Saving money...washing/reusing yeast

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BierMuncher said:
Did you just pour or siphon from the yeast cake into these bottles? I siphoned out all the beer, then filled each of those plastic jugs with a couple cups of sanitized water...threw them into the carboy and swirled the yeast cake loose, then poured the slurry directly into the jugs.
Click to expand...
There are a lot of people who just pour the yeast cake into jars and place them in the fridge.

There is nothing wrong with doing that IF the fermentation is complete.

However, by washing the yeast from the rest of the trub your yeast is cleaner and the sediment won't impart their nastiness onto the yeast. :D

A clean yeast is a happy yeast...:D
 
you guys ever hear when people have that "AH-HAH!" when they really and truely have figured something out?

well..


ah-HAHAAHHAHAHAHA!

It really just made 110% sense versus 95% sense. I had read BM post awhile ago about his 3 containers....but this time it just clicked. Odd, oh well!
 
Bottled my hefeweizen last night, saved and washed the yeast, put in the fridge over night, this is what I got today:
100_2521.jpg


Probably be using some more in a few weeks. Hope it works.
 
should you use the yeast from the primary or secondary....or even a combination of both?
 
homebrewer_99 said:
...However, by washing the yeast from the rest of the trub your yeast is cleaner and the sediment won't impart their nastiness onto the yeast. :D

A clean yeast is a happy yeast...:D
Click to expand...
Agreed. Since I use whole leaf hops and since I've been using my wort chiller strainer method, my wort is pretty darn clear going right into the fermenter.

If I get some obvious trub, I'll add a step by shaking the juice jar, letting it sit for about 15 minutes and then pour all but the last 1/8th inch of to another container...then repeat if necessary.
 
thanks for the info gentlemen....and I should have some AJ bottles this weekend....EdWort's Apfelwein is being made :D

So much new, cool, and exciting things happening in the brewery this weekend. I can't wait!
 
BierMuncher said:
Agreed. Since I use whole leaf hops and since I've been using my wort chiller strainer method, my wort is pretty darn clear going right into the fermenter.
Click to expand...

Since I only used 1 oz. of hops and used BierMuncher's wort chiller strainer method I had practically no trub in this batch.:D
 
Biermuncher et al,

Thanks! We've been reusing yeast cakes by just pitching new wort on top of them immediately after siphoning off the previous batch. This seems like a fine technique, but saving the yeast in bottles will give us some flexibility.

Cheers and more beers!
 
here are my findings from this weekend:

1. I think I misplaced my digital camera....that suxors more than teh suck! I'm a little bit upset, I couldn't take pictures of the yeast fun.
2. I used my starter in my Oatmeal Stout... Starters = Awesome! I had that nifty little krausen going in 4-5 hours!!!!!
3. Washed the yeast outta my British Pale Ale, and I'll start making more of it today

Overall, I think this weekend was a success!
 
For freezing yeast I read you should mix in glycerin. I had a heck of a time finding any. I finally found some at Rite Aid in the facial products area. Anyone know of a place to find it in bigger bottles?
 
Check VWR and Sigma-Aldrich. They may or may not sell food grade, expect to pay more though.
 
Hey all you yeast washing experts...this is my 2nd attempt. The first went fine...added the preboiled water to the carboy, swirled, and got some ugly-looking trub to separate.

This time, I did the same thing, but there's no ugly trub layer...just a nice even gray layer of what looks suspiciously like yeast. This is after a couple hours in the fridge:
View attachment 2005

Is that bottom layer all yeast?

I should note that this was a 7.5 gallon batch, and while I used pellet hops, I strained the wort through a reaaly fine mesh bag (which kept clogging), and so what went into the fermenters was pretty clean.
 
Bike N Brew said:
Hey all you yeast washing experts...this is my 2nd attempt. The first went fine...added the preboiled water to the carboy, swirled, and got some ugly-looking trub to separate.

This time, I did the same thing, but there's no ugly trub layer...just a nice even gray layer of what looks suspiciously like yeast. This is after a couple hours in the fridge:
View attachment 2005

Is that bottom layer all yeast?

I should note that this was a 7.5 gallon batch, and while I used pellet hops, I strained the wort through a reaaly fine mesh bag (which kept clogging), and so what went into the fermenters was pretty clean.
Click to expand...
Looks like all clean yeast to me.

You have about 3-4 batches of yeast there. :D
 

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