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I have been thinking I might be better-off harvesting yeast from my fermenter during active fermentation. This would be easy to achieve after ~day four of the fermentation process by simply pressurizing the Sanke "air tube" with CO2 and running some of the wort/cake up the racking cane through a sanitized hose into a flask. I am thinking at this time the yeast/cake would be full of very viable yeast, and the process should not endanger the fermenting wort as there would be no exposure to ambient. Does this sound like a reasonable plan?
Fish
Reasonable, yes. Would I do it myself? Probably not. I do not trust my primary fermentation to be as completely sanitized as my kitchen "lab", in the sense that if a bug were to end up in my yeast, it would be much more likely to come from the primary or secondary as there's a lot more (possible) exposure to contaminants from the moment it leaves the brew kettle until I harvest that yeast.
If I think about where I can pick up a a bug from my kitchen lab, here are the possible sources:
a) tap water I use in the 10% rinse mix. [I could use sterilized water]
b) open container until I cover it with foil
c) foil itself [I could keep the foil at 250F in the oven]
d) side of mason jar that contains the starter [I do flame the side]
e) the yeast vial sides [I do keep it in sanitizing solution]
f) the yeast contents itself [I do smell/taste it after I put it in]
g) the foil I use on top of the erlenmeyer. [oven again]
I mitigate some of the above in my procedure. They are certainly not flawless, but with the zero-infection ratio that I've been getting, I'm not concerned much at all.
I am not as cautious when I'm doing a batch of beer. Haven't had an infection in a long time, but I don't think my brewing procedures are as tight as in my kitchen lab.
So, back to your question: Reasonable? Yes. Should you try it? Why not.
It's the old "There's more than one way to skin a cat".
MC