| Author |
Message |
    
Rob Beck
Member
Username: Robbeck
Post Number: 120
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 06:47 pm: | 
|
I was thinking about re-using the yeast from my current batch (Wyeast 1056) in my next batch. There will be about a 4 day gap between when I rack off the primary and when I brew the next batch. I vaguely remember someone telling me that I could put the remaining yeast and trub from the primary carboy into a gallon sized container with some distilled water and chill it and that the trub, etc. would float to the surface, where I could decant it off. Does anyone have any experience with re-using yeast and sort-of cleaning it like this?
Thanks Rob |
Steve Fletty
Junior Member
Username: Cheesehead
Post Number: 32
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 06:57 pm: |
|
Yeah, I've done that many times.
If I want to resue and there will be some time between sessions, I'll take a large jar or jars and fill them half full of filtered water.
Next, I boil the jars and cool them.
After racking, dump the water into your carboy, swirl around and dump the yeast back into your sterile jars.
I've stored these in the fridge for months and then make a starter to revive the yeast.
In your case, you wouldn't need to revive the yeast, I think.
But why not rack on the same day you brew so you can just put your new beer onto the cake? That would save messing around with storing the yeast. |
Tom Meier
Member
Username: Brewdawg96
Post Number: 150
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 07:12 pm: |
|
Rob, check wyeasts webpage for a detailed description of yeast washing.
http://www.wyeastlab.com/hbrew/hbyewash.htm
I reuse cakes whenever scheduling allows.
Just dump the cake out of the carboy into a quart sized mason jar, flush the headspace with CO2, lid it. Pitch within 2 weeks without a starter or within a month if you take out a small bit and grow up a starter.
It is important to store yeast cakes in a closed environment. Excess oxygen causes them to use up their own glycogen (carbohydrate reserves) during storage. This decreases their health and ability to have a quick start and clean fermentation the next time they are pitched.
A great resource for a local homebrew club is for everyone to save their yeast cakes in jars and maintain what they have in an online database. |
Pam Phillips
New Member
Username: Caskobsessed
Post Number: 19
Registered: 07-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 10:47 pm: |
|
Rob,
I've only been brewing for a few months, and I can attest that the yeast saving/washing you describe is incredibly easy and works well. I save the yeast in a peanut butter jar and reuse it within a month, so I haven't done anything special with it. 4 days is nothing. Go for it!
(Message edited by caskobsessed on August 09, 2004) |
Michael
Intermediate Member
Username: Hoppop
Post Number: 483
Registered: 03-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 11:57 am: |
|
>>>But why not rack on the same day you brew so you can just put your new beer onto the cake? That would save messing around with storing the yeast.>>>>
Exactly. Don't worry about the trub, etc. from the old batch. I actually just did this over the weekend. Pitched a batch of Company Red onto the primary of an APA I had racked to secondary the day of brewing.
If you do want to store the yeast, just dump into a sanitized mason jar, etc. and put in the fridge. Be sure to burp the lid a couple of times until it settles down.
FWIW, I don't "wash" the yeast. Just use the method stated above. I would recommend making a starter if storing more than a couple of weeks between uses. I've pitched after a month with no problems, but I'm living on the edge.
Cheers. |
Craig Johnson
Member
Username: Californiacraig
Post Number: 226
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 05:48 pm: |
|
I have had yeast that was over three months old in a mason jar. I pitched it into a 1.5 liter starter for 2 days. The subsequent B52 turned out great. |
Paul Erbe
New Member
Username: Perbe
Post Number: 19
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 06:51 pm: |
|
What yeast was that Craig |
Jeffery Swearengin
Intermediate Member
Username: Beertracker
Post Number: 324
Registered: 03-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 06:59 pm: |
|
Yep! I just use distilled water & an Erlenmeyer flask with the method described by Cheesehead. Works great!
CHEERS! Beertracker
"From man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world." ~ Saint Arnold of Metz (580-640) - Patron Saint of Brewers
|
Jonathan Koehler
New Member
Username: Santium
Post Number: 21
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 06:48 pm: |
|
When you rack onto a yeast cake from a previous batch, do you need to aerate as usual? Or is this not necessary since you already have such a big yeast population? I'm thinking that the agitation from racking may be enough to wake the yeast up. |
Bill Tobler
Member
Username: Billt
Post Number: 245
Registered: 08-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 09:29 pm: |
|
Jonathan, you'll need to aerate as normal. The yeast still go through the growth faze.
Rob, I would just leave your original beer in the primary for the four extra days and then rack on brew day and pitch on top of the yeast cake. You won't hurt anything and you reduce the chance of infection.
Bill Tobler
Lake Jackson,Texas
BrewBayou
My Brewery
|
Brews and Views Archive 2004 
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page