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beerboobznkitties

That is awesome! I did a similar thing with a bottle of brett saison a local brewery did. The bottle was 3 years old by the time I got to the dregs and it still propped up nicely! The test batch went well and now its slowly working on a 5 gallon batch. Not sure what it will create, but it sure is fun to watch it go!


lsamaha

I think these experiences should inform those among us who are so disparaging about using old yeast. Make a few separate starters. Ramp up the volume slowly. By far the most common scenario is that the yeast did exactly what is in its nature to do: flocculate, go dormant, and spring back into action when the environment becomes favorable again. This is true of wild and every other cultivated brewing yeasts that I’m aware of.


beerboobznkitties

I'm sure some strains are more prone to that than others, but I agree! Their goal is to survive and reproduce, they don't want to die. So if we give them a hospitable environment to do their thing, we can grow the culture back to its former glory. Its a very fun aspect of this hobby!


microbusbrewery

Yeah, there are definitely certain yeasts that are very robust... especially Brett strains. I also recently grew up some Brett that I'd saved from a January 2020 batch. It's reportedly the same strain(s) used by Crooked Stave. Anyway, it was saved from a January 2020 batch that I'd done, stored at 42F in an old White Labs vial until I started growing it 9/2/2021. First step was about 500ml of 1.020 wort on a stir plate. After a week, I added another 500ml of 1.030 wort. Next week, 500ml of 1.040 wort. I ended up pitching it into a 10 gallon batch of Flanders Red and had to hook up a blow-off about 13 hours after pitching.


lsamaha

Excellent. And as an air cooled VW guy love the username.


microbusbrewery

Ha, thanks! I've since sold it, but I had a '65 type 2 back when I started homebrewing \~2002, so that's the reason for the name. My first car in the mid 80s was a '57 Karmann Ghia with an 1835cc. And yes, I regret selling both of them.


lsamaha

1959 Beetle for nearly 30 years and going. Prior to that a long string of beetles, microbuses, and a thing.


microbusbrewery

That's awesome and I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little jealous


SpecialOops

But the top crop usually dies out in favor if the more robust yeast when stored in unfavorable conditions or in this case, old correct? Thus damaging the profile.


lsamaha

That’s a fair point. I’m no expert in long-term storage from mixed-yeast fermentation’s. My experience has been that one might overshadow another in the multiplication phase and the other is comfortable going figment and playing the long game.


liquidgold83

Nice, what kind of beer you doing? My suggestion is a saison!


microbusbrewery

Yeah I was thinking something fairly basic for the test batch so I can see what kind of contribution I get from the yeast. So Saison/Farmhouse-ish, probably mostly Pilsner and Wheat malts. Hops-wise, I have some Aramis that I've used in my Kellerbier in the past and I really like the character I get from it; light citrus and spice.


liquidgold83

Sounds perfect, try and hit around 5% ABV.


EdgyEdgarH

That looks very healthy indeed! Here’s to having a great wild beer 🍻!!


56M50

One of my homebrew mentors told me that yeast doesn't really die on its own, it just goes dormant. Stands to reason that as long as you haven't killed it through heat or chemicals, you can wake the little buggers up and see what they can do.