Maintaining a healthy yeast culture - long term

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Lukass, Aug 5, 2016.

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  1. Lukass

    Lukass Pooh-Bah (2,891) Dec 16, 2012 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah

    I know there's a lot of information out there on this, but just seeing how you guys go about storing yeast long term. I've got a brett blend that's been in a few small mason jars in the fridge for about 6 months now (it's created a dense cake on the bottom, with crystal clear 'beer' on top). I'm wanting to use it for a batch, but probably won't get to it for another 5-6 months from now. Should I wake it up now by building it up with a few starters, decant, and then put back into a jar to fall asleep in the fridge again? Or, should I just let it stay dormant for another 5 months and just build it up with starters before pitching?

    I've never waited this long with stored yeast before, and have read that there may not be a lot of viable yeast in there after a year. Have you guys had any luck with year-old yeast before?
     
    #1 Lukass, Aug 5, 2016
  2. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    not a year, but did store around a quart of Windsor slurry for 8.5 months according to the book, dumped it all into a 6.5 gallon batch which normally would be an over pitch and had no issues.
    I got no experience with bret
     
    #2 GormBrewhouse, Aug 5, 2016
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  3. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    I keep my Bretts working fairly hard (e/o month) but I would wake it up with a couple starters then do a rinse with sterile water and store it that way.
     
    #3 jbakajust1, Aug 5, 2016
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  4. skivtjerry

    skivtjerry Pooh-Bah (1,865) Mar 10, 2006 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    I have successfully revived a 4 year old lager yeast from nothing fancier than fridge storage. It was just an experiment but the starter tasted good enough that I brewed with it, with no issues. It could have been WY I bought the week before.

    It was in the back of my beer fridge so the air circulation would have kept it very close to freezing. Used a teaspoon of mid-cake slurry and stepped it up 3 times. Made an excellent Vienna lager.
     
    #4 skivtjerry, Aug 5, 2016
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  5. OldBrewer

    OldBrewer Maven (1,385) Jan 13, 2016 Canada (ON)

    No experience with storing Brett, but I often keep yeast in the fridge for many months at a time (up to a year and a half). I often make a new starter of it every 2 or 3 months to keep it active and put it back in the fridge. Make sure you add yeast nutrient.
     
    #5 OldBrewer, Aug 7, 2016
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