Yeast Harvest From A Big Beer

Hey,

I brewed a barleywine 35 days ago with an OG of 1.104. I used a healthy starter of Conan and it attenuated well. Should I harvest this yeast for brewing again? I know I can, but should I. Or has this yeast suffered a little from being worked so hard to eat all that sugar? Thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike

LaFinDuMonde said:

Hey, I brewed a barleywine 35 days ago with an OG of 1.104. I used a healthy starter of Conan and it attenuated well. Should I harvest this yeast for brewing again? I know I can, but should I. Or has this yeast suffered a little from being worked so hard to eat all that sugar? Thoughts? Thanks, Mike

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I usually don't harvest yeast from anything that is over like 1.055 or so. They'll be stressed from chewing up all that sugar and won't make as good of beer as fresh, unstressed yeast.

I also do harvest from beer with lots of hops because the resins from the hops can coat the yeast cells and make it hard to reproduce, etc.

cadillacandy said:

I usually don't harvest yeast from anything that is over like 1.055 or so. They'll be stressed from chewing up all that sugar and won't make as good of beer as fresh, unstressed yeast.

I also do harvest from beer with lots of hops because the resins from the hops can coat the yeast cells and make it hard to reproduce, etc.

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nothing more can be added to explain it any better than this (except for a typo: "also doN'T harvest from beer with lots of hops")

Next time you use a yeast you want to save, and you use it in a big beer, try this: Instead of trying to harvest the yeast that was used in the big beer, decant the starter beer into some kind of container, cover and refrigerate for 24-48 hours. The yeast that is suspended in the starter beer will settle and you'll have a harvestable amount (first generation, too.) I'm about to do that with some 1214 Abbey Ale yeast.

GrogNerd said:

nothing more can be added to explain it any better than this (except for a typo: "also doN'T harvest from beer with lots of hops")

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Thanks! That would be correct. Do NOT... Stupid phone.

How did the barleywine taste with Conan? I'm going to make a wheat wine soon and I'm not sure if I'm going to use Conan or Pacman. Do you remember what your attenuation was? Thanks!

Lurch69 said:

How did the barleywine taste with Conan? I'm going to make a wheat wine soon and I'm not sure if I'm going to use Conan or Pacman. Do you remember what your attenuation was? Thanks!

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It's still real young but tasted good, but of course still a little hot. At last gravity check it was at 1.019 OG was 1.104.

-Mike