Good, cheap dry yeast
- Thread starter Boek
- Start date
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here is a thread discussing the merits of washing your dry yeast.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/harvesting-dry-yeast-339941/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/harvesting-dry-yeast-339941/
kingwood-kid
Well-Known Member
You might try Cooper's. Not as widely available, but definitely cheaper and always worked fine for me.
I don't even wash it, as Chris White from White Labs says anything gained from the practice isn't worth the risk of contamination. So, as a few members here suggested, I scoop out slurry into the same sanitized jars, pop them in the fridge, use Mr. Malty's pitching rate Calc to determine how much to use for each batch, and done. Super simple and easy. That said if washing works for you, by all means continue on, but much like anything else, ymmv. The slurry method has served me quite well. One smack pack of 1469 should go at least 4-5 brews if I'm careful enough... 3 and I figured it's paid me back.
Doed
Belching Dog Brewery
hey duckmanco - can you detail your slurry process? I'm interested.
If you don't intend to make a starter, the best bet is to just pitch slurry. if you use hop bags the trub isn't too bad.
the last issue of BYO suggested scraping off the top layer of the cake and discarding and then using a spatula to scrape up the cake into a jar, 1/4" at a time, leaving the bottom most part of the layer (so you never scrape against the bucket). you want about 1 - 1 1/2 cups
Sure thing. Here is where I first read it, and where reusing yeast made sense to me, as trying to wash it annoyed me greatly. Some guys get awesome looking healthy fat white yeast slurry filled jars by washing --- I didn't.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/why-not-pitch-your-yeast-cake-166221/
Highly recommend reading the above post, lots of great info.
And what I do came from there.
1. Sanitize mason jars, lids etc all equipment that will touch beer or hold yeast. Boiling the mason jars and their lids etc. is also good, I sanitize.
2. Rack finished beer to wherever you intend for it to go, preferably leaving a few ounces in the bucket/carboy.
3. Swirl the fermenter to get the cake into a slurry.
4. Either scoop (didn't like the mess this made with my buckets) or even better, and a must for a carboy, pour yeast cake into equal portions into sanitized mason jars and put the lid on lightly --- Chris White on the same Sunday Session podcast stated that the yeast in the slurry will offgass in the jars, and the back pressure from this could kill yeast. He recommended venting the jars every hour for (don't quote me here) the first 24 hours. I screw the lids on but don't tighten them down, and vent the lid a few times the first night I harvest.
That's it. It's incredibly simple. I've found that straining hops before the wort goes into the fermentor obviously gets cleaner yeast. I also use mr. Malty to repitch from slurry inputting the harvest date, and using the sliders to create a worst case scenario. So, I'll set non yeast solids to the highest percentage, and call my slurry super thin. Both of those settings will cause the pitch rate Calc to have you pitch more of your slurry then if you set them to the opposite. While it might be over pitching slightly, I'm comfortable with it and figure it accounts for things I can't see. It's worked great so far.
I just harvested 4 jars of 1469 the other day and will repitch all of those into beers, and then if I want, I can reharvest from those as well and still only be at the 2nd generation--- another reason why using slurry, and not the whole cake works really well.
Hops this helps, any questions, let me know.
I use the same yeast washing process as you, and I noticed the pressurizing jars. I ended up venting them as you're suggesting, but I had no idea this could kill the yeast. I will be sure to keep venting.
Thanks for this!
I use the same yeast washing process as you, and I noticed the pressurizing jars. I ended up venting them as you're suggesting, but I had no idea this could kill the yeast. I will be sure to keep venting.
Thanks for this!
So if I were just washing the yeastusing the traditional method instead of scooping the slurry would I still need to vent the jars?
As a rough guide, use about a quarter of the cake to make a beer of similar gravity. Use half the cake to make a beer of twice the gravity.
I have no problem pitching saved slurry, in these amounts, up to about a month in the fridge. You will want to drain the liquid from the jar before pitching the slurry, as the liquid will be nasty stuff.
The yeast does start to autolyse (starts feeding off dead yeast and developing nasty flavors). If you keep a jar for 6 months, it will probably smell like burnt rubber when you open it. This yeast can still be used, but you need to wash it to get rid of the large amount of dead yeast. After washing, you can then make a starter.
Yes, you can still straight pitch at 6 months, but I wouldn't put that nasty stuff straight into a beer that I spent money and time on. I'd recommend limiting the re-use of slurry (without washing) to about 4 weeks of storage.
I use the same yeast washing process as you, and I noticed the pressurizing jars. I ended up venting them as you're suggesting, but I had no idea this could kill the yeast. I will be sure to keep venting.
Thanks for this!
Also, to be clear, I'm not washing the yeast at all, just storing the slurry in mason jars is all. But yeah, I'd vent any yeast in a jar to be safe for at least the first 24 hours or so, can't hurt provided you aren't taking the lid completely off.
Sure, I don't actually wash my yeast, but I still (inaccurately) think of it as yeast washing. I guess I should call it slurry saving instead.
