zanemoseley
Well-Known Member
The way I've been re-using yeast is to harvest the small amount of slurry at the bottom of corny's after a keg is floated. Then I make a starter with 400-600ml of DME wort and put it in a sterile canning jar in the fridge until I decide to reuse. I just recently used a 6 month old jar of WL Irish Ale yeast to make 10 gallons of Oatmeal Stout, after stepping up of course.
So does the yeast degenerate batch to batch or does the infusion of 10 gallons of tasty wort revitalize the yeast colony and weed out any unhealthy yeast. I know there are probably some factors like sanitation that will effect the end result. But as a whole am I safe reusing yeast 3,4,5 or 6 times in a row by harvesting from the bottom of a corny?? I'm not fond of washing yeast from the bottom of a fermenter as I put all hop and break material in the fermenter. So the most pure yeast I can get my hands on is in the bottom of the keg after the majority of hops/break have left the scene.
I've had good results so far with this practice but I'm curious what some more experienced people have to say because I don't want to learn a 10 gallon lesson if at all possible.
So does the yeast degenerate batch to batch or does the infusion of 10 gallons of tasty wort revitalize the yeast colony and weed out any unhealthy yeast. I know there are probably some factors like sanitation that will effect the end result. But as a whole am I safe reusing yeast 3,4,5 or 6 times in a row by harvesting from the bottom of a corny?? I'm not fond of washing yeast from the bottom of a fermenter as I put all hop and break material in the fermenter. So the most pure yeast I can get my hands on is in the bottom of the keg after the majority of hops/break have left the scene.
I've had good results so far with this practice but I'm curious what some more experienced people have to say because I don't want to learn a 10 gallon lesson if at all possible.