Reusing yeast

So I have 5 gallons of beer in primary and on transfer day I plan on brewing up another batch. Ive learned through multiple sources how to wash and store yeast but im wondering if there is something a little easier for a one time thing. I really dont have any interest right now in washing and storing for multiple batches, I just want to reuse it this one time. What would be the best way to do that and not get all of that trub in there?

After you rack, whatever you can't get from the fermenter, swirl that up good so the top layer becomes nice and creamy colored, then pour that off into a jar and lightly close the lid (obviously lid and jar sanitized first). Keep it out at room temp, again, with lid on but not completely tight, because it will vent gas. You should have around 2b cells per ML, so figure out how many ML you need to pitch, and pitch just a bit more.

The only way to seperate the trub from the yeast is to wash it. That can be a simple process if you plan to immediately reuse it. Boil and chill a gallon of water, dump into the fermenter, swirl it up, pour into a couple of growlers or .5 gal Mason jars, let the trub settle for 20 minutes, and pour the yeast off into another sterile container. You would probably want to crash cool it so you can pour some of the excess water off or calculate that water into your brew volumes as top up water.

You can also use a pitching rate calculator like Mr. Malty to estimate how much slurry you would need and pitch that without washing it. Unless you are brewing a big ass imperial something I would not pitch onto the entire cake.

I should have added, you probably don't have 2b/ML doing it the way I mentioned because you haven't cold-crashed. Some of what's in the slurry is liquid. Use 1-1.5b/ML or so. It's fresh yeast though, so don't stress over exact amounts, just get within a factor of 2.

TANSTAAFB said:

You can also use a pitching rate calculator like Mr. Malty to estimate how much slurry you would need and pitch that without washing it. Unless you are brewing a big ass imperial something I would not pitch onto the entire cake.

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Exactly. If you are only going to reuse it once, I wouldn't bother washing it. A little trub from the last batch isn't going to hurt the new one. Just use the Mr. Malty repitch from slurry option and call it good.

BBL_Brewer said:

Exactly. If you are only going to reuse it once, I wouldn't bother washing it. A little trub from the last batch isn't going to hurt the new one. Just use the Mr. Malty repitch from slurry option and call it good.

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Im not making the same beer but the same type, therefor I can reuse the yeast. Would that little bit of trub effect my new batch of beer?

And I understand how to yeast wash but I have not seen anything on how to use it and how to pitch it. Once its settled out do I use the thick layer of yeast on the bottom and dump out the clear liquid on top, use the whole thing or use the clear liquid on top??

NicoleBrewer said:

Im not making the same beer but the same type, therefor I can reuse the yeast. Would that little bit of trub effect my new batch of beer?

And I understand how to yeast wash but I have not seen anything on how to use it and how to pitch it. Once its settled out do I use the thick layer of yeast on the bottom and dump out the clear liquid on top, use the whole thing or use the clear liquid on top??

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A little trub won't hurt anything on the new batch. If you were making completely different styles of beer, then washing would be a good idea. Like if you were harvesting yeast from a stout to make a pale ale. But if the beers are pretty similar, then it won't make any difference. Just leave a little bit of beer in the primary and swirl like TANS suggested to make a slurry. Pour your slurry into a sanitzed container of your choosing and then use Mr. Malty to determine how much of said slurry to repitch into the new batch. Don't worry about trying to seperate anything. When it's time to pitch, just swirl the container you collected the slurry in to make a homogenous mixture and then pour off the amount that Mr. Malty reccomends. If you are not familiar with Mr. Malty.....here is the link

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html