Re-Use Yeast?

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toadyus

toadyus

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Ok, so when your ready to move from primary to secondary I can just pore my new wort over the left over sludge in the bottom of my bucket? Or do you have to leave some liquid at the bottom? I'm about to move my IPA and make a red ale. I used wyeast 1056. Is it better to just do the yeast washing or just pore the new wort on top of the sludge left at the bottom once I transfer my IPA into my secondary. Any info on this would be awesome.

Thanks
 
Just pour it on, no need to leave any fluid if you're doing it right away. If you need it to sit there for a day, leave enough fluid to keep the trub sudmerged. yeast washing is for storing it for a prolonged period of time. I know it sounds way too easy.... but it is.
 
The advantage to washing your yeast is that you can save off about half for another batch. You certainly have more than enough.

Anything you can do to propogate the yeast without it mutating (as happens during a full fermentation) will help you stretch the yeast further.

Imagine your yeast is only at it's optimal for 5-6 generations. If you simply pitch on top of your full yeast cake each time, you get 5-6 batches.

If you split off the yeast cake everytime, the "lifespan" is considerably longer.
 
ok so to wash my yeast I just siphon out all into my secondary then add how much water? then put the water that was on top of the sludge in jars?? Do I put any sludge in the Jars?
 
toadyus said:
ok so to wash my yeast I just siphon out all into my secondary then add how much water? then put the water that was on top of the sludge in jars?? Do I put any sludge in the Jars?
Click to expand...

Take a look here. It should answer most of your questions.
 
That article is very sparse on detail, it doesn't say if you siphon all the beer and just leave the trub, also it doesn't state how much liquid to add on top of the trub.
 
toadyus said:
That article is very sparse on detail, it doesn't say if you siphon all the beer and just leave the trub, also it doesn't state how much liquid to add on top of the trub.
Click to expand...

The article is a step by step for yeast washing. ie having clean yeast to store and use in later batches of brew.

For pitching on top of a yeast cake if you remove the brew just before you plan to add the next brew you don't need to leave any liquid over the yeast. If it is going to be a day or so leave just enough liquid to cover the yeast.
 
I usually add 1/2 gal of boiled and cooled water to my primary when washing. Swirl it around really well then pour it into a sanitized gal jug. Wait 5 mins for most of the heavy junk to fall out then transfer the cloudy (yeast in suspension) liquid into another jug, toss out the heavy stuff, resanitize the jug, wait another 10 mins for more junk to fall out and transfer the liquid again. Repeat these steps as necessary if more junk falls out. ;)

As for pitching your wort on top of the cake...make sure your wort is cooled first!
 
toadyus said:
That article is very sparse on detail, it doesn't say if you siphon all the beer and just leave the trub, also it doesn't state how much liquid to add on top of the trub.
Click to expand...
Siphone the beer off of the trub. You'll never siphon the trub out, that's where the yeast resides. Once you have all the beer out of the fermenter...do this.
 
In the article/picture display of how to wash the yeast, what is the semi clear liquid? The four pint jars i assume are what is pitched into the new batch of wort? Is that correct? The semi clear jar is "washed" but what does that mean? It will keep for longer?

I am in the beginning phases of figuring out how to reuse yeast.

Any help is appreciated.
 
Hey Dukeman,

it has been a while since i started washing yeast. Everything i read indicated that the yeast in the secondary will not be as viable as the yeast you can get from your primary. I think if you search a little more you will find people saying don't wash the yeast from the secondary.

good luck.
 
Wow, I could have been the original poster for this! Identical situations!

I am also moving an IPA to bottles and making a red ale on Saturday. Can I really get away with dumping my wort (cooled of course) on top of the yeast? I read this leads to massive over pitching.

Will my yeast be ok if it's exposed to air for a couple of hours? Should I move my bucket into refrigeration and wait?

I'm confused:drunk:
 
Hey Geppu,

I have read that you should leave an inch of beer on top of the cake to keep the O2 away from it. but if you are going to put the chilled wort on top immediately you should be ok. if you have to wait until after you bottle... def leave some wort on there.
Never had a prob with over pitching. have read some guys pitching 5 times on the same cake. myself, only done it 1 or 2 times.
If you refrigerate, you might shock the yeast is my thought.

most of the time you make a small beer and put a big beer on the cake. or a dark on a light.

hope this helps. good luck.

cheer.

Matt
 
bierzwinski said:
Hey Geppu,

I have read that you should leave an inch of beer on top of the cake to keep the O2 away from it. but if you are going to put the chilled wort on top immediately you should be ok. if you have to wait until after you bottle... def leave some wort on there.
Never had a prob with over pitching. have read some guys pitching 5 times on the same cake. myself, only done it 1 or 2 times.
If you refrigerate, you might shock the yeast is my thought.

most of the time you make a small beer and put a big beer on the cake. or a dark on a light.

hope this helps. good luck.

cheer.

Matt
Click to expand...

Good point.. there is an amount of the first beer that always remains, and if you use pelletized hops the primary trub will be chock full of hops from the first batch... So pitching a lightly hopped blonde on top of trub from your rocking DIPA will leave you with a bitter blonde.. and no one needs a bitter blonde hanging around the garage when you are trying to enjoy a beer.
 
I'm putting this onto this:

1.25lb 2-row, 10oz crystal 60l, 1lb wheat, 1/2oz chocolate, 6lb extra pale extract and 60min-1oz cascade, 15min 3/4oz willamette, 2oz kent golding, 3/4 cascade and dry hopped with 1/4 oz willamette and cascade.

Would someone who's pitching onto a yeast cake want to wipe down the sides with a sanitized paper towel to clean the previous krausen or no worries?
 
I'd say you will be fine in terms of flavor and color impacts. You really don't want to stick your hand in the fermenter or even open it up for any longer than necessary. The Krausen is just the part of the top cropping yeast sludge that never settled out so it certainly won't hurt anything.
 

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