Beware Dunedin Malthouse Yeast

[MrC]

I recently purchased full ingredients for an all grain pilsner from Dunedin Malthouse.

On Wednesday night I prepared 1000ml of starter wort and opened the little bottle of yeast. As soon as the seal broke the yeast fizzed out all over the bench with a strong smell of vinegar, I hadn't even removed the lid. Very dissapointing.

I emailed Dennis at Dunedin Malthouse to let him know and sent him picture of the yeast. He replied stating that he had a bottle that did the same thing and that I should not use it if I'm not sure of it. There was no apology or offer of refund/replacement. I'm not sure which is more dissapointing, the yeast or the service.

I've heard that some people have had good results with these yeasts and that's why I decided to try them. It seems that, at best, these yeasts are inconsistent.

I would recommend to anyone considering buying liquid yeast from Dunedin Malthouse that you would be better off putting your money towards a decent liquid yeast from a reputable source or stick with dried yeast.

[MrC]

Sure have. Brewed a pils on saturday using a Wyeast 2042 Danish Lager smack pack. Created a 3L starter on the Thursday night prior and it was very active. Even the starter tasted great. It's actively bubbling away now at 10C and all seems well.

I originally ordered a different yeast but Ross called me to say that they were having some issues with the ordering system and that the only available lager yeast was the 2042. He said that he had more on the way but I would have to wait. I'm hoping to enter my pils in the NHC so I decided to go for the 2042 and get the thing brewing.

I also have a 1056 smack pack sitting in the fridge, but I need to drink some beer before I brew any more :)

Thanks for the advice, I'll definately order yeast from them again.

[James P]

Excellent, the 2042 is on my shopping list also. I just need to get my harvesting process sorted before I start investing in Liquid again!

[MrC]

If you looking for yeast harvesting info, denimglen posted these links on a previous thread:
Yeast Washing
Yeast Freezing

I followed the yeast washing technique and it worked well.

[James P]

The first and only time I tried yeast washing I followed the wyeast method (very similar), however when I put the slurry into the bigger jar the yeast reactived fermenting out for another 4 days. Had to put a hole in the jar lid with an airlock so the jar wouldn't explode!

It's in the fridge now, so will probably try it on a cheap kit to see if the yeast is still good!

The yeast freezing has some possibilities too.

[denimglen]

Touch wood (don't wanna jinx myself!) the yeast freezing has worked well so far. Five batches from frozen yeast, one has been average but I put that down to bad recipe, the second is good but could do with some aging (IPA with only four weeks from start to drinking), two have fermented out well, but yet to be tasted and the other is on the go at the moment.

[James P]

denminglen, do you use the vials etc described in the links? If so, where did you get the equipment from?

[denimglen]

The vials were a mission to find a decent price that would send outside of the US.

I ended up buying the vials from Cole-Parmer, the best price that would send out of the US.

This is what I purchased.

Everything else was purchased locally, lab equipment from labwarehouse.co.nz and pressure cooker from TradeMe.

I'd suggest buying a 500mL, 1000mL and 2000mL flask, an alcohol lamp, a 40mL, 250mL beaker.

I sterilize everything in the pressure cooker - bother beakers and vials filled with glycerin. I then decant the starter, add water from the pressure cooker to the yeast using the 40mL beaker, swirl and transfer the slurry to the 250mL beaker with the alcohol lamp burning nearby. I then use a sterile syringe (that you can get at the pharmacy) to measure out the yeast slurry and squirt into the vials. I do all this within an oven roasting dish fillled with sanitiser. I then freeze the vials in a small styrofoam cooler in the freezer.

Sounds like a lot of work but after a couple of goes only takes about 10 minutes to do the transfer.