How long can you store recovered yeast in the fridge?

[Eric Scheidler]

Hi there -- it's been ages since I posted here, but I've been brewing all-grain a couple of times a year with great results.

My last brew was a double IPA made with WLP001 (and nothing but Galaxy hops -- delish!), and I recovered a healthy amount of yeast from the primary, which has been sitting in a jar in my beer fridge, under distilled water ever since.

This would be about mid-November of last year. I've never waited this long to use recovered yeast before (a practice I've only used a couple of times). Your reckon I can still use it?

I always use a starter, and would plan to do so with this yeast anyway. Will that do the trick? Or should I play it safe and buy a new vial of WLP001?

Thanks!

-- Eric

[Tom Biasi]

Post by Eric Scheidler
Hi there -- it's been ages since I posted here, but I've been brewing all-grain a couple of times a year with great results.
My last brew was a double IPA made with WLP001 (and nothing but Galaxy hops -- delish!), and I recovered a healthy amount of yeast from the primary, which has been sitting in a jar in my beer fridge, under distilled water ever since.
This would be about mid-November of last year. I've never waited this long to use recovered yeast before (a practice I've only used a couple of times). Your reckon I can still use it?
I always use a starter, and would plan to do so with this yeast anyway. Will that do the trick? Or should I play it safe and buy a new vial of WLP001?
Thanks!
-- Eric

Hi Eric,
I don't reclaim yeast unless it's something special. Since you are
talking regular old WLP001 what would you gain by using the old spent
yeast instead of buying a fresh batch?

Tom

[Eric Scheidler]

Well, I'd save about six bucks, plus an extra trip to the homebrew store. I'm buying grains on Friday at an awesome homebrew store I'm going to be near that day, but I need to have my yeast started before then.

-- Eric

[Bart Goddard]

Post by Eric Scheidler
Well, I'd save about six bucks, plus an extra trip to the homebrew
store. I'm buying grains on Friday at an awesome homebrew store I'm
going to be near that day, but I need to have my yeast started before
then.
-- Eric

If it were me, I'd make a starter-starter and see how active
the yeast is, or if I could wake it up. If it's not rousing
by Friday, you can pick up some new yeast. If it's going great
guns on Thursday, you can use the starter-starter to start your
starter and will have confidence in not buying the fresh yeast.

B.

[baloonon]

Post by Bart Goddard

Post by Eric Scheidler
Well, I'd save about six bucks, plus an extra trip to the homebrew
store. I'm buying grains on Friday at an awesome homebrew store I'm
going to be near that day, but I need to have my yeast started before
then.

If it were me, I'd make a starter-starter and see how active
the yeast is, or if I could wake it up. If it's not rousing
by Friday, you can pick up some new yeast. If it's going great
guns on Thursday, you can use the starter-starter to start your
starter and will have confidence in not buying the fresh yeast.

I have a batch of 1469 that I've been nursing along for about nine
months now, and I'm debating whether to put it to bed now. Everything
I've read suggests there's something of a crap shoot based on viability
and mutation and infection, so I'm inclined to let this batch be its
last hurrah, but a part of me wants to see if I can keep ol' Yorky
going.

I've been playing around with reviving yeast from bottled conditioned
Belgian beer, and who knows how old that is, and it's been working fine,
but I've only been using it in small batches -- I'd be a bit reluctant
to blow a big batch due to crapshoot yeast.

[Dan Logcher]

Post by Tom Biasi
Hi Eric,
I don't reclaim yeast unless it's something special. Since you are talking regular old WLP001 what
would you gain by using the old spent yeast instead of buying a fresh batch?

I re-use yeast from time to time depending on frequency of brewing. I once had a bad batch
from re-using yeast that was 3 months old. It failed to start up right away, so I added new
yeast. It still had many live off-flavor yeast so it ended badly..

If you save yeast, be sure to use within a month.

[Steve Bonine]

Post by Dan Logcher
If you save yeast, be sure to use within a month.

The only time that I "save yeast" is when I pour a new batch on top of
the yeast cake in the carboy that I just got done moving the contents to
secondary. And even then I do it only once.

I'm not into using obscure strains of yeast that I've carefully
scavenged from a purchased beer or that have been passed down generation
to generation. If I were, I could understand the justification for
saving yeast. But if it's a common easily-obtained strain, it makes no
sense to save a few bucks by trying to save it. The cost/benefit just
isn't there. Even if the chance of infecting the new batch is small,
the cost of new yeast is small . . . but the cost of the ingredients you
ruin, and your time, is not.

[Dan Logcher]

Post by Dan Logcher
If you save yeast, be sure to use within a month.

The only time that I "save yeast" is when I pour a new batch on top of the yeast cake in the carboy
that I just got done moving the contents to secondary. And even then I do it only once.

I did this twice and had an issue on the 3rd batch, and it was only a days time between second
and third batch that caused a mutation. The two batches I've had to toss were from re-using yeast.
I'm sure yeast washing would have helped, but like you said I'm not using some obscure strain of
yeast so the effort is not really worth the price or risk. I did it more as an experiement.

[baloonon]

Post by Dan Logcher

Post by Steve Bonine

Post by Dan Logcher
If you save yeast, be sure to use within a month.

The only time that I "save yeast" is when I pour a new batch on top
of the yeast cake in the carboy that I just got done moving the
contents to secondary. And even then I do it only once.

I did this twice and had an issue on the 3rd batch, and it was only a
days time between second and third batch that caused a mutation. The
two batches I've had to toss were from re-using yeast. I'm sure yeast
washing would have helped, but like you said I'm not using some
obscure strain of yeast so the effort is not really worth the price or
risk. I did it more as an experiement.

I'd certainly be leery of doing it with a big important batch on the
line. On the other hand, I make a fair number of smaller batches of
beer and I find the whole process pretty easy and straightforward and
haven't had a problem with infections. If you're doing a 2 gallon
batch, the cost/benefit ratio would shift a lot if you used fresh liquid
yeast every time.

I can definitely see where the risk of infection can sneak in, and I try
to be pretty paranoid about washing and storing, and I find harvesting
to be a lot easier with top-cropping yeasts. I don't try to save them
indefinitely, and usually start over after about 4 rounds. And if I'm
making a standard 5 gallon batch of pale ale with S05, I'll just use
fresh yeast every time.

I can also see how someone who depends on web/mail order would have a
much stronger incentive to save liquid yeast, since the cost is
typically higher, the waiting time is longer and there are higher risks
of getting a dud batch.

[Steve Bonine]

Post by Dan Logcher

Post by Steve Bonine

Post by Dan Logcher
If you save yeast, be sure to use within a month.

The only time that I "save yeast" is when I pour a new batch on top of
the yeast cake in the carboy
that I just got done moving the contents to secondary. And even then I do it only once.

I did this twice and had an issue on the 3rd batch, and it was only a
days time between second
and third batch that caused a mutation. The two batches I've had to
toss were from re-using yeast.
I'm sure yeast washing would have helped, but like you said I'm not
using some obscure strain of
yeast so the effort is not really worth the price or risk. I did it
more as an experiement.

I do mine the same day. But like you say, the third time may not be the
charm.

I like the very healthy fermentation I get on the second batch. I could
accomplish the same thing by preparing a big starter, but essentially I
already have a big starter just sitting in the bottom of the carboy, so
I use it. I've never had infection issues just using it twice.

[Ecnerwal]

Post by Eric Scheidler
which has been sitting in a jar in my beer fridge, under distilled water ever
since.
This would be about mid-November of last year. I've never waited this long to
use recovered yeast before (a practice I've only used a couple of times).
Your reckon I can still use it?
I always use a starter, and would plan to do so with this yeast anyway. Will
that do the trick? Or should I play it safe and buy a new vial of WLP001?

Stored as described, should be fine, IMHO, IME, and in the E of folks
who did a lot more work on yeast-washing than I can claim to back in the
days when this newsgroup actually had traffic. By all means, start it up
and see what happens, but I'd expect it to be fine. I never have gotten
int the agar slants business, but stored in water in the fridge has
worked fine for me.

[Eric Scheidler]

Post by Ecnerwal
Stored as described, should be fine, IMHO, IME, and in the E of folks
who did a lot more work on yeast-washing than I can claim to back in the
days when this newsgroup actually had traffic. By all means, start it up
and see what happens, but I'd expect it to be fine ...

Thanks for this. I'll try starting it up tomorrow and see how it goes. If I recall correctly, it's a fairly good amount of yeast, so just waking it up with some fresh wort might be all I need to do.

[BeverageBob]

I've what I call a "Mothership" for years. I use an empty sanitized 2L soda bottle to store the slurry in. I've resurrected yeast from 2 years making huge stepped up starters, pitching and getting positive air lock in my fermenters within 8-12 hours with high krausen within 20-30 hours....haven't had a problem yet....just make sure you taste the starter before you pitch so you don't waste time/ingredients. It also helps having dry yeast as backup if that happens.

[Bart Goddard]

Post by BeverageBob
I've what I call a "Mothership" for years. I use an empty

sanitized 2L

Post by BeverageBob
soda bottle to store the slurry in. I've resurrected yeast from 2
years making huge stepped up starters, pitching and getting

positive

Post by BeverageBob
air lock in my fermenters within 8-12 hours with high krausen

within

Post by BeverageBob
20-30 hours....haven't had a problem yet....just make sure you

taste

Post by BeverageBob
the starter before you pitch so you don't waste time/ingredients.

It

Post by BeverageBob
also helps having dry yeast as backup if that happens.

See? Only a 14 month lag in response times. Who says
this group is dead?