4 day old Wheat beer on tap! - without lots of yeast!

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What do you think about one of these bags for a filter, say the 5 micron one (I think yeast cells are roughly 5-10 microns).

http://www.filtersfast.com/Bag-Filters-cat.asp

It's a step in a similar direction but the 5 micron filter bag won't cut it. Yeast, in particular Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are 3-5 microns. Here is a sales brochure from Beckman Coulter touting their cell counters.

Enumeration and Size Distribution of Yeast Cells in the Brewing Industry
 
I just want to make sure that you are rinsing the dialysis tubing extremely thoroughly before you are putting it into your beer. They are typically packed in a sodium azide solution, which is extremely toxic.
 
I just want to make sure that you are rinsing the dialysis tubing extremely thoroughly before you are putting it into your beer. They are typically packed in a sodium azide solution, which is extremely toxic.

The stuff I have is dry and in a roll, like tape. I'd does get a good rinse anyway. Just like sausage casings, it needs a good soak to make working with it easier
 
OK, I served it up at our pig roast. I'd say it is interesting, definitely has potential, but needs more work. It does have a slight metallic taste to it that is annoying. I'm not sure where that came from - yet. All in all, for a 2.5% beer it has a decent amount of flavor. It was maybe just the slightest bit watery tasting. I think it would have been better ice cold (or maybe warmer?)

I ended up letting it ferment until Sat. morning (6 days total), then put it in my beer fridge for a couple hours, then it was taken out, put on ice and force carbed and put on tap.

I think I was a bit lucky with the first batch. You definitely need to have enough liquid in the tubing to help keep it submerged, that and maybe add a weight to keep it submerged. I think this might work best in a keg, as the tall narrow configuration will help keep it submerged more to allow better diffusion. I had problems with the keg I used for this batch as it did not seal well at low pressure, so it ended up hissing and releasing CO2 from around the lid as opposed to out of my 5 psi relief valve.

I'll taste it warm tonight and see how it is, and then I'll put it on tap in my kegerator and well see what happens over the next couple weeks until it is kicked.

I'll definitely be messing around with this some more.
 
This is very interesting, has anyone tried the fibrous sausage casings yet? I think I have some leftovers that I could try. I'm not sure if tying with hog rings would provide a good enough seal to keep all the yeast from migrating, but maybe if it is folded carefully, then tied, or double hog ringed, etc.

They would have to be very tight for the salt water test to work correctly also.
 
Okay, I may be going out on a limb here (more like a cracked, dangling limb swaying in the wind) but are there any macronutrients/macromolecules that the yeast could be cut off from that aren't permeable to the dialysis tubing? Ya know, some trace elements that are important to yeast function that aren't being used thus leaving behind off-flavors you wouldn't normally find in a traditionally fermented beer.

Just a thought... probably a dumb one
 
Maybe that is the weird taste you're getting?

No, the first test batch didn't have it - same tubing. I've got the 2 gal batch still in the carboy - with a different yeast. When this is ready it will let me figure out if it was something about the wort (both taste metallic) or something about the fermentor and/or yeast (carboy version is clean).

In terms of micro/macronutrients, this shouldn't be an issue. I think the size cut off for the tubing is ~10,000 Daltons, so small proteins and dextrins should be able to move in or out. Now there maybe be some proteases secreted by the yeast that won't get out so there may be some bigger proteins in the beer versus a conventional ferment.

No pics yet. I did take some, just no time to upload yet. I've been swamped at work and at home.
 
To the OP: I may have missed this, but where did you get the pressure relief valves that are set at so low a pressure?

To the community: The sodium azide preservative for the tubing is a little off-putting. My chemistry is really stale, but I wouldn't expect this inorganic salt to bind to the tubing, would it? I would think that a few rinses should get this down to pretty trivial concentrations. We seem to have quite a representation of engineers on this site. Can someone speak to this with authority?
 
I thought I would jump in here after reading the couple of entries about the use of alginate to encase the yeast. One of my other hobbies that at one point I took very seriously is "lifecasting." This involves creating very detailed sculptures from casts made directly off the human body (http://jean-paulart.com/lifecasting.htm). I use alginate in the first layer of these molds to gain as much detail - fingerprint detail - as possible.

I have several pounds of alginate on hand and would like to use it to contribute to this effort if it would be of value.

I am an new to homebrewing, extract so far, and have an open primary. What I am thinking is this:

I create a 500 ml starter, decant, then add sanitized water back to create a liquid volume needed to mix with the powdered alginate.

The aginate would be molded into a cone shape using a large funnel. I think a cone would allow good surface area for the exchange to take place.

This cone of encased yeast would be un molded once "set" and placed upside down on the bottom of the fermentor. The wort would of course be racked on top of it.

Monitoring fermentation character and progress as well as what is left behind would be done.

Thoughts?
 
How are you going to secure the cone to the bottom of the primary, with it full of yeast?

Edit, nevermind, I see you said encased cone.
 
I thought I would jump in here after reading the couple of entries about the use of alginate to encase the yeast. One of my other hobbies that at one point I took very seriously is "lifecasting." This involves creating very detailed sculptures from casts made directly off the human body (http://jean-paulart.com/lifecasting.htm). I use alginate in the first layer of these molds to gain as much detail - fingerprint detail - as possible.

I have several pounds of alginate on hand and would like to use it to contribute to this effort if it would be of value.

I am an new to homebrewing, extract so far, and have an open primary. What I am thinking is this:

I create a 500 ml starter, decant, then add sanitized water back to create a liquid volume needed to mix with the powdered alginate.

The aginate would be molded into a cone shape using a large funnel. I think a cone would allow good surface area for the exchange to take place.

This cone of encased yeast would be un molded once "set" and placed upside down on the bottom of the fermentor. The wort would of course be racked on top of it.

Monitoring fermentation character and progress as well as what is left behind would be done.

Thoughts?

You've got the right idea, but I think it's even easier than that. The commercial guys mix the yeast in the sodium alginate solution, then drip the alginate/yeast solution into a solution of calcium chloride to form little BB's. The yeast are then put into a tube (like a bazooka screen or similar) made of stainless steel (nylon window screen would probably work just as well). A simple dripper could be made from an inverted bottle with a hole in the cap, and a small hole in the bottle to relieve the vacuum.

Calcium chloride is a fairly common brewing salt, so it should be easy to find (and you don't need much).

http://www.eurovolvox.org/Protocols/PDFs/ImmobilisedYeast2.1_UK_eng.pdf
 
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