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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Repitching Yeast ("Harbison, Lance S.")
  RE: Ball Valve and White labs Yeast (Joe Aistrup)
  Re: Cleaning Fermenter (Mail Box)


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Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:54:57 -0500
From: "Harbison, Lance S." <HarbisLS at westinghouse.com>
Subject: Repitching Yeast

On Nov. 9 I brewed 10 gal of 1.086 RIS.  The next day I collected 12
gal. of a second running after I let the mash sour.  The 12 gal. has
been in the fridge since.  In two weeks I plan on boiling the 12 gal.
and want to pitch the yeast from the RIS.  I expect that I now have
about 1 gal of Whitbread yeast in the bottom of my conical and the temp
is 58F.  On boil day I plan on draining the yeast from the conical.  Can
I pitch the yeast directly, or should I first pitch it into a 1 gal.
1.045 starter?

Lance Harbison





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Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 09:31:26 -0600
From: Joe Aistrup <joe_aistrup at msn.com>
Subject: RE: Ball Valve and White labs Yeast


Hello HBDers: 

Alex asks how to sanitize ball valves? My solution is to boil the ball valves. I know that technically the the ball valves are not rated for boiling, but after using a ball valve on my brew system's boiler for years, without fail, I decided "what the heck." So, before using my ball valve on my conical fermenter, I boil it in water for 30 to 45 minutes. It seems to work. I don't think that I would recommend boiling any ball valve that you might use for high psi functions. It probably will fail. But, this is not the case for the ball valve on my fermenter. 

AJ asks about others' experiences with White Labs yeasts. If the vial is fresh, I have had very good results. But, I should qualify this. What I have noticed is that White Labs yeasts, both ale and lager yeasts, like to be propagated at a high temperature (about 70 degrees). If you make a starter, it needs to be big enough so that most the propagation takes place prior to pitching the yeast into the wort. The wort should be cooled to the recommended fermentation temp for the type of beer you are making. 

The problem with most homebrewers, though, is that we don't make a large enough starter. This is my problem. So, many of us pitch the vial directly into the wort, without a starter. Of course, this is the whole point of it being a pitchable vial. In this case, the wort should be at the proper propagation temperature (70F) no matter whether it is an ale or lager. After propagation (12 to 18 hours), the temperature should be dropped to the recommended fermentation temperature (about 50F for lagers and 66F for Ales). This is the method suggested by the White brothers for homebrewers who don't make yeast starters. My apologies to JZ who I know finds much fault with this method. 

To me, this latter method is counterintuitive for lager yeasts. But, since following White lab's advice, my lagers (where I pitch the vial directly into the wort) have fewer off flavors and taste better. I'm not sure I understand why, but, I am sure someone on this list serve can explain it. 

But note, it starts with a fresh vial of White labs yeast. If it is more than 3 months old, all bets are off. 

Sincerely, Joe Aistrup
Little Apple Brew Crew
Manhattan, KS (South of nowhere and East of Someplace, West of Rennerian)



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Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 10:02:54 -0500
From: Mail Box <mail-box at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Cleaning Fermenter

 > Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2007 04:38:29 -0500
 > From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
 > Subject: Cleaning Fermenter
 >
 >  > Is it necessary/desirable to clean the fermenter between batches? <
 >
 > Necessary? Probably not. Desireable? Yes. If you check the inside of 
the fermenter you will  find a ring which extends from where the surface 
of the wort
 > was to a couple of inches above that indicating the height to which 
the foam rose during the vigorous part of the fermentation. This ring 
has dried wort and
 > hop resins on it with a rough surface well designed for harbouring 
bacteria. You might argue that no bacteria could have gotten in there 
and you might be right
 > and you might be wrong. Or supposing that the first batch was somehow 
infected. A cleaning is your insurance policy against that eventuality too.

So there is a conflict. A desire to reuse the yeast, weighed against the 
chance that the dried trub, etc at the top of the fermenter may be 
infected.  Would one of those steam based clothing relaxers* allow for 
the the top to be cleaned while not harming the fresh yeast at the bottom?

* Yeah, I have no real idea what they're called.  My spouse owns one, 
and I've often wondered if it might be decent for cleaning brewing 
equipment, and this subject reminded me of this idle pondering.


Cheers,
Ken


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