Reusing Yeast - How many Times?

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Cpt_Kirks

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Assuming I wash and properly store yeast, how many times can I reuse it?

So far, I have not reused yeast, but am about to start trying.
 
Even without washing, I've harvested and repitched slurry out to ten generations without ill effect.

Washing and proper storing is a pretty big reset button in terms of yeast quality, or so the theory tells us. I've never made a consistent practice of washing and storing, so someone else will have to weigh in on the practice's impact on generations.
 
I have washed and stored for 6 months before use with no ill effect, But so much time and fridge space is taken I prefer to pitch on the last cake. On the same cake I have pitched 4 times. After that I start worrying about trub buildup.

How does that work?

You repitch new wort on the yeast at the bottom of the fermenter?
 
How does that work?

You repitch new wort on the yeast at the bottom of the fermenter?

Pretty much. You generally always want to pitch a darker beer or the same beer on to a yeast cake, though. It's hard to pitch a pale beer on to the yeast cake from a stout without the stout residue impacting the color of the pale. Get it?
 
I see.... There's a method I have heard about where most of the fermented wort is drawn off and some is left behind, and a new batch of wort is put onto the remainder.

There's a thought: Constantly making the same beer type. Why not? If you like it. I suppose, if one has a conical fermenter then they could draw off most of the trub and pitch new wort. If your sanitation is good then theoretically your yeast strain will adapt to that particular beer style and how you treat the fermentation. Is that right?


I mean it could never actually go too bad in there with the layer of CO2; that is, until you apply oxygen to the new wort.... Or, would you not do that?
 
When you rack your beer it's almost impossible to remove all the wort from the fermenter, so if you wanted to reuse that yeast cake you have a couple of options. One is to make a darker beer so as the color difference wont impact your beer that much. Two is to wash the yeast, which is just like it sounds. You can search for the process, but the idea is to separate the yeast from the trub and old wort.

The third option would be to use the same exact beer. If the beer you just brewed seems 'off' then you likely don't want to reuse the yeast cake. If the beer tasted fine then sanitation shouldn't be an issue if you practice a safe process. If the yeast fermented your beer then there should be plenty of good, healthy yeast in the cake. You'll basically just pour or rack the new wort onto the yeast cake and aerate the wort. You'll still want to introduce O2 since the yeast need it to work and since there isn't any the wort you just boiled.
 
When you rack your beer it's almost impossible to remove all the wort from the fermenter, so if you wanted to reuse that yeast cake you have a couple of options. One is to make a darker beer so as the color difference wont impact your beer that much.

I am going to throw the experience/logic card on this one and say not true.

Logic first: You can siphon off 99% (or more)of the beer (it really isn't wort anymore, is it?). I personally leave less than 6 oz in the bottom (which would be 1% of a 5 gallon batch). How much color change is going to happen off of that 6 oz of stout in your new batch of 640 oz of pale ale?

Experience: I have been doing runs on the same yeast cake to be cheap and to use what I had. This fall was (on S-04) stout (SRM 24) to octoberfest ale (SRM 10) to Holiday Spice (SRM 17) to Pumpkin (SRM 12) to ESB (SRM 15?). This was a progression of siphon to keg (or secondary for the pumpkin), dump in new batch.

Not only was there no discernible effect on the color, there was no discernible carry through of any of the spices.

I have in gone from a stout on notty to a haus pale and found no significant effect.

Is this the best method? No. Does it work? Yes. I have taken to planning groups of beers around a yeast cake... it is efficient for my brewhouse. My consumers have zero complaints. And it is VERY cost effective.

I wash some yeast (water... no acid yet!), but I find my serial pitches very effective. I do ferment cool (low 60's) and I hit with some yeast nutrient on the 5th pitch (which DOUBLEd the size of the trub/cake that batch).


So I would encourage those who have the inclination to line up a few beers on a yeast cake and try this. It works.
 
I have washed and stored for 6 months before use with no ill effect, But so much time and fridge space is taken I prefer to pitch on the last cake. On the same cake I have pitched 4 times. After that I start worrying about trub buildup.

I've taken a small twist to the method described in the Yeast Washing Illustrated thread. Instead of pouring the quart of washed yeast into pint jars, I set it in the fridge for a week. After a week, I decant the liquid on top and divide it into 4 oz. jelly jars. They take up far less fridge space.

Jelly Jar.jpg

Yeast Bank.jpg

So far it is working great. On Friday night I put a 4 month old jar of washed yeast in a 1 liter starter and ended up with this on Saturday morning:

13578d1258216960-hbt-welcomes-new-vendor-stirstarters-com-7e67f3682901__1258188689000.jpg


13579d1258216968-hbt-welcomes-new-vendor-stirstarters-com-04be3e66dbc4__1258188718000.jpg
 
No, no no! [brandishes rolled-up newspaper]

Bad brewers! BAD!

Let me give the positive thing first, before the thwapping commences.

The Evil Gnome is right: It's really painfully simple to harvest yeast. You've got everything you need in your kitchen already.

You need:

Several Mason jars or glass jam jars
A stainless-steel scoop or measuring cup
Sanitizer

After racking, use the sanitized scoop to scoop yeast out of the bucket into sanitized jars. Cover. Refrigerate.

Done.

The procedure is slightly different for carboys and conicals, respectively. But it's still easy, and lets you measure the appropriate amount of yeast to pitch.

Now for the thwapping.

Knocking out onto an old yeast cake is unbelievably lazy, just plain bad brewing practice. It will never cease to amaze me that the same brewers who will agonize over how much impact one ounce of grain will have on five gallons of beer will blithely ignore the impact of one of the four main beer ingredients. I can't believe otherwise responsible brewers still advocate such practices. You might as well just buy Cooper's kits and fortify them with dextrose.

In the first place, it's overpitching by massive amounts. Pitching yeast is not about cramming as much yeast as you can into a fermenter. It's about pitching the right volume of yeast to meet a variety of goals: Short lag-time, ester production, suppression of negative flavor precursors, etc. The only goal overpitching meets is reducing lag-time, and if you pitch the proper amount of yeast, lag-time still isn't an issue. Look up the effects of overpitching, and tell me if you want those effects in your beer. I don't. No respectable brewer does.

In the second place, you're putting fresh wort in a horrible, filthy vessel. It will also never cease to amaze me that brewers who will agonize over ingredients and other procedures will just dump their lovingly prepared wort into a disgusting wallow. It's all I can do not to ask, "If you're too lazy to take ten minutes to clean a freaking five-gallon fermenter, what other corners are you cutting?" Any brewer worth the name should default to this: If you can see a bit of soil on a piece of brewing equipment, it's not just that spot that's dirty - it's the whole damn piece. If there's a spot of soil on the outside of the fermenter, how do you know the inside is clean? You might have missed something. Clean it again. Now you're going to tell me it's perfectly acceptable to put fresh wort in something with rings of hardened krauesen and trub soil and other gunge? Nope. The sooner you realize that brewing is 80% janitorial and reconcile yourself to that fact, the better brewer you'll be.

It's unconscionable. It's terrible brewing practice. I wish I could meet the brewer who came up with this lazy, horrible shortcut and slap him in his face.

Grrrr...

Note: None of the above is intended to be personal. The vast majoity of brewers engage in this practice not knowing how awful it is. It's irresponsible to evangelize in favor of it, so I come down on it rather forcefully. Consider it an 'intervention'. :D

Bob
 
<dodging the newspaper swing>

I love a good intervention! And Yes, I am lazy!

I really like the method you advocate: stainless measuring cup scoop full. How hard would it be for me to look up a proper pitch of slurry? Not very.

Here was my thinking: everything in the bucket is already in contact with my beer, so it should not introduce anything un beer like into the next process. And I must have been lucky, because it was successful. It is kind of that Belgian theory of brewing: house flavor. Unless all those cats in the brewhouse next to the open vats were sanitized...

I am reading about overpitching on your suggestion, but I do not find much that concerns me too much in that neighborhood. Wyeast cites the following:

High pitch rates can lead to:

* Very low ester production
* Very fast fermentations
* Thin or lacking body/mouthfeel
* Autolysis (Yeasty flavors due to lysing of cells)

On this last run, I have not experienced the last three. Perhaps speed of ferment was controlled by cool temps? I use low 60s. I was doing all fall beers, so high mash temps may have covered the mouthfeel. The Octberfest was very estery (fruity, right?), but it was yeasty, for sure.

Do you have some better places to read about the overpitching? I would like to see what I can glean on that.

But consider me cured! I will now advocate using a cup to harvest (read dip into the old yeast cake) the amount of slurry needed for the next batch, which will be in a newly sanitized vessel.

Unless I get lazy.

But I won't talk about that! :)
 
No, no no! [brandishes rolled-up newspaper]

Bad brewers! BAD!

Let me give the positive thing first, before the thwapping commences.

The Evil Gnome is right: It's really painfully simple to harvest yeast. You've got everything you need in your kitchen already.

You need:

Several Mason jars or glass jam jars
A stainless-steel scoop or measuring cup
Sanitizer

After racking, use the sanitized scoop to scoop yeast out of the bucket into sanitized jars. Cover. Refrigerate.

Done.

The procedure is slightly different for carboys and conicals, respectively. But it's still easy, and lets you measure the appropriate amount of yeast to pitch.

Now for the thwapping.

Knocking out onto an old yeast cake is unbelievably lazy, just plain bad brewing practice. It will never cease to amaze me that the same brewers who will agonize over how much impact one ounce of grain will have on five gallons of beer will blithely ignore the impact of one of the four main beer ingredients. I can't believe otherwise responsible brewers still advocate such practices. You might as well just buy Cooper's kits and fortify them with dextrose.

In the first place, it's overpitching by massive amounts. Pitching yeast is not about cramming as much yeast as you can into a fermenter. It's about pitching the right volume of yeast to meet a variety of goals: Short lag-time, ester production, suppression of negative flavor precursors, etc. The only goal overpitching meets is reducing lag-time, and if you pitch the proper amount of yeast, lag-time still isn't an issue. Look up the effects of overpitching, and tell me if you want those effects in your beer. I don't. No respectable brewer does.

In the second place, you're putting fresh wort in a horrible, filthy vessel. It will also never cease to amaze me that brewers who will agonize over ingredients and other procedures will just dump their lovingly prepared wort into a disgusting wallow. It's all I can do not to ask, "If you're too lazy to take ten minutes to clean a freaking five-gallon fermenter, what other corners are you cutting?" Any brewer worth the name should default to this: If you can see a bit of soil on a piece of brewing equipment, it's not just that spot that's dirty - it's the whole damn piece. If there's a spot of soil on the outside of the fermenter, how do you know the inside is clean? You might have missed something. Clean it again. Now you're going to tell me it's perfectly acceptable to put fresh wort in something with rings of hardened krauesen and trub soil and other gunge? Nope. The sooner you realize that brewing is 80% janitorial and reconcile yourself to that fact, the better brewer you'll be.

It's unconscionable. It's terrible brewing practice. I wish I could meet the brewer who came up with this lazy, horrible shortcut and slap him in his face.

Grrrr...

Note: None of the above is intended to be personal. The vast majoity of brewers engage in this practice not knowing how awful it is. It's irresponsible to evangelize in favor of it, so I come down on it rather forcefully. Consider it an 'intervention'. :D

Bob

You know Bob, I was wondering about "pitching on the cake" for that very reason.

My first try at this will be a dunkelweiss, an 8 gallon batch in a 6 gallon and 5 gallon better bottle. I want to pitch a batch of hefe on top of one, and wash and save the other cake.

I read in another thread about doing a quick wash with distilled water to reuse yeast that or the next day. I will probably go with that method for one cake.
 
Bob-

I also wanted to clarify: you are saying you harvest straight out of the cake without any washing process, correct? Cake to sanitized jar to refrigerator, done. right?
 
I really like the method you advocate: stainless measuring cup scoop full. How hard would it be for me to look up a proper pitch of slurry? Not very.

Nope. Don't really even need to think! :)

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Plug in some numbers, get other numbers back. Simplicity itself.

Here was my thinking: everything in the bucket is already in contact with my beer, so it should not introduce anything un beer like into the next process. And I must have been lucky, because it was successful. It is kind of that Belgian theory of brewing: house flavor. Unless all those cats in the brewhouse next to the open vats were sanitized...
Ah, but that's apples and oranges. The breweries you're talking about are breweries that depend on non-Saccaromyces inoculation to impart that "house flavor". In that instance, you really can't change a thing, because you don't really know where the funk is coming from. Apple.

In a modern brewery, house flavor instead tends to come from a combination of factors, mainly specific water chemistry (if you don't fool with it) and mutation of a "house" yeast strain over decades. Orange.

In neither example is the brewer exempt from cleaning his fermenters; even lambic breweries clean their barrels after use.

Simply put: Dirty vessel = fail. Clean vessel = win and kittens.

Kidding and drama aside, pitching the correct amount of yeast and keeping your brewery equipment scrupulously clean is simply good brewing practice. There's no reason not to do so except laziness, plain and simple.

On this last run, I have not experienced the last three.
You may not have ended up with bad beer, but I submit that it was mediocre compared to using proper practices. One can make acceptable beer with mediocre and even downright bad practices, certainly. But I've always been under the impression that if a thing is worth doing at all, it's worth doing to the best of one's ability. Eschew mediocrity.

Do you have some better places to read about the overpitching? I would like to see what I can glean on that.
To start, have a crack at http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php - it's a good overview of the proper technique.

In fact, I simplify that to an even simpler rule of thumb: 1 million cells per milliliter of wort per degree Plato, regardless of ale or lager. It hasn't failed me yet.

But consider me cured! I will now advocate using a cup to harvest (read dip into the old yeast cake) the amount of slurry needed for the next batch, which will be in a newly sanitized vessel.
Good egg.

Unless I get lazy.

But I won't talk about that! :)
Cheeky monkey! [swings again]

Cpt_Kirks said:
My first try at this will be a dunkelweiss, an 8 gallon batch in a 6 gallon and 5 gallon better bottle. I want to pitch a batch of hefe on top of one, and wash and save the other cake.

Now there's a situation where you definitely don't want to overpitch. Remember that overpitching suppresses ester production. Weissbier is a style where yeast esters define the beer. A wheat beer without those banana/clove esters isn't Weissbier. Period.

I read in another thread about doing a quick wash with distilled water to reuse yeast that or the next day. I will probably go with that method for one cake.
You really don't need to wash it for quick turnaround. You lose ~25% viability for every 7 days you store the slurry. You can use the Mr Malty calculator to account for that loss. If you're brewing the day after harvesting, don't worry about washing the slurry; just calculate how much you need and pitch that amount.

chefmike said:
I also wanted to clarify: you are saying you harvest straight out of the cake without any washing process, correct? Cake to sanitized jar to refrigerator, done. right?

For quick turnaround, yes. Harvest considerably more than you think you'll need, so you have some extra slurry on hand at pitching time.

Washing is really only necessary if you want to store the slant long-term (more than a few weeks).

Cheers!

Bob
 
I have yet to pitch on a cake of yeast for some of the reasons cited by NQ3X. Especially the desire to clean the fermenter before pouring my fresh wort in.

HOWEVER . . . if brewers are doing this and enjoying the beer they produce while saving a few bucks and some time - who cares?
 
HOWEVER . . . if brewers are doing this and enjoying the beer they produce while saving a few bucks and some time - who cares?


I think the point would be that I do not advocate the process. I did point out in my original answer that it is not the best practice.

I just choose to learn from an experienced brewer what I could... instead of being huffy that someone would dare criticize my process. It stands to reason that I could have been really wrong. I just have heard "pitch on a cake" and I applied it in my brewery. I assumed a lot. It does work. No denying that... but like Bob says... what if a few extra minutes gets me a little better? :mug:

I am lazy and cheap, I will admit that. But I am striving to keep a quality product stocked with my resources. Personally, I will likely always pitch on a cake from time to time (dodging the rolled up newspaper again! :D). But I am more likely to take the 10 extra minutes and calc the proper pitch and use that amount. Current process is rack, dump new batch. New process is star san a bucket, rack, scoop out proper amount of yeast into new bucket, dump in new batch.

And really, that is why I am here... to learn from other folks. :fro:
 
For one thing, that dirty fermenter just minutes ago held great beer. Don't tell me all of a sudden the fermenter is filthy.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that the trub isn't wanted in another brew. I don't practice dumping fresh beer into a used fermenter, but rather dump the yeast out and let it settle so I could decant the spent beer on top. I then pitch this into a new sanitized fermenter filled with fresh wort.
It's just not the end all end all of things that would all of a sudden cause you to make horrible beer.

Cheers
 
I wish I could meet the brewer who came up with this lazy, horrible shortcut and slap him in his face.

I learned it from Charlie Papazian who claims the big breweries do it. Then he told me everything will be fine and to relax and have a homebrew.
 
Hermit - Not long. As long as the yeast is stored cold (between 35-40F) and under beer, it will last a few weeks. But just sitting in the fermenter? Not long at all. That's why brewers who practice the technique knock out the same day they racked off the cake.

St Anthony - The Prophet Charlie is not only wrong about big breweries doing that, he's not infallible. Everything will NOT be fine if you practice this technique; your beer will be mediocre. But you can RDWHAHB! :mug:

Boo Boo - I can and will tell you it's filthy. Any fool can look at it and plainly see the truth of it. Trub and other soils are dirt. I'm glad you at least decant the slurry; you're halfway to pitching appropriate amounts. Yeah, I do sort of make it out to be the end of all things. Mainly, that's because it's such a lazy thing - take ten minutes and clean the dratted fermenter. What is so hard about that?

Bob
 
I've reused Wyeast #1099 (Whitbread.) I have a single jar of it left at generation #3 that can still possibly get me many more batches (maximum 16; I get roughly 4 jars out of a wash.)

Basically what I'm saying is I've heard 5 generations is the limit. I'd like to try going further to see if any weird mutations arise.
 
Basically what I'm saying is I've heard 5 generations is the limit. I'd like to try going further to see if any weird mutations arise.

Somebody here linked this paper recently where an ale yeast was repitched 98 times and a lager yeast was repitched 135 times, both with no mutations. I don't think mutation is as much the concern to a homebrewer as contamination is.
 
How do I know if I over pitched?
I did a Hank's hefe weizen using Wyyeast 3068. After complete fermentation
on Oct. 25, I washed using the Washing Yeast Illustrated thread to obtain four separate pints of yeast. On the 14th of Nov. I took one of the pints and made a starter using 3/4 cup of DME and three cups of water to make a starter. The starter looked good so on the 15th, I started brewing and pitched the starter after brewing my second batch of Hank's. First thing this morning the fermenter is going crazy. I was extremely stoked until reading this thread about over pitching. I just looked at my batch and it is bubbling through a blowoff tube like CRAZY. Did I over pitch or am I worrying over nothing?
 
Somebody here linked this paper recently where an ale yeast was repitched 98 times and a lager yeast was repitched 135 times, both with no mutations. I don't think mutation is as much the concern to a homebrewer as contamination is.

Holy hell... well then, I redact my statement!
 
Call it what you want but it is possible to select yeast (I don't like to call them mutants, just descendants.) You can easily select the flocculation by when and how you harvest the yeast. I agree, the biggest problem is contamination.

I don't wash. I just swirl the remaining beer in the fermenter and fill a quart jar. The most dense trub stays stuck to the bottom, the beer and the best yeast go in the jar.
 
Call it what you want but it is possible to select yeast (I don't like to call them mutants, just descendants.) You can easily select the flocculation by when and how you harvest the yeast. I agree, the biggest problem is contamination.

I don't wash. I just swirl the remaining beer in the fermenter and fill a quart jar. The most dense trub stays stuck to the bottom, the beer and the best yeast go in the jar.


The scientists are aided of course by microscopes in order to look for creepy crawlies in their yeast.
 
You can re-use the yeast forever ot at least as long as your lifetime.

Bass did it for a long time.
Got to get the yeasties from the krausen, you can just keep re-using those.

How do I know if I over pitched?
I did a Hank's hefe weizen using Wyyeast 3068. After complete fermentation
on Oct. 25, I washed using the Washing Yeast Illustrated thread to obtain four separate pints of yeast. On the 14th of Nov. I took one of the pints and made a starter using 3/4 cup of DME and three cups of water to make a starter. The starter looked good so on the 15th, I started brewing and pitched the starter after brewing my second batch of Hank's. First thing this morning the fermenter is going crazy. I was extremely stoked until reading this thread about over pitching. I just looked at my batch and it is bubbling through a blowoff tube like CRAZY. Did I over pitch or am I worrying over nothing?

Under pitch on Hefe/Dunkelweizens
 
How do I know if I over pitched?
I did a Hank's hefe weizen using Wyyeast 3068. After complete fermentation
on Oct. 25, I washed using the Washing Yeast Illustrated thread to obtain four separate pints of yeast. On the 14th of Nov. I took one of the pints and made a starter using 3/4 cup of DME and three cups of water to make a starter. The starter looked good so on the 15th, I started brewing and pitched the starter after brewing my second batch of Hank's. First thing this morning the fermenter is going crazy. I was extremely stoked until reading this thread about over pitching. I just looked at my batch and it is bubbling through a blowoff tube like CRAZY. Did I over pitch or am I worrying over nothing?

If you used 16 oz (1 pint) of slurry in your starter I'd say yes that is more than what is ideal for a hefe. Mr. Malty calc is usually closer to 4 oz.

That said, I have been wondering the same thing regarding slurry starter's and estery beer styles. Let's say you used 4 oz slurry in the starter with well aerated wort, surely the yeast in the starter are creating esters as they multiply which end up in the beer, right?

I've been experimenting reusing Wyeast 3638 with hefes and dunkel weizens. First I tried pitching 4oz of (2 week old) slurry directly into 5 gallons of wort. Fermentation took 48 hours to ramp up but the esters in the final product were awesome. Next I used 2 oz of slurry in a 1 cup starter with 30g (1/4 cup) table sugar and 1/4 tsp yeast nutes. I let the starter work for 48 hours then pitched it into 5 gallons of wort. The fermentation was roaring in 12 hours. Hopefully I will get the esters with the starter method. I will let you know in 3-4 weeks when I crack a test beer.
 
So if I use a blow-off tube with the end in boiled, cooled H2O, I can use the yeast that settles from the blow-off? I've wondered about this, but haven't had the guts to try it. :D

Or you could just scoop out the krausen (provided you were using a bucket as primary)

If going into say a Mason jar or somthing you would have to make an air-lock of some kind to prevent wild buggies from ruining the party but essentially yes
 
So if I use a blow-off tube with the end in boiled, cooled H2O, I can use the yeast that settles from the blow-off? I've wondered about this, but haven't had the guts to try it. :D

I saw a blow off setup in "Radical Brewing" that might work. The tube goes into a bottle, though a hole in the lid. Another hole has an airlock. This keeps the blow off bottle isolated from bacteria.
 
Thanks babalu, I probably wouldn't have remembered to air-lock the blow-off :eek: I'm using a growler for my blow-off, so I'll only need to put another hole in my stopper for an air-lock.

If it's good enough for the Cpt....

Thanks again guys.
 
If you used 16 oz (1 pint) of slurry in your starter I'd say yes that is more than what is ideal for a hefe. Mr. Malty calc is usually closer to 4 oz.

That said, I have been wondering the same thing regarding slurry starter's and estery beer styles. Let's say you used 4 oz slurry in the starter with well aerated wort, surely the yeast in the starter are creating esters as they multiply which end up in the beer, right?

I've been experimenting reusing Wyeast 3638 with hefes and dunkel weizens. First I tried pitching 4oz of (2 week old) slurry directly into 5 gallons of wort. Fermentation took 48 hours to ramp up but the esters in the final product were awesome. Next I used 2 oz of slurry in a 1 cup starter with 30g (1/4 cup) table sugar and 1/4 tsp yeast nutes. I let the starter work for 48 hours then pitched it into 5 gallons of wort. The fermentation was roaring in 12 hours. Hopefully I will get the esters with the starter method. I will let you know in 3-4 weeks when I crack a test beer.

Thanks for the replies

4 ounces is probably more like what I used in a rather large starter (3/4 cup DME to 3 cups H2O) and it got going nicely.
The batch fermented violently 10-12 hours after pitching and bubbled good for a day and a half. Last night it had slowed down somewhat and has been consistently under 70 degrees but not below 62
 
You can re-use the yeast forever ot at least as long as your lifetime.

Bass did it for a long time.
Got to get the yeasties from the krausen, you can just keep re-using those.



Under pitch on Hefe/Dunkelweizens

So, should I pitch an additional washed pint?
 
You need:

Several Mason jars or glass jam jars
A stainless-steel scoop or measuring cup
Sanitizer

After racking, use the sanitized scoop to scoop yeast out of the bucket into sanitized jars. Cover. Refrigerate.

Done.

Say WHAAAAT?! You can really do that? What we've been doing is fill the bucket with the preboiled water (cooled, of course) so that the yeast line will be just level with the spigot. And of course, we wait 10 minutes or so so the heavier trub can settle.

But when you say "scoop yeast out" do you mean with or without adding preboiled and cooled water? Because, well, either way sounds a lot easier!
 
Damn, this thread left me with even more questions about harvesting yeast:

Which method to use?
To wash or not to wash?
If no wash how long will it truly keep?

These are more mindless ramblings than real questions. I'm sure tomorrow when I read some more the light will come on and I'll have achieved nirvana.
 
Damn, this thread left me with even more questions about harvesting yeast:

Which method to use?
To wash or not to wash?
If no wash how long will it truly keep?

These are more mindless ramblings than real questions. I'm sure tomorrow when I read some more the light will come on and I'll have achieved nirvana.

Tell me about it. With starters I swear I have seen people say to :

a. Mix and pitch the whole thing.
b. Decant and use that liquid because it contains the active yeast.
c. Decant and use the yeast left behind because you don't want to use that 'beer' in 'your beer'. (unless you are using "real starter")

:confused:
 
No, no no! [brandishes rolled-up newspaper]
<snip>
It's unconscionable. It's terrible brewing practice. I wish I could meet the brewer who came up with this lazy, horrible shortcut and slap him in his face.

Grrrr...

Note: None of the above is intended to be personal. The vast majoity of brewers engage in this practice not knowing how awful it is. It's irresponsible to evangelize in favor of it, so I come down on it rather forcefully. Consider it an 'intervention'. :D

Bob

Bob, you are my kind of brewer...:D
 
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