Dogslovebeer

Recipes 

944play

Recipes 

The only homebrewer I know of who top-crops is Mike McDole. I think he refers to it as "super yeast." He gets his blowoff tube down almost to the beer's surface and the positive pressure of fermentation pushes the kraeusen through.

Washed yeast should be plenty potent if you harvest enough and use it soon.

__________________
OD: Brown Porter
Pri: Dortmunder
Keg: some fruity thing

remilard

Recipes 

For a single yeast strain, top cropping is probably better only if you can reuse the yeast nearly immediately.

For mixed strains, top cropping is the only way to harvest yeast without getting substantially more of whichever strain is more flocculent each generation.

Dogslovebeer

Recipes 

This is good stuff guys, I like the super yeast technique and I'll have to try it. Now I brew almost exclusively Hefe Weizen, I heard that the Hefe yeast will only last a couple of generations. is this true, if so about how many generation's?

Thanks

saq

Recipes 

I like the 'starter splitting' method, its one of the easiest and best methods I have seen!
When you are making some starter wort with DME or whatever, make it 1.080 instead of 1.040.
Get a bunch of sterilized (boiled) mason jars and leave about a third of your water in.
Add your yeast to your strengthened starter wort, mix it really well, then top off your mason jars until you have enough. Wait a few days and voila, more starters!
Pitch one of your jars of starter into enough wort to get your cell count for your beer ready to go and you are set.

frolickingmonkey

Recipes 

I'm really interested in this, as well... I'm planning on washing some 2nd generation Hefe yeast tomorrow!

__________________
Primary: Atwood Pale, Atwood Export 80/-
Secondary: Ordinary Bitter, Lick O' the Irish (Licorice Dry Stout), Ordinary Bitter, Birthday Imperial Stout, Hard Pressed Cider 2009
Conditioning: Vienna Steamer, Raspberry Ale
Kegeratin': Pilsner, Atwood Brown Porter
Bottled: Scottish Lodge Wee Heavy, Hard Cider