Yeast Storage

Steve SPF

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Any thoughts on storing yeast? I buy in 500gm bricks and then re-package into 10gm vacuum packs. In my (simple!) mind a dried product should retain all of its condition treated like that but am I kidding myself?

I'm using Safale products so have S04, US05 and now some Safcider as well. I keep getting phenol flavours in my beers and am now wondering if yeast could be the source.
 
Any thoughts on storing yeast? I buy in 500gm bricks and then re-package into 10gm vacuum packs. In my (simple!) mind a dried product should retain all of its condition treated like that but am I kidding myself?

I'm using Safale products so have S04, US05 and now some Safcider as well. I keep getting phenol flavours in my beers and am now wondering if yeast could be the source.
Agreed. Check for chlorine in your water. If it's not in your water report, go to an aquarium supply shop and pick up some test strips - they're not extremely accurate but they'll tell you if the chlorine is there. If it is, Campden tablets will remove either chlorine or the more likely chloramine almost instantly. One tablet is good for 20 gallons so crush one up (or use potassium metabisulfite, 0.3g, same thing) and add it to your brewing liquor. Your chlorine then becomes a trivial amount of chloride and sulfate almost instantly.
 
Been using sodium metabisulphate since pretty much day one
 
Been using sodium metabisulphate since pretty much day one
You shouldn't be getting phenols from the yeasts you mention, hence my treatise on meta and chlorine. So with the obvious eliminated, can you describe the phenolic flavor?
 
You shouldn't be getting phenols from the yeasts you mention, hence my treatise on meta and chlorine. So with the obvious eliminated, can you describe the phenolic flavor?

I would say tinny and antiseptic. It's actually not as bad in the current brew but definitely there. I've been blaming it on my cleaning routine but really struggling to see what else I could do on that side. I feel like I'm paranoid with the cleaning and have a good caustic/perbac routine so am just thinking that something else could be the culprit.
 
Just a shot in the dark but, could the issue be caused by not enough rinsing?
 
Just a shot in the dark but, could the issue be caused by not enough rinsing?

Don't know if it could but I would be really surprised if it is. I use caustic and peracetic so the caustic gets rinsed out and the last thing to touch the surfaces is peracetic in a no-rinse 0.5% concentration.

I only have the one pump so even when I transfer from the HLT I will run the peracetic through the pump before transferring from the kettle to fermenter so that I'm chasing out a sterilant rather than wtaer.

I'm finding it hard to believe it's the cleaning routine so scratching round for possibilities at this stage, hence the yeast question.
 

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