Thanks for the video guys. Perhaps in a future video it would be nice to understand why getting the pitching rate correct helps in the final beer and what problems under and over pitching can create. Thanks.
I saw their Burton-on-Trent slope, with the sulphur note of Bass fame, prefers a low mineral wort. I’d have thought the opposite as Burton-on-Trent water is from bore holes with lots of gypsum.
Thanks guys, excited to see you stocking and talking about these slopes. They first drew my attention some time ago. In fact I won the first National Homebrew Competition in 2000 best beer in category and overall best beer of the competition. The only homebrew kit in those days you had to fashion together with plastic buckets, kettle elements and picnic coolers for mashing with all calculations manually by hand. There was no Beersmith or such like. Part of the prize was a place on Brewlabs Start Your Own Brewery course held at Sunderland University. I think Brewlab have grown as much as the homebrew and craft beer industries since that time. I use an inoculation loop to pick up some cells from the slope using asceptic technique (around a flame) and inoculate 30ml wort in a test tube and grow up to add into 300ml wort at the next step. I then put the yeast slope in the fridge till next time. You can preserve the slope long- term in a number of ways. For me most of the fun of using slopes is you can use as a basis for building your own home yeast bank/lab. Sui Generis brewing channel youtube.com/@SuiGenerisBrewing is run by a professional microbiologist and has some great content on this for anybody interested.
What would the next step up be? Would you pour off the clear beer and then put 2l of 1.040 DME solution to make a starter for a larger volume of higher gravity wort?
Great to hear that you are selling the Brewlab slopes. I was going to buy some and is now easier. I argee with @Tim Smith, you can reuse the slope by scaling up from a smaller volume (eg 20ml) but this take longer and greater risk of contamination
So using your calculator what initial cell count should I use if I'm using a yeast slope. Should I assume 100bio after I have grown the yeast and then naturally create a starter to get the desired cell count? I know the cell count on dry or liquid yeasts so can calculate how much of a starter I need. So for a yeast slope I need to know that initial cell count. Looking through the product sheets from Brewlabs I don't see that data.
Great to see that TMM is now stocking Brewlab slopes! Although I've used them before, I've always been mystified by what is meant by "low mineral wort", "high mineral wort", etc., in the products' descriptions. Would it be possible, please, to quantify these terms in ppm ranges as this will be a help when putting together water profiles.
Nice one Stephen, this is exactly the sort of question we can fire back to Brewlabs. We can then compile a whole range of educational videos / blog posts etc.
Great that you are selling these, I used them years ago and they were fantastic but stoped as couldn't get gold of them easily. A comparison chart or recommendation for type of beer style for these yeasts would be great, presume you'll be adding recommendation of this yeast to your all grain kits?
Hi. Thanks for this video. I’ve a couple of questions. 1. Can the slope be reused? If not how do I take a sterilised sample from it. 2. Do I decant before stepping up? Thanks in advance!
Another great video, thank you. Maybe it's obvious, but it'd be good to know the pros and cons of this compared to the dried/liquid yeast. 99% of my brews have been dried yeast, sprinkle on top and done, what difference(s) would this make to my final brew, for example? Thanks again.
As the guys say in the video, yeast slopes are kind of half way between liquid and dry. Many yeast strains can’t be dried, and drying yeast requires a lot of investment. That’s why there’s a limited options for dried yeast. If you look at what Brewlab are already offering, they have 8 or 9 different British strains, which means you can really fine tune the character for your bitters by finding the right strain. Against liquid yeast, the slopes are cheaper and only transported from Sunderland rather than the USA. They store for longer, plus if you use an inoculation loop you can get multiple uses from a single slope, storing it for quite some time between uses.
Great video chaps. I'm looking for to doing your Sussex Ale kit again and use the specific yeast slope rather that S-04. It will be interesting to taste the difference. One quick question, given Brewlabs have such a large collection will your range that you offer expand over time? Cheers, and keep up the great work
Enjoyed the video. I guess it’s not much different to getting some yeast cells from a bottled conditioned beer and multiplying them up for a home brew. Some did this with bottle conditioned Guinness before pasteurisation. There are still some famous beers bottle conditioned with their main brewery yeasts that can be rescued by home brewers. Did a few myself with excellent results for the price of a bottle conditioned beer!
One question I have is: how do you know if the slurry has a good count of live yeast cells, rather than old or dead cells, which don't help beyond a nutrient boost? I presume the volume of slurry alone isn't enough to know it's a healthy pitch.
There’s a few ways to look at it, Brewlabs instructions say that the yeast starter is viable for a 20l 1.040 batch so they will have trialed the process and know that there is enough after the fermentation. The other option is to invest in gear to do cell counts… more on that topic coming in the next few months 🔬
Great insight guys this will help us all out. One thing though when it comes to making a starter, would you leave it on a sideboard say or, away from any light and tuck it away in a cupboard? Also, is temperature critical? How long would the starter stay viable once finished and stored in the fridge?
Hey! You can leave it on the side, no need to worry about light particularly but avoid direct sunlight. Temperature needs to be stable ideally and at your usual yeast temperature. Once it’s been grown up you can store in the fridge for a few weeks
@@themaltmiller8438 I’m glad you explained this to me, as I’ve been putting my starters in a cupboard 🤣 thinking light is going to affect it! Thanks for the insight, i no longer have to threat over it now.
Thanks for the video guys. Perhaps in a future video it would be nice to understand why getting the pitching rate correct helps in the final beer and what problems under and over pitching can create. Thanks.
Yep, we will be doing exactly that.
I saw their Burton-on-Trent slope, with the sulphur note of Bass fame, prefers a low mineral wort. I’d have thought the opposite as Burton-on-Trent water is from bore holes with lots of gypsum.
Thanks guys, excited to see you stocking and talking about these slopes. They first drew my attention some time ago. In fact I won the first National Homebrew Competition in 2000 best beer in category and overall best beer of the competition. The only homebrew kit in those days you had to fashion together with plastic buckets, kettle elements and picnic coolers for mashing with all calculations manually by hand. There was no Beersmith or such like. Part of the prize was a place on Brewlabs Start Your Own Brewery course held at Sunderland University. I think Brewlab have grown as much as the homebrew and craft beer industries since that time.
I use an inoculation loop to pick up some cells from the slope using asceptic technique (around a flame) and inoculate 30ml wort in a test tube and grow up to add into 300ml wort at the next step. I then put the yeast slope in the fridge till next time. You can preserve the slope long- term in a number of ways. For me most of the fun of using slopes is you can use as a basis for building your own home yeast bank/lab. Sui Generis brewing channel youtube.com/@SuiGenerisBrewing is run by a professional microbiologist and has some great content on this for anybody interested.
Also, Dudes Brew shows how he creates yeast slants in his kitchen: ruclips.net/video/EJmx_jzYuBc/видео.html
What would the next step up be? Would you pour off the clear beer and then put 2l of 1.040 DME solution to make a starter for a larger volume of higher gravity wort?
Great to hear that you are selling the Brewlab slopes. I was going to buy some and is now easier. I argee with @Tim Smith, you can reuse the slope by scaling up from a smaller volume (eg 20ml) but this take longer and greater risk of contamination
So using your calculator what initial cell count should I use if I'm using a yeast slope. Should I assume 100bio after I have grown the yeast and then naturally create a starter to get the desired cell count? I know the cell count on dry or liquid yeasts so can calculate how much of a starter I need. So for a yeast slope I need to know that initial cell count. Looking through the product sheets from Brewlabs I don't see that data.
Great to see that TMM is now stocking Brewlab slopes! Although I've used them before, I've always been mystified by what is meant by "low mineral wort", "high mineral wort", etc., in the products' descriptions. Would it be possible, please, to quantify these terms in ppm ranges as this will be a help when putting together water profiles.
Nice one Stephen, this is exactly the sort of question we can fire back to Brewlabs. We can then compile a whole range of educational videos / blog posts etc.
Great that you are selling these, I used them years ago and they were fantastic but stoped as couldn't get gold of them easily. A comparison chart or recommendation for type of beer style for these yeasts would be great, presume you'll be adding recommendation of this yeast to your all grain kits?
We are planning to launch some recipe kits that include these in the near future!
Hi. Thanks for this video. I’ve a couple of questions. 1. Can the slope be reused? If not how do I take a sterilised sample from it. 2. Do I decant before stepping up? Thanks in advance!
Hey! Take a look at this video! ruclips.net/video/RD8Q56oYy18/видео.html
You have cans of 'propper' in the video but its not mentioned or used?
They are one method for getting an exact dose of malt extract, without the hassle of needing to mix it up. Super convenient and consistent!
Another great video, thank you. Maybe it's obvious, but it'd be good to know the pros and cons of this compared to the dried/liquid yeast. 99% of my brews have been dried yeast, sprinkle on top and done, what difference(s) would this make to my final brew, for example? Thanks again.
As the guys say in the video, yeast slopes are kind of half way between liquid and dry.
Many yeast strains can’t be dried, and drying yeast requires a lot of investment. That’s why there’s a limited options for dried yeast.
If you look at what Brewlab are already offering, they have 8 or 9 different British strains, which means you can really fine tune the character for your bitters by finding the right strain.
Against liquid yeast, the slopes are cheaper and only transported from Sunderland rather than the USA. They store for longer, plus if you use an inoculation loop you can get multiple uses from a single slope, storing it for quite some time between uses.
Great video chaps. I'm looking for to doing your Sussex Ale kit again and use the specific yeast slope rather that S-04. It will be interesting to taste the difference. One quick question, given Brewlabs have such a large collection will your range that you offer expand over time? Cheers, and keep up the great work
That’s the plan!! 😉
BREWLAB Have you got an alternative yeast for
OYL-005
IRISH ALE Yeast can you help thanks Craig
We will pass this on to them and see if they have anything the are working on
Can you show us a video of the completed starter and what the slurry is that is discarded?
We’re planning a few more videos on the topic so make sure your subscribed buddy
@@themaltmiller8438 Always look forward to Sunday Breakfast and some MM You tube 😜
Enjoyed the video. I guess it’s not much different to getting some yeast cells from a bottled conditioned beer and multiplying them up for a home brew. Some did this with bottle conditioned Guinness before pasteurisation. There are still some famous beers bottle conditioned with their main brewery yeasts that can be rescued by home brewers. Did a few myself with excellent results for the price of a bottle conditioned beer!
Interesting!
Very good
What is the typical initial cell count for a 300ml starter mentioned in the video, as this information is needed to use the Pitch Rate Calculator?
Check out our follow up blog post in partnership with Brewlab www.themaltmiller.co.uk/blog/managing-and-using-yeast-brewlab-slopes/
@@themaltmiller8438 Thanks for this very valuable information. Another TMM first!
One question I have is: how do you know if the slurry has a good count of live yeast cells, rather than old or dead cells, which don't help beyond a nutrient boost? I presume the volume of slurry alone isn't enough to know it's a healthy pitch.
There’s a few ways to look at it, Brewlabs instructions say that the yeast starter is viable for a 20l 1.040 batch so they will have trialed the process and know that there is enough after the fermentation. The other option is to invest in gear to do cell counts… more on that topic coming in the next few months 🔬
Great insight guys this will help us all out. One thing though when it comes to making a starter, would you leave it on a sideboard say or, away from any light and tuck it away in a cupboard? Also, is temperature critical? How long would the starter stay viable once finished and stored in the fridge?
Hey! You can leave it on the side, no need to worry about light particularly but avoid direct sunlight. Temperature needs to be stable ideally and at your usual yeast temperature. Once it’s been grown up you can store in the fridge for a few weeks
@@themaltmiller8438 thanks for clarifying this, much appreciated
@@James-sf5bb The biggest problem with light and beer is hops, they skunk. We are using starter wort without any hops in this case.
@@themaltmiller8438 I’m glad you explained this to me, as I’ve been putting my starters in a cupboard 🤣 thinking light is going to affect it! Thanks for the insight, i no longer have to threat over it now.
I see there is a short "use by date" I thought slopes would be good for years if frozen?
Hi, They have 6 months but are in trial at the moment for longer. Freezing and the procedure will be covered in later educational material.