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Craft Beer Yeast Handling (3/3) - Pilot Batch Propagation

Craft Beer Yeast Handling (3/3) - Pilot Batch Propagation

  • Sterilization

When brewing, the equipment is typically cleaned and sanitized. When preparing a fresh sample for yeast growth, a sterile environment is needed to ensure that unwanted micro-organisms do not propagate alongside. Sterile materials can be achieved with a wet environment for 15m at 121°C or in a dry environment for 2h at 160°C (White and Zainasheff, 2010).


 Figure 9- Flow Diagram of a Proposed Laboratory Propagation of Brewing Yeast (Bolton & Quain, 2008)

  • Method
    • Clean and sanitize an area of the workspace. Light the Bunsen burner or alcohol lamp. Use sterile microbiological techniques:
      1. Only use equipment that has been adequately heat-sterilized.
      2. Work in proximity (<10cm) to the open flame.
      3. Flame all openings of any glass or metal containers.
      4. Do not flame the opening of any disposable containers. (White and Zainasheff, 2010)
    • Prepare a 20mL sterile solution of 1.040SG Wort. Use a 50mL test tube. This may be autoclaved
    • Identify the yeast colonies on the plate for harvesting.
    • Using a flamed inoculation loop:
      1. Open the plate.
      2. Touch the flamed inoculation loop to the agar to cool.
      3. Collect a single entire colony.
      4. Close the plate.
    • Open the container of wort and deposit the colony into the medium.
    • Seal the wort container (WC), place upright. Store at ambient temperatures for 24-48 hours.
    • Manually agitate the wort, gather a sample and perform a diluted sample cell count using methylene blue (White and Zainasheff, 2010).
    • Prepare a 200mL sterile solution of 1.040SG Wort. Use a 500mL Erlenmeyer flask. This may be autoclaved (Bolton & Quain, 2012).
    • When the secondary WC is at ambient temperature:
      1. Agitate the primary WC and vent.
      2. Empty the primary WC into the secondary (White and Zainasheff, 2010).
      3. Place the secondary WC on a stir plate with a sterile stir bar. Agitate for 72 hours. Biological activity should be evident within 12-24 hours (Bolton and Quain, 2012).
    • Prepare a 3L sterile solution of 1.040SG Wort. Use a 5-10L Erlenmeyer flask. Autoclave the wort for sterility. Repeat Step 9 for the tertiary WC combined with aeration (Bolton and Quain, 2012).
    • Agitate the WC, gather a sample, and perform a diluted sample cell count using methylene blue.
Pitch Rate = Style Pitching Rate x Volume (L) x Wort Gravity (*P)
Equation 2 – Pitching Rate Calculation (Palmer, 2010)
225 x 10^9 Cells = 0.75 x 20L x 15*P
Equation 3  – Pitching Rate Calculation with 20L of 15°P for an Ale Fermented at 18°C
    • A quaternary WC may be required if not enough cells are present:
    • Chill and decant the spent wort from the tertiary WC keeping the condensed yeast. Yeast may be kept cold for up to two weeks (White and Zainasheff, 2010). Allow the temperature to rise to ambient.
    • If there is not ample yeast, prepare a sterile solution of 1.040SG Wort. Use a 5-10L Erlenmeyer flask. This may be autoclaved. Repeat Step 9 for the quaternary WC for 24-48h (Palmer, 2017).
    • When the final wort propagation is at ambient temperature, add to the pilot batch of wort.

    Craft Beer Yeast Handling (1/3) - Types of Brewery Organisms 

    Craft Beer Yeast Handling (2/3) - Biological Sampling 

    Craft Beer Yeast Handling (3/3) - Pilot Batch Propagation 

    References

    Andrews, B. and Gilliland, R. 1952. Super-Attenuation of Beer: A Study of Three Organisms Capable of Causing Abnormal Attenuations. Journal of the Institute of Brewing, 58(3), pp.189-196.

    Boulton, C. and Quain, D., 2013. Brewing Yeast and Fermentation. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Bintsis, T., 2018. Lactic acid bacteria as starter cultures: An update in their metabolism and genetics. AIMS Microbiology, 4(4), pp.665-684.

    Bootleg Biology. 2019. DIYeast: Microbe Portrait Gallery. [online] Available at: https://bootlegbiology.com/diy/microbe-portrait-gallery/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

    Dunn, B., 2012. Ale Yeast. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.33.

    Ferguson, N., 2018. Understanding (Over)attenuation, Carbonation, and Bursting: AKA Understanding Diastaticus.

    Geithung, I., 2019. In Norway, Kveik Means More Than Just Yeast. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCC3tBS2j_Q [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

    Jones, N. 2018. Yeast Management on a Budget.

    Libkind, D., Hittinger, C., Valerio, E., Goncalves, C., Dover, J., Johnston, M., Goncalves, P. and Sampaio, J., 2011. Microbe domestication and the identification of the wild genetic stock of lager-brewing yeast. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(35), pp.14539-14544.

    Manufacturing.net. 2014. How to Swab For Bacterial Contamination in Your Brewery. [online] Available at: https://www.manufacturing.net/operations/blog/13190255/how-to-swab-for-bacterial-contamination-in-your-brewery [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

    Pellettieri, M. (2015). Quality Management: Essential Planning for Breweries. 1st ed. Boulder, Colorado: Brewers Publications, p.81.

    Palmer, J. 2017. How to Brew. 4th ed. Boulder, Colorado: Brewers Publications.

    Preiss, R., Tyrawa, C., Krogerus, K., Garshol, L. and van der Merwe, G., 2018. Traditional Norwegian Kveik Are a Genetically Distinct Group of Domesticated Saccharomyces cerevisiae Brewing Yeasts. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9.

    Preiss, R., 2019. Don't Forget The Brett. [online] Escarpment Laboratories. Available at: https://www.escarpmentlabs.com/single-post/2019/08/14/Dont-forget-the-Brett [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

    Priest, F., 2012. Pediococcus. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.644.

    Sherlock, G., 2012. Lager Yeast. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.535.

    Strong, G. and England, K. (2015). 2015 Style Guidelines. [online] Beer Judge Certification Program. Available at: https://bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

    Tyrawa, C. et al., 2019. The temperature dependent functionality of Brettanomyces bruxellensis strains in wort fermentations. Journal of the Institute of Brewing, 125(3), pp.315–325.

    Van Zandycke, S., 2012. Yeast. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.858-861.

    Wade, M., Strickland, M., Osborne, J. and Edwards, C., 2018. Role of Pediococcus in Winemaking. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 25(1), pp.7-24.

    White, C. and Zainasheff, J., 2010. Yeast. Boulder, Colorado: Brewers Publications.

    White, C., 2012. Lactobacillus. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.531.

    Yakobson, C., 2012. Brettanomyces. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.157-158.

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