Using yeast collected through blowoff tube

Just got through cleaning up the blowoff tube and growler, and there was a large amount of yeast settled to the bottom of the growler I use as the bubbler. Has anyone used this as a later pitch, like collecting the dregs, but sooner. I know it can be used in a chain from one fermenter to another, but I seldom do multiple batches at the same time, and only brew 5 gallons, so there is only one fermenter going.
I have seen settled yeast in the growler before, but this was a huge amount, close to 2 inches in the bottom, so as it was going down the drain, I thought I should ask if this was a good yeast to keep for a next batch. Too late now, but next time I see this.

most of us have the blowoff going into a jar full of sanitizer, once the yeast goes into that it's not going to be good anymore. Also, if your jar wasn't sealed and sanitized I wouldn't use it for fear of contamination. If it was all clean and sealed up, you can definitely use it - look up top-cropping and burton unions if you want an interesting project for harvesting blow-off.

I just bubble into water inside a growler, so that wouldn't be a problem. All I would have to do is seal the top and let it bubble into that. I was wondering if this yeast is storable, as I said I don't do multiple fermentations at the same time so a Burton union would not help.

http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/20-build-it-yourself/354-build-a-burton-union-system-projects

Saw this and thought about trying it out one of these days, but make sure you have a ton of activity and that it's close to the top of the carboy, otherwise it won't work.

lurker18 said:

I just bubble into water inside a growler, so that wouldn't be a problem. All I would have to do is seal the top and let it bubble into that. I was wondering if this yeast is storable, as I said I don't do multiple fermentations at the same time so a Burton union would not help.

Click to expand...

Yeah, take the growler and put it in the fridge.. you should be able to save it for a few months assuming everything is well santizied.
Also, burton unions don't have to be used for multiple ferments.. that's the original purpose, but you can modify the technique to harvest yeast and save for later batches. Check this article out:

http://***********/stories/projects...self/354-build-a-burton-union-system-projects

Next time I do a big starter and get a lot of activity, I will have to try this out. I was hoping others out there have done this and could tell me if it was worth it or not.

It looks like building a union is in the future, right after the keezer, balancing the kegs, harvesting the hops, drying and storage, etc. I think I spend more time brewing and building than I do drinking the final product.