Bakers?Zech wrote:OK, you really don't want to know what kind of yeast this started out as...
As for paying £1 if you're clever you only have to pay the pound once (and that isn't the most expensive you can get for yeast). You can culture the yeast and keep the live culture. The way you do that is when you get the sachet, instead of just launching it into the wine, activate it in a container (a sterilised milk bottle would do) by putting it into a solution of (not much) sugar and water (maybe a dash of marmite, or tom puree or, if you want to be really posh, yeast nutrient), leave it for a day, then pour maybe half of the stuff into your wine and top up the rest with more water and sugar. I'd have to check, but I think you may be able to freeze the culture, but it'll keep in the fridge more or less indefinitely. You can do the same thing with the yeast cake once you take the wine off it, but then you might get some flavours from the wine. I don't have a clue how you migt go about drying it.