harvesting & storing yeast

[Gurgeh]

I re-use my yeast - haven't had a problem in doing so and intend to continue.

Only thing is that I am full to capacity with beer! Experience has been gained, but now of course I need to make a decision about how to maintain my strain for a few months.


For longer term storage, Dave Line says in his book that you should put some yeast on a bit of tissue paper and let it drain, form it into a ball and wrap it in cling film before putting it into the freezer tray of your fridge. my instant response to that is a little impolite, but does it work? I know that H&G sell propagating equipment and that you can wash your yeast in acid, but does that enable you to store yeast for longer, or just improve sanitation on the next batch?

[Chiltern Brewer]

One of the best and simplest ways to store and propagate your yeast in the long term is to bottle a high gravity beer and then recover the yeast from the bottom of the bottle. Personally, I don't begrudge paying five quid once a year to get a fresh packet of liquid yeast.