Yeast ranching?

Is there any way to save yeast for future uses after i rack to secondary? I saw some posts on making a small batch using Dme and taking the a small amount of yeast from a new vial and keeping it in the DME for future uses. Can I just fill a jar with some unracked beer and add sugar to keep the yeast alive? or would my jar explode?

Try this link
edit: too slow.

I like "Yeast Ranching" better!

Definitely follow the yeast washing instructions if you want to store it. I've used cultures washed in this manner several months later (with a starter) and they worked out great.

You don't want to add any sugar because you want the yeast to go dormant - plus your jar would probably explode. Once they sense that the food source is diminished (the end of your primary fermentation), they will store enough nutrients to keep themselves alive for a while, several months if stored cold.

good link... it looks like he racked from secondary though... im going right from primary. I should swirl all that trub regardless?

He racked off of the cake in primary and into a secondary. So if you're going right from primary to a keg or bottling its the same thing. Make sure you boil your jars and refrigerate them as per the instructions. That is very important! You want to make sure the cans and water are as sanitized as possible. (I wouldn't say sterile but at boiling temps for long periods of time thats kinda what you're going for )

Yes, you want to swirl the trub and water around and transfer to the first jars. Then allow them to settle. The trub will settle off on the bottom and then you transfer again to your storage can. This really helps to eliminate as much trub as possible and if done right can yield a very nice amount of "clean" yeast.

I've been taking approx 8 oz of a half-gallon fermented starter (before I cool, crash and pitch) and pouring it into a sanitized 8 oz mason jar. I've had good success with this method. Is there a downside?

I like the term "yeast ranching!" I have a herd (jar) of 1056, a couple herds of Pacman, one herd of 1010, and several herds of WLP568 (Saison blend). Each of which has millions of heads in it!

I use the yeast washing method from the link above. I typically do it from primary. Sometimes I'm not as patient so I get a little bit of trub in the mix but that doesn't seem to hurt anything. I've used yeast that's been in the fridge in a mason jar for over a year with success (Irish Ale yeast).

As for pouring off a bit from a fermented starter, there shouldn't be any issue as long as it's fully fermented. If it hasn't completely fermented, you may be building up some pressure in your mason jar. I actually had some wort mixed in one of my Pacman yeast jars. When I opened it after ~ 6 months, it was carbonated. The yeast had settled to the bottom, but the liquid was fizzy. The yeast were fine though.

Doog_Si_Reeb said:

I actually had some wort mixed in one of my Pacman yeast jars. When I opened it after ~ 6 months, it was carbonated. The yeast had settled to the bottom, but the liquid was fizzy. The yeast were fine though.

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So how did it taste? :cross:

MMW said:

So how did it taste? :cross:

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Watery. I had added water and let it settle somewhat, but there was still some wort in the mix when I filled the jars. It was kind of neat how the liquid got carbonated over time.

Si I sanitized the mason jar before I bottled tonight and when I went to rack mu trubb my auto siphon crapped out on me. I ended up just dipping the jar in to the bucket. I only have maybe four ounces of liquid in the jar after the sediment fell to the bottom. Do you think that four ounces will be enough to do another five gallon batch with? Will there now be sanitation issues because of my hand dipping?

I imagine your yeast will be fine. But to be safe, I would do a starter with it and make sure it acts and smells right before pitching it into a new batch. If there are some bugs in there, it's better to ruin a starter than a whole batch.

I ferment in a bucket. I own a stainelss steel spoon. So I wonder why I can't just use the spoon to scrape some of the creamy upper yeast cake into my large boiled and cooled mason jar. Then reapportion that to my other small jars for storage? Doesn't that skip 2 settling phases, exlude trub, and make the process simpler? Any thoughts?

nutty_gnome said:

I ferment in a bucket. I own a stainelss steel spoon. So I wonder why I can't just use the spoon to scrape some of the creamy upper yeast cake into my large boiled and cooled mason jar. Then reapportion that to my other small jars for storage? Doesn't that skip 2 settling phases, exlude trub, and make the process simpler? Any thoughts?

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You'd have trub mixed in with good yeast. You'd still have to wash it, to get only nice "clean" yeast.