New Brewer - ordering yeast from WL

[hammer]

I am about to open a small brewery and wanted to ask everyone's experiences on ordering White Labs yeast. Basically we are back to back batching a little under 1.5 bbls into a 3bbl fermenter (I know, nano - bad idea. too late.)

I just got an account with White Labs and I was thinking about ordering a 2bbl pitch and starting off a smaller batch (about 40 gallons) and then collecting that yeast slurry to pitch into the 3bbls after harvesting (at the proper rate).

So, my question is, how are the White Labs pitches? The beer is a 1.065 IPA and I'd rather not use the 40 gallons as a big starter but rather collect the beer as a first batch. Being a long time homebrewer I know that White Labs sells their vials a"pitchable" when in actuality they are not quite "all that". OTOH I am not down with making starters if I can just order the yeast.

Any help would be appreciated!

[BrewinLou]

The primary difference between the homebrew "pitchable vials" and what you get directly from WL is the time spent in getting to you. The problem with the vials is they sit around in a retailers stock. This simply is not the case when buying pitchable slurries from WL directly. They are grown up after you place your order in most cases, pass QC, and then are sent out to you. They are 99+% viable, whereas the old vials ona store shelf are not close to that. Will you be reusing your yeast? What will the lag time be between repitchings?
I would suggest buying a 1.5 bbl pitchable slurry and pitch that in your first 1.5bbl batch, let that get started and add the second 1.5 bbl the next morning. Remember to get a good amount of oxygen in the first batch.

[hammer]

Yeah, plan on harvesting the yeast for at least 4 gens and will be brewing weekly. Thanks for the advice. That's what I was hoping to hear.

[Kushal]

You can get a lot more harvests out of the yeast (depending on what kind you are using)
we get an average of 20 successive harvest off the WLP001 before we see lags in fermentation.
Just make sure you use a proper amount of O2, some yeast nutrient, such as yeast-x, and put a volume of wort in your fermenter that won't blow out the top too much.
Happy brewing,

[hammer]

Wow, 20 gens? I figured I wouldn't go much over 8. I was a little concerned about repitching an 80 BU/16 plato beer. Are you guys washing the yeast after each pitch? Or just collecting the slurry?

[Natrat]

20?

I know of one brewery (not mine) where they are currently on their 88th generation...they have never bought yeast after their initial pitch.

Careful yeast management goes a long way. I tend to watch mutation, and if either viability or mutation gets out of hand, I start a new culture.

Looking at my records, we have gone as much as 18 generations...and as few as 4.

Nat

[HinduKush]

I know of one brewery (not mine) where they are currently on their 88th generation...they have never bought yeast after their initial pitch.

Careful yeast management goes a long way. I tend to watch mutation, and if either viability or mutation gets out of hand, I start a new culture.

Looking at my records, we have gone as much as 18 generations...and as few as 4.

Nat

I ran 320 some odd pitching of 01. I know of one brewery that has pitched 01 over 1000 times from its original slurry. I regularly go 20 with no issues. Yeast management is key.

[BigWilley]

HK,
Did you do any type of acid washing or chlorine dioxide washing when going that many gens?

[HinduKush]

HK,
Did you do any type of acid washing or chlorine dioxide washing when going that many gens?

Nope. Sanitary handling, cone to cone transfer, never let it sit too long under beer i.e. crash, start next batch within two days. It was still very clean and viable when I replaced it.

[hammer]

HinduKush - what gravity is the beer? My IPA is about 15.5 plato and it is pretty hoppy too. I'm worried about mutation from the (relatively) high gravity and hop resins coating the yeast. My plan had been to reculture part of the pitch after a few gens.

[HinduKush]

HinduKush - what gravity is the beer? My IPA is about 15.5 plato and it is pretty hoppy too. I'm worried about mutation from the (relatively) high gravity and hop resins coating the yeast. My plan had been to reculture part of the pitch after a few gens.

The lowest is 12 up to 17 on the normal product lines. If you are worried about bitter carry-over, don't pitch a lighter beer with hoppy yeast. It takes planning to maintain yeast for this length of time.

[bwiens]

I have heard from White Labs that they do or soon will offer 3bbl pitchables. Guess the demand is there at that size.

[REV]

I've had great luck with White Labs. Fast, friendly, great product.

For several years now I have been using a seven bbl pitch (jug makes an awesome growler, 'cept its clear) for my ten bbl system. Always have had great, consistent fermentation through 10-15 gens.

Just dont skimp on the O2.

As an aside I feel the same way about Wyeast, less the container aspect.

[kylesmi]

Second that on the growler "enviro growler" is what I like to call them. Take them to the lake or River. No glass!! Oh, and the yeast is great also..

[Eric Brewer]

I know that White Labs sells their vials a"pitchable" when in actuality they are not quite "all that". OTOH I am not down with making starters if I can just order the yeast.

In my experience, the time, energy and money saved by yeast propagation is well worth the effort of making a starter.

Also, the there is the psychological benefit of going home after brew day and knowing you're going to return tomorrow to a violently fermenting tank.

2nd generation and onward, it's not necessary.


As for White Labs, I'm another very satisfied customer. I wish all businesses were run the way White Labs is run.


PS -- Everyone getting 25 generations or more. When do you decide to pull the plug on the yeast? I've always gone four or five generations and then cash my chips and start from scratch. I'm too fearful of botching a batch and losing all that fermentation time.