Oisin Foster
Freezing beer yeast is a process that allows you to save yeast samples for future batches of beer. Here's how you can do it: Pour off spent wort or washing water leaving just enough to allow cells to be suspended as a very dense slurry. The goal is to get sufficient cells for an overnight starter culture in a volume that is convenient to freeze. Split up the slurry of settled yeast into samples of about 100 billion cells in sanitized freezable screw top containers. Add an equal volume of chilled 20% glycerol to each of the samples of yeast and cap the tube tightly. Swirl or stir until fully mixed without frothing.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Keep everything sanitized | Avoid infection |
| Use a soft-sided cooler or insulated styrofoam shipping box | Protect yeast samples from temperature fluctuations |
| Pour off spent wort or washing water | Allow cells to be suspended as a very dense slurry |
| Use a large starter culture | Break up and save for multiple future brewing days |
| Use chilled 20% glycerol | Mix with yeast samples |
| Submerge yeast tube in water at approximately body temperature | Thaw yeast |
| Swirl or stir until fully mixed without frothing | Mix glycerol and yeast |
What You'll Learn
Prepare a dense slurry of yeast cells in a volume suitable for freezing
To prepare a dense slurry of yeast cells in a volume suitable for freezing, you will need to pour off spent wort or washing water leaving just enough to allow cells to be suspended as a very dense slurry. The goal is to get sufficient cells for an overnight starter culture in a volume that is convenient to freeze. A good sample size is about 50-200 billion yeast cells (0.5-2 x 1011 cells). One quart of starter culture can usually be reduced to 1/40th the volume or less giving you about 100 billion cells in 25 milliliters (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons).
Split up the slurry of settled yeast into samples of about 100 billion cells (cells from about 1 quart of starter or a half gallon of fermented beer) in sanitized freezable screw top containers. Add an equal volume of chilled 20% glycerol to each of the samples of yeast and cap the tube tightly. Swirl or stir until fully mixed without frothing.
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Split the slurry into samples of about 100 billion cells
Pour off spent wort or washing water leaving just enough to allow cells to be suspended as a very dense slurry. The goal is to get sufficient cells for an overnight starter culture in a volume that is convenient to freeze. A good sample size is about 50-200 billion yeast cells (0.5-2 x 1011 cells). One quart of starter culture can usually be reduced to 1/40th the volume or less giving you about 100 billion cells in 25 milliliters (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons).
Split up the slurry of settled yeast into samples of about 100 billion cells (cells from about 1 quart of starter or a half gallon of fermented beer) in sanitized freezable screw top containers.
Use a soft-sided cooler or insulated styrofoam shipping box to protect your yeast samples from a cycling frost-free freezer. Just put your samples inside with a few reusable gel ice packs and your yeast will be protected from the temperature fluctuations in your freezer.
Keep in mind that the cleanliness of your starter culture, washed yeast, and freezing supplies is key.
Add an equal volume of chilled 20% glycerol to each of the samples of yeast and cap tube tightly. Swirl or stir until fully mixed without frothing.
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Add an equal volume of chilled 20% glycerol to each sample
When you want to freeze beer yeast, add an equal volume of chilled 20% glycerol to each sample. Swirl or stir until fully mixed without frothing.
Pour off spent wort or washing water leaving just enough to allow cells to be suspended as a very dense slurry. The goal is to get sufficient cells for an overnight starter culture in a volume that is convenient to freeze. A good sample size is about 50-200 billion yeast cells (0.5-2 x 1011 cells). One quart of starter culture can usually be reduced to 1/40th the volume or less giving you about 100 billion cells in 25 milliliters (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons).
Split up the slurry of settled yeast into samples of about 100 billion cells (cells from about 1 quart of starter or a half gallon of fermented beer) in sanitized freezable screw top containers. Keep in mind that the cleanliness of your starter culture, washed yeast, and freezing supplies is key.
Use a soft-sided cooler or insulated styrofoam shipping box to protect your yeast samples from a cycling frost-free freezer. Just put your samples inside with a few reusable gel ice packs and your yeast will be protected from the temperature fluctuations in your freezer.
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Cap the tubes tightly and swirl or stir until fully mixed
Pour off spent wort or washing water leaving just enough to allow cells to be suspended as a very dense slurry. The goal is to get sufficient cells for an overnight starter culture in a volume that is convenient to freeze. A good sample size is about 50-200 billion yeast cells (0.5-2 x 1011 cells). One quart of starter culture can usually be reduced to 1/40th the volume or less giving you about 100 billion cells in 25 milliliters (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons).
Split up the slurry of settled yeast into samples of about 100 billion cells (cells from about 1 quart of starter or a half gallon of fermented beer) in sanitized freezable screw top containers. Add an equal volume of chilled 20% glycerol to each of the samples of yeast and cap tube tightly. Swirl or stir until fully mixed without frothing.
Use a soft-sided cooler or insulated styrofoam shipping box to protect your yeast samples from a cycling frost-free freezer. Just put your samples inside with a few reusable gel ice packs and your yeast will be protected from the temperature fluctuations in your freezer.
Keep in mind that the cleanliness of your starter culture, washed yeast, and freezing supplies is key.
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Store in a soft-sided cooler or insulated styrofoam box
Use a soft-sided cooler or insulated styrofoam shipping box to protect your yeast samples from a cycling frost-free freezer. Just put your samples inside with a few reusable gel ice packs and your yeast will be protected from the temperature fluctuations in your freezer.
Pour off spent wort or washing water leaving just enough to allow cells to be suspended as a very dense slurry. The goal is to get sufficient cells for an overnight starter culture in a volume that is convenient to freeze. A good sample size is about 50-200 billion yeast cells (0.5-2 x 1011 cells). One quart of starter culture can usually be reduced to 1/40th the volume or less giving you about 100 billion cells in 25 milliliters (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons).
Split up the slurry of settled yeast into samples of about 100 billion cells (cells from about 1 quart of starter or a half gallon of fermented beer) in sanitized freezable screw top containers. Add an equal volume of chilled 20% glycerol to each of the samples of yeast and cap tube tightly. Swirl or stir until fully mixed without frothing.
Keep in mind that the cleanliness of your starter culture, washed yeast, and freezing supplies is key. Keep everything during the processes that follow as sanitized as possible to avoid infection. While many will keep yeast slurry from a previous batch, that yeast needs to stay in the refrigerator instead of the freezer.
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Frequently asked questions
Pour off spent wort or washing water leaving just enough to allow cells to be suspended as a very dense slurry. The goal is to get sufficient cells for an overnight starter culture in a volume that is convenient to freeze. A good sample size is about 50-200 billion yeast cells (0.5-2 x 1011 cells). One quart of starter culture can usually be reduced to 1/40th the volume or less giving you about 100 billion cells in 25 milliliters (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons). Split up the slurry of settled yeast into samples of about 100 billion cells (cells from about 1 quart of starter or a half gallon of fermented beer) in sanitized freezable screw top containers.
Use a soft-sided cooler or insulated styrofoam shipping box to protect your yeast samples from a cycling frost-free freezer. Just put your samples inside with a few reusable gel ice packs and your yeast will be protected from the temperature fluctuations in your freezer.
Remove the tube of yeast from the large freezing/storage container. Immediately submerge the tube in water at approximately body temperature (37C, 98F). This can be running warm water or a large volume of water for submersion of the tube. Swirl continuously until completely thawed. Remove the tube of cells from the water, wipe dry with sanitizer and pitch into 1-4 liters of wort to prepare an overnight starter.
Add an equal volume of chilled 20% glycerol to each of the samples of yeast and cap the tube tightly. Swirl or stir until fully mixed without frothing.
