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Author Topic: Bringing yeast back from the dead...  (Read 3266 times)

Offline homebrewdad7

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Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« on: September 15, 2015, 09:02:07 am »
For those calculations that say that you have no viable liquid yeast after a few months, I say "neener neener".  I just successfully spun up a starter of WLP037 that was nearly a year old, and it seems to be doing great.

Full blog post (with pictures and video! ;)) - bringing yeast back from the dead.
« Last Edit: September 15, 2015, 09:45:02 am by homebrewdad7 »

Offline jtoots

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2015, 09:33:02 am »
broken link  :o ;D

Offline homebrewdad7

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2015, 09:45:28 am »
Good grief.  That's twice in a row that I've done that!  Need to preview my links, no?

Sorry about that - the link is fixed.

Online denny

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2015, 10:18:57 am »
I've successfully used 3 1/2 year old WY3522.
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Offline homebrewdad7

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2015, 10:22:13 am »
We have a new leader in the clubhouse!  My buddy Matt has done two year old yeast... 3.5 year old takes the cake, I'd say.

Online denny

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #5 on: September 15, 2015, 10:24:24 am »
We have a new leader in the clubhouse!  My buddy Matt has done two year old yeast... 3.5 year old takes the cake, I'd say.

It was a year and a half old when my LHBS gave it to me rather than toss it.  It sat in the back of my fridge unnoticed to another 2 years.  When I discovered it, I decided I had nothing to lose but a bit of DME if I tried to start it up.  Started with 1 qt. of 1.020 wort and stepped up a couple times with stronger wort.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline chumley

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #6 on: September 15, 2015, 10:33:20 am »
In 2011. I gave a guy in our local club a six-year old slant of Brewtek CL300 Belgian ale yeast.  He made a starter, and it took off in a week. After he brewed with it, I got some of the slurry back and made a killer tripel with it.

Online denny

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #7 on: September 15, 2015, 10:34:19 am »
In 2011. I gave a guy in our local club a six-year old slant of Brewtek CL300 Belgian ale yeast.  He made a starter, and it took off in a week. After he brewed with it, I got some of the slurry back and made a killer tripel with it.

WINNER!

I loved CL300.  Seems like it was Westmalle yeast.  What do you think?
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline homebrewdad7

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #8 on: September 15, 2015, 10:35:21 am »
And now, we have six years.  Though, to be fair, a slant is a little different than a vial of liquid yeast.

Probably not THAT different, but still...



Online denny

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #9 on: September 15, 2015, 10:36:58 am »
And now, we have six years.  Though, to be fair, a slant is a little different than a vial of liquid yeast.

Probably not THAT different, but still...

If anything, I'd think it would be more fragile.  The recommendation is to reculture slants every 6 months.  chumley, did you do that?
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Offline chumley

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #10 on: September 15, 2015, 10:41:03 am »
And now, we have six years.  Though, to be fair, a slant is a little different than a vial of liquid yeast.

Probably not THAT different, but still...

If anything, I'd think it would be more fragile.  The recommendation is to reculture slants every 6 months.  chumley, did you do that?

No, I did not reculture the slant.  It was straight from the lab.

Yes, it did seem a lot like Westmalle yeast, in regards to taste.  I bought it after reading an old Zymurgy article where tripel wort was made at a local brewpub, and split between 8 or 9 different yeast varieties.  The CL300 was the taste panel winner.

Offline homebrewdad7

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #11 on: September 15, 2015, 10:51:57 am »
So even more impressive, though really, six years already boggles the mind. 

I love good Belgians.  Would love a chance to try this yeast.

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #12 on: September 15, 2015, 11:42:28 am »
If anything, I'd think it would be more fragile.  The recommendation is to reculture slants every 6 months. 

As long as it is kept aseptic, a slant is definitely less fragile.  The culture grows in the presence of O2, and it does not lie in its own waste.  I have subcultured slants that were two years old without any problems.  I have maintained cultures on slant for over a decade.  Granted, the cultures were periodically subcultured, but I do not believe that I subcultured more frequently than once per year.

« Last Edit: September 15, 2015, 01:54:15 pm by S. cerevisiae »

Online denny

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #13 on: September 15, 2015, 11:44:35 am »
If anything, I'd think it would be more fragile.  The recommendation is to reculture slants every 6 months. 

As long as it is it is kept aseptic, a slant is definitely less fragile.  The culture grows in the presence of O2, and it does not lie in its own waste.  I have subcultured slants that were two years old without any problems.  I have maintained cultures on slant for over a decade.  Granted, the cultures were periodically subcultured, but I do not believe that I subcultured more frequently than once per year.

thanks for that info, Mark!
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Online denny

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Re: Bringing yeast back from the dead...
« Reply #14 on: September 15, 2015, 11:45:17 am »
So even more impressive, though really, six years already boggles the mind. 

I love good Belgians.  Would love a chance to try this yeast.

Having used it, although long ago, I'm 99% sure it's Westmalle, which is WY3787.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell