Yeast Starter

marcos_1

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I would like to save a little wyeast to start my next brew . Any tips about how to save a portion to use later
 
sanitation, sanitation, sanitation!
this is how i did it, after a bit of research and figuring what would work with my equipment on hand.
after racking the beer off the yeast cake, I added about a gallon or so of sterilized (boiled for 10 mins and cooled) water. I sloshed that around a bit, then poured it into a gallon-size jar.
I let that settle on the countertop for about an hour or so, and poured the liquid portion into 3 or 4 mason jars. be careful not to disturb that bottom layer of sediment. after that, i just labeled the jars with the type of yeast and date, then put them in the fridge.
I think i used them up in about 6 months or so, and they seemed to be fine. I should have made a starter every single time when reusing that yeast, but sometimes I got a bit lazy and fermentation lagged a bit.
no idea how much wyeast is compared to white labs, but when you can buy hops and grain in bulk, this was the last area where I could tighten the budget a little bit
good luck!
 
the easiest and safest way to grow yeast is to make a starer with the smack pack, then after a day split it in 2 or 3 batches then add each to another starter creating 3 batches, but you will have to pay attention to a couple of things, no light especially florescent, no warmer than room temperature, the cooler the better and spray with star-sans religiously. put all in the fridge completely sealed when done, do not leave any yeast open to the air, always cover and always spray with sanitizer, keep away from cooking areas, pets and windy areas

to go even further I put my stir-plate in the fermentation chamber at the same temperature I will be fermenting at that way the yeast is used to that temp and doesn't stress when you poor it in the beer, stress will cause a delay in fermentation
 
Ahh, i thought he was looking to save it after the brew, not before.
Sort of related, i think its important to treat the yeast as the living thing it is, and not an inert ingredient like grain or hops. Yes, i realize that those were alive at one point too, but yeast needs to be alive and kicking to do its job
 

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