Harvesting Yeast during high Krausen

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LoloMT7

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I did some searching and found the yeast washing write ups etc but I couldn't find any write ups or info/pics for harvesting yeast from primary during high krausen.

I am fermenting a blonde with Kolsch 2565 in a bucket (all my carboys are in use) so I thought I could try harvesting some top cropping yeast from the krausen. I sanitized the jar with star san and also sanitized the spoon I harvested with. I filled the jar all the way with the creamy/foamy/yeasties... then i put it in the refrigerator. I released the pressure every few hours the first day to avoid an explosion in the fridge.

I guess i just want to verify i did this right and that i can use this yeast to make a starter in a week or two when i brew another batch.? Thanks for any feedback.

1.jpg


2.jpg
 
Yep, what you did is perfectly fine. I usually add a bit of sterile water to the jar with the yeast, just to help everything settle out and make for easy re-pitching into a starter.

From the looks of your pic, it seems like you did harvest at the proper time. Unbeknownst to most homebrewers, top cropping yeast does not normally involve scraping off whatever is on top of the fermenting beer, at any given time. Ideally, you want to skim off the first krausen, or dirt as the pros call it, around 24hr mark and then wait to top crop until the second krausen arrives right around the 48hr mark or whenever the beer is 50% fermented. Doing this ensures you are harvesting the healthiest yeast with the same fermentation characteristics of the original pitch. Also, you are getting the yeast with the least amount of bacteria/contaminates.
 
bierhaus15 said:
Yep, what you did is perfectly fine. I usually add a bit of sterile water to the jar with the yeast, just to help everything settle out and make for easy re-pitching into a starter.

From the looks of your pic, it seems like you did harvest at the proper time. Unbeknownst to most homebrewers, top cropping yeast does not normally involve scraping off whatever is on top of the fermenting beer, at any given time. Ideally, you want to skim off the first krausen, or dirt as the pros call it, around 24hr mark and then wait to top crop until the second krausen arrives right around the 48hr mark or whenever the beer is 50% fermented. Doing this ensures you are harvesting the healthiest yeast with the same fermentation characteristics of the original pitch. Also, you are getting the yeast with the least amount of bacteria/contaminates.
Click to expand...

Excellent thanks for the info and your fast reply. I guess I got lucky cause I actually did skip harvesting the yeast at the 24 hour mark (I didn't skim off that krausen though) here is what it looked like at that point. I ended up harvesting at about 48 hrs in like you said. Thanks again for the good info. :ban:

1.jpg
 
LoloMT7 said:
Excellent thanks for the info and your fast reply. I guess I got lucky cause I actually did skip harvesting the yeast at the 24 hour mark (I didn't skim off that krausen though) here is what it looked like at that point. I ended up harvesting at about 48 hrs in like you said. Thanks again for the good info. :ban:

View attachment 82049
Click to expand...
Did you end up having success pitching that harvested yeast into your brew day?? did you add any water to it?
 

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