanJ]

1056/WLP001/US-05 is about as multi-purpose as they come.

 

[RmikeVT]

I have started to save yeast recently and use the following method, I find it much easier than washing yeast from the bottom of a carboy/bucket:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/yeast-harvesting-novel-approach.html

I typically calculate enough extra wort for 100B more cells than needed for pitching. Then I pour off before I put the starter in the fridge to drop the yeast out.

I have in my collection so far:
WLP001 same as us-05 and wyeast1056 or so they say
Pacman harvested from a Rogue Shakespeare Stout bottle
WLP500 Hefe Yeast
WLP005 british Ale

I gotta say WLP001 and WLP005 have been good to me. I love the speed, flocculation and malty profile of WLP005. And the clean, attenuative, hoppy profile of WLP001. I like WLP002, but didn't happen to save that one.

I am looking forward to experimenting more with the pacman as you can take it down to 57*

Between buying a grain mill and bulk grain, along with saving/ranching yeast, I have probably cut the cost of brewing a 5.5g batch by $10-$15 depending on the grain bill and how I calculate the savings.

 

[LLBeanJ]

I do pretty much the same thing as RmikeVT. I've got close to 30 batches under my belt since starting brewing a little over a year ago. I've only purchased 6 vials/smack packs of yeast (all different strains) and I am still working from those today. I washed the first two, then figured out that splitting starters was a whole heck of a lot easier and have been doing that ever since.

My strains are:

WLP001 California Ale
WLP004 Irish Ale
WLP500 Trappist Ale
WLP550 Belgian Ale
1272 American Ale II
3068 Weihenstephan

 

[RmikeVT]

I do pretty much the same thing as RmikeVT. I've got close to 30 batches under my belt since starting brewing a little over a year ago. I've only purchased 6 vials/smack packs of yeast (all different strains) and I am still working from those today. I washed the first two, then figured out that splitting starters was a whole heck of a lot easier and have been doing that ever since.

Also, splitting the starter you can really control how much yeast you are saving and better calculate for future batches.

 

[LLBeanJ]

^ Agreed.

It does seem to take a lot of the guesswork out of it. Knowing that my yeast slurry is pretty pure, means I can eyeball the level in the jar to determine an approximate cell count and enter that number into yeastcalc to plan out my starter. Also, I've made starters from 8 month old refrigerated slurry that was saved off a previous starter and the lag time for the first step was maybe 24 hours max.

 

[Tabb]

Thanks for all the info so far and the link which I'll read at home tonight.

So follow on question : where are you getting info on how much of a starter to make?

 

[LLBeanJ]

Yeastcalc.com is a great site for starter planning.

 

[daksin]

For a clean american ale strain I like WLP090. It's a better worker than the chico strains (WLP001, WY1056, US-05), I think, if you can use pure O2. It ferments faster and flocs harder, and will tolerate more alcohol.

For British yeasts you really can't go wrong with WLP002, but if you like less yeast character in your British beers go with WLP007.

For Belgians, you almost can't go wrong. They're super versatile. Maybe a Saison yeast like WY3711 or WLP556, but really with Belgians you can use them for almost anything- ferment cooler for a Dubbel/Tripel, do an acid rest and ferment at 70F for a hefeweizen/wit-like character, and go way up to 90F for a nice summer sipper.

 

[Tabb]

I am kinda all over the place with beers I like so I'm going to stock pile as I go.
Like right now I bottled a American light from a kit on Saturday and on Tuesday I transferred my first allgrain chocolate raspberry stout to the secondary.
This month has been a great beer month for me.