I love culturing up the Ommegang strain, and used it to ferment out 10 gallons of a saison (I got 80% Apparent Attenuation, in the past I've gotten 82% w/ this strain). The samples tastes great, and super clean (well, not clean like 001, but clean from any tint of infection). Packaged today (5/15), and am saving a massive pitch for 10g's of a BGS.
Long story short, a buddy wanted a pitch, and I didn't want to haul an Erlenmeyer across the states. I have tons of WL vials around... so I collected the culture in a 2000ml flask, and then transfered it to 6 vials. (I could have, and should have... done more). I'm going to throw 1-2 in the fridge to keep around, that I can culture up from down the road (even if its a long ways down the road, its better than starting back up from the bottle for sure). I'm giving 1-2 to a few buddies, leaving a few around.
If anyone is interested in trying a brew with the strain, I'll ship you a vial. The yeast is a workhorse. Loves the 68-69ºF pitch, and rise to 80º over 7-9 days. Finishes out nicely. Absolutely requires a blowoff, no matter what you think (even in a 6.5g carboy with 4-4.5g of beer).
My process was not ideal, but extremely clean and sanitary. I soaked the vials (and flasks, etc) in a 12.5ppm solution of iodaphor for over 20 minutes, and sanitized, then flamed all of the glass contact pour areas.
A WL flask holds ~40g's (40mls) of water to the fill height I used, giving you 40ml's of a semi thin slurry. I estimate (using MrMalty's calculator) anywhere from 40-55 billion cells in a vial, with the slurry I have (maybe more, I think that 40 is a very conservative estimate). Not a pitch, but definitely something you can one step culture up in a 2000ml flask.
I obv. can't guarantee the same quality of the pitch that the Whites could, but I'm confident that these will be clean pitches. I've stepped up this strain many a time, never having issues w/ my process or any touch of infection.
I can probably only spare 1 or 2... maybe 3. If you want one, just let me know. Shoot me a PM w/ your info, I'll ship it out to ya. You might just have to eventually ship me back some beer though!
A few picts.
The yeast.
No hazmat suit like the pope, but at least a weak attempt.
Ready to rock and roll.
Post fill on three vials. Worked pretty slick actually, with a steady hand. Luckily, I was sober.
I know they look rugged, but the labels wanted to come off after the long soak. Also, don't forget the customer club.
After a few hrs in the fridge. Looks good.
