Hey ladies and gents,
Is anybody brewing with an american ale strain on Sunday? I'd like to bank it from a pack and prop it up for my next brew on 7/4 weekend. My last 1056 plate was virtually unsalvagably contaminated with penicilium or aspergillus, and it's easier to restreak from pure than isolating over the course of several weeks.
I will be installing the yeast bank refrigerator under the bar soon (unless anybody has any objections to that location, or suggestion for a better one).
Cheers!
I was planning on brewing with 1056 on 6/28 if that helps. It will be from a starter.
Also I was curious -- how long does it take for you to step-up a plate to brew a batch of beer say in the range of 1.050-1.060? And do you just use really small starters and double the size bit by bit?
Plate -> 2 days @ 200mL -> 2 days @ 2000mL -> 1.040-1.050 beer
extra 2 days in 2000mL would likely yield enough for 1.050-1.060, but I like to pitch at high krausen. In general for Saccharomyces, each step can yield growth of 10x. The next step is 20,000mL which equals 5 gallons .: pitchable for our purpose.
Looking forward to higher gravity beers, or similarly to 10 gallon batches, I simply use 4 flasks which doubles my yield.
This all depends on the yeast strain too, different strains will grow at different rates. I've only really worked with English strains so far (London Ale III and Nottingham), but 1056 is the next one I want to count extensively since it's such a commonly used strain. I figure my data will help those who want to prop their own yeast as I do.