Saved yeast slurry from last batch a month ago. Is it ok?

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spangltk

spangltk

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I made an IPA and placed the yeast slurry in a quart mason jar. It's been sitting in the fridge for 6 weeks now. I plan on brewing this weekend which put's it at 7 weeks old.

Is this ok to use for my Imperial Stout or should I just bay the $5 for smackpack?
 
Make a starter with it. If it takes off, I would have no problem using it so long as you've stored it in a sanitized jar. If the starter doesn't take off, then you're going to want to buy yeast
 
I've kept cake for that long without problems. If in doubt, mix a bit of the slurry with some aerated wort in a drinking glass, cover with plastic wrap and wrap elastics around it to get it air tight (leave some slack in the saran wrap). If the "slack" inflates above the glass, then the yeast is still live n' kickin. (throw away the tested yeast and only use the stuff that's still in the jar)... That's what I do, at least.
 
I think it will work just fine, maybe let it warm up overnight before you use it. You could also do a starter if you are worried about the viability. The main problem I could see would be transferring flavor from batch to batch, but that's probably not a huge worry for imperial stout.
 
I've left harvested yeast in the fridge for around a year before making a starter for a batch. Took a bit longer for the starter to get going, but worked fine. 6 weeks really isn't that long at all, but you should make a starter to make sure.
 
noob question...if this works why the need to wash the yeast if you are using it for the same receipe/style?
 
noob attempts to answer:

washing the yeast ensures the maximum potential of healthy yeast opposed to healthy yeast + a lot of crap.

Beside a lot of crud from brew day it's also washing out beer from the last batch. So you could go from an Imperial Stout to blonde.

And finally, as a homebrewer, making things complicated, ridged, and removing any unknown variables is F U N.
 
I don't think there's a "need" to wash yeast to reuse it. It just makes for a "cleaner" reuse (less carry-over of flavors and colors from the previous batch).
 
spangltk said:
noob attempts to answer:

washing the yeast ensures the maximum potential of healthy yeast opposed to healthy yeast + a lot of crap.

Beside a lot of crud from brew day it's also washing out beer from the last batch. So you could go from an Imperial Stout to blonde.

And finally, as a homebrewer, making things complicated, ridged, and removing any unknown variables is F U N.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. I just washed some a few weeks ago. Primarly becasue it looked fun and wanted to see if I could. Plus it will give me another reason to play with my DIY stir plate when making the starter.

Given how easy it was and that it can be used for a different style I'll probably keep washing away. BTW - I wash everything else in the house might as well wash some yeasties while I'm at it. ;)
 

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