reusing yeast with out washing

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killian

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I have been reusing my yeast lately to save on costs. I was thinking about a couple of things.

I have had problems with washing yeast in the past (a sour smell) probably due to poor technique.

so I have been thinking that I will have less chance of contamination reusing the slurry with out washing it. I use a paint straining bag during the boil to pull out the hops so I think there should only be hot/cold break in my trub.

I plan my brewing around the yeast; the last series of brews - a belgian blonde, pale then a triple. As far as I can tell the trub being present has had minimal effect on the next batch, I try not to stress the yeast with to much alcohol or IBU.

When Im measuring the slurry there doesnt seem to be very much trub; I have been thinking I should pitch a larger amount due to some trub being present, maybe about 25 percent does this sound ok? Im sure the answer is to remove the trub but how much difference does it make?

Can I use my whitelabs vials in my pressure cooker?
 
I've kept and used yeast without washing with no ill effect so far. I just use quart mason jars after i rack to the kegs and try and collect from the very bottom. Since my batch sizes have gone up to 20-25 gallons I usually collect a few quarts, one per carboy more or less. My fermentation usually starts within a couple of hours of pitching.

Why in the world would you put WL vials in a pressure cooker? 8|
 
A lot of people have their next batch ready to pitch yeast into, and will rack a previous beer off the yeast cake, and rack the wort directly onto that cake. I have only done this a couple times, but it works great. I now wash most of my yeast, so I can defer the cost across several batches of beer. If you are following the procedure properly, you shouldn't have any issues.

As far as the WL vials, if they are glass, you could definitely sterilize them in a pressure cooker. Just be careful, they could probably break very easily. If they are plastic, they will probably heat up too much, and get distorted. I just had something like this happen to a plastic jar, just heating up some BBQ sauce in the microwave. The whole jar just about collapsed in on itself.

Good Luck
 
I have a bunch of them and I would use them for easy storage of yeast in the refrigerator.

I think Jamil said that he uses nalgene bottles in his pressure cooker.
 
I just want to emphasize there is no need to aerate when racking onto an established cake. You want to do this 'quietly' so to speak, the reason for this is the colony is well established, you do not want to push it through the growth phase again and there is no need. This is a great approach for brewing two styles a smaller beer and then a bigger beer with the resulting cake. I have done this many times with very good results.
 
zoebisch01 said:
I just want to emphasize there is no need to aerate when racking onto an established cake. You want to do this 'quietly' so to speak, the reason for this is the colony is well established, you do not want to push it through the growth phase again and there is no need. This is a great approach for brewing two styles a smaller beer and then a bigger beer with the resulting cake. I have done this many times with very good results.
Click to expand...

good comment. A yeast cake leftover from a batch is A TON of yeast. You do NOT need to add more yeast.

Just rack the freshly made and cooled wort onto the cake, and seal it up. you'll likely have VOLCANIC fermentation in less than 6 hours.

Even a 7 gallon bucket could not contain the krausen of a 5 gallon batch that I dumped onto a fresh yeast cake. I was blowing krausen out the airlock by the next morning, at 67F temperatures...
 
killian said:
I have been reusing my yeast lately to save on costs. I was thinking about a couple of things.

I have had problems with washing yeast in the past (a sour smell) probably due to poor technique.

so I have been thinking that I will have less chance of contamination reusing the slurry with out washing it. I use a paint straining bag during the boil to pull out the hops so I think there should only be hot/cold break in my trub.

I plan my brewing around the yeast; the last series of brews - a belgian blonde, pale then a triple. As far as I can tell the trub being present has had minimal effect on the next batch, I try not to stress the yeast with to much alcohol or IBU.

When Im measuring the slurry there doesnt seem to be very much trub; I have been thinking I should pitch a larger amount due to some trub being present, maybe about 25 percent does this sound ok? Im sure the answer is to remove the trub but how much difference does it make?

Can I use my whitelabs vials in my pressure cooker?
Click to expand...


IMO you really don't need to wash yeast unless you want to make slants or store it for long periods. As far as the trub goes, RDWAHAHB. Dead yeast and protein sludge make pretty good yeast food. White Labs tubes are blanks for 2 litre soda bottles. They are made from PETE, polyethylene terephthalate. This material has a heat deflection temperature of 115C/239F. If you have any concerns I would chemically sanitize them. :mug:
 
malkore said:
good comment. A yeast cake leftover from a batch is A TON of yeast. You do NOT need to add more yeast.
Click to expand...

Can I split the yeast cake in half when I brew a 10 gallon batch (split equally into two 6.5 gal carboys)? Is the Yeast cell count high enough? I have had much success in using the full yeast cake for the next 5 gal batch - needed blowoff tube within 2 hours.

I plan to use a US-05 yeast cake of an 1.060 OG IPA and make another 10 gallons of a 1.067 OG IPA.
 
gonzo brewer said:
Can I split the yeast cake in half when I brew a 10 gallon batch (split equally into two 6.5 gal carboys)? Is the Yeast cell count high enough? I have had much success in using the full yeast cake for the next 5 gal batch - needed blowoff tube within 2 hours.

I plan to use a US-05 yeast cake of an 1.060 OG IPA and make another 10 gallons of a 1.067 OG IPA.
Click to expand...

Yes you can

You only need 80ml of yeast slurry to do a 5 gallon batch.

You would have more then enough for 10 gallons if you split it up.
 
The entire yeast cake from a previous batch can actually be too much yeast, resulting in some of the same problems as under pitching. You don't have to wash the yeast to re-use it, but you should scoop out the necesarry amount, toss the rest, and pitch what you scooped. The Mr.Malty calculator lets you set the trub percentage a,d thickness of your slurry, and tells you exactly how much you need to pitch.

www.mrmalty.com, scroll down and click on the pitching rate calculator and then click the repitching from slurry tab.
 
I figure if it doesn't smell bad or make the starter taste bad, it should be good for at least a couple months. Have you read the Yeast Washing thread?
 
I have tried washing a couple of times and I ended up with sour smelling yeast probably from poor technique/sanitizing.

I havent had any problems pitching on to a yeast cake or measuring an amount from the slurry so I figured why not try and set some aside for a while and when I plan on brewing, warm it up and pitch.

I know I should make a starter but if I have the proper pitch rate I'm thinking that there is a relatively small risk of contamination. I know Im rolling the dice with this idea but what the hell I think its worth a try.

should I sterilize the jars in the pressure cooker or just soak them in star san?
 
I use star san and mason jars with no problems, beware of hefe yeasts, they're more sensitive. I did use a hefe after a month or two, took a couple of days to start but it did get going. Might need to make a starter for hefe yeasts. Kolsch, Cali Common and others I've used have had no problems for quite lengthy stays in the fridge.
 

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