Yeast Culturing

Some beer recipes I will be posting soon include:
Rye Lager
Shackleton Smoked Porter
Smoked Chili IPA
Ginger Saison
Cherry Trippel
Franziskaner Hefe-weisse clone

So... I decided that I need another brew on tap, my kegerator has been dry for some time now. I've been experimenting with different wheat brews, trying to get something that tastes like a Franziskaner. Wyeast just doesn't come close. So I've decided to culture some yeast from the bottom of a Franziskaner Hefe-weisse.

How to culture yeast from your favorite beer.

Equipment:
two 12 oz. empty beer bottles
2 bottle caps and capper
2 rubber stoppers that fit an airlock and a 12 oz. bottle
2 airlocks
grain alcohol or vodka
cotton swabs
a lighter
one-step cleaning solution
2 quarts of wort
2 bottle conditioned beers that have yeast to culture

It is important to note that this process must take place 2 days in advance of the brewing day that you wish to use this yeast with.


The first step is to buy a couple (2) bottles of beer that were bottle conditioned or have a yeast build-up on the bottom of the bottle. Set the beers out at room temperature.

Put the rubber stoppers and airlocks in a bath of one-step cleaning solution. Fill the two empty bottles with one-step and water. Set aside.

Put two bottle caps in the grain alcohol, or boil caps to sterilize.

Next step is to get a hold of some wort. You can either set aside 2 quarts of wort from your latest brew, or make a small batch of wort. To make 2 quarts of wort, boil 2 quarts water with 6 oz. of dry or liquid malt extract, and a small handful (1/4 oz. or so) of hops for a preservative quality.


Boil wort for 30 minutes then strain out the hops and turn off the heat. Pour the cleaning solution from the bottles, dip a cotton swab in the grain alcohol or vodka, and sterilize the mouth of one beer bottle. Heat the mouth of the beer bottle with the lighter. Using a funnel pour the hot wort into the bottle. Repeat process with the second bottle. Immediately cap with the bottle caps that were soaking in grain alcohol or boiling.




Let hot bottles of wort cool at room temperature for one hour. After one hour, you may refrigerate the bottles to rapidly cool them or to store them for future yeast culturing. They will need to be 70 degrees before you can use them for yeast culturing.


When bottles of wort are at 70 degrees (about room temperature), open the bottles of beer that have the yeast you wish to culture. Pour the beers into drinking vessels for your enjoyment but leave 1.5 inches in each bottle. Swirl the yeast around in the bottom of the bottle to loosen it.

Uncap the bottles of wort, swab with grain alcohol and heat mouths of bottles, then dump the 1.5 inches of yeast from each bottle into each bottle of wort. Attach the rubber stoppers and airlocks that were sanitizing in the bath of one-step.


Let the bottles ferment for 1 day between 60-70 degrees with the airlocks attached. After that you can put the bottles with airlock attached in the refrigerator for at most 4 weeks before they must be pitched into your latest batch of 5 gallon wort. Make sure there is active fermentation before putting them in the refrigerator. Sterilize the mouths of the bottles before pitching, using the swab of grain alcohol and a lighter.