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Author Topic: Frozen 2112 Slurry  (Read 1815 times)

Offline davidgzach

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Frozen 2112 Slurry
« on: April 20, 2012, 06:47:20 am »
The strangest thing happened yesterday.  I took out my 2112 slurry to decant and wash on Wednesday.  Poured the water out from the top, filled with sterile water at the same temp of 36F and replaced in the fridge to let it settle out.  After this rinse I was going to pour the yeast off the trub and save for my next Steam Beer.

When I went to check to see if it had fallen out and was ready for transfer, I found it frozen!  The other containers in my fridge were fine, but this one had ice crystals throughout.  Any thoughts on what happened and how I can prevent this in the future?  And do you think I can defrost it and still reuse the yeast?  I swirled it up pretty good but there is still some ice in there.

Dave
Dave Zach

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Frozen 2112 Slurry
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2012, 01:50:47 pm »
If it was not frozen solid the yeast should be fine.  I'd make another starter with it just to be sure though.

For future reference, if it was frozen solid you'll probably get 99+% die off, but then with billions of cells there will probably be enough to revive if it is a hard to find strain.  If not, just replace it.

To prevent it in the future, put it in a warm spot in the fridge - top shelf, close to or on the door.  You might have had it right next to or under the cold air vent from the freezer.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline davidgzach

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Re: Frozen 2112 Slurry
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2012, 06:50:08 am »
If it was not frozen solid the yeast should be fine.  I'd make another starter with it just to be sure though.

For future reference, if it was frozen solid you'll probably get 99+% die off, but then with billions of cells there will probably be enough to revive if it is a hard to find strain.  If not, just replace it.

To prevent it in the future, put it in a warm spot in the fridge - top shelf, close to or on the door.  You might have had it right next to or under the cold air vent from the freezer.

Thanks Tom!  I'll definitely make a starter before the next Steam Beer.  I took it out and raised it to 68 to let it settle out and put back in.  That's the weird thing though.  It was right next to two other slurrys in the front, bottom of the fridge.  Strange.....

Edit:  However the other two were settled out and this one was in suspension. 
« Last Edit: April 21, 2012, 06:55:38 am by davidgzach »
Dave Zach

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Frozen 2112 Slurry
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2012, 01:08:47 am »
If it was not frozen solid the yeast should be fine.  I'd make another starter with it just to be sure though.

For future reference, if it was frozen solid you'll probably get 99+% die off, but then with billions of cells there will probably be enough to revive if it is a hard to find strain.  If not, just replace it.

To prevent it in the future, put it in a warm spot in the fridge - top shelf, close to or on the door.  You might have had it right next to or under the cold air vent from the freezer.

Thanks Tom!  I'll definitely make a starter before the next Steam Beer.  I took it out and raised it to 68 to let it settle out and put back in.  That's the weird thing though.  It was right next to two other slurrys in the front, bottom of the fridge.  Strange.....

Edit:  However the other two were settled out and this one was in suspension. 
That one could have had lower alcohol or something so maybe the freezing point wasn't as depressed as in the others, but who knows how the air currents in a refrigerator flow.  Let us know how the beer turns out.
Tom Schmidlin