$2 Top-Crop Yeast Collector

[dwarven_stout]

No skimming required!


I was making an ESB with WLP023, and having heard good things about the yeast, planned to save some for another batch. Then I said to myself "Self, why don't we do this the way the Brits do, and get that delicious yeast before it spatters all over my walls and creation?" Thus the $2 top-cropper was born. Next step will be a water-jug Burton Union.

Yes, I could just rinse the yeast from the carboy, and I've done that several times to great success. The reasons I'm trying this are: it's easier both to collect and to separate trub and dead yeast, and it'll be more sanitary overall simply because there is less transferring back and forth of the yeast slurry.

I took a distilled water jug and three feet of tubing. I cut the tubing in half, cut two holes in the jug lid, and forced the tubing through. One "tail" I made long enough to hit the base of the jug (this one goes to the carboy) and the other was just in far enough to stay put.

I sanitized the jug and tubing, then ran the short tail to the carboy and the long tail off into a jar of sanitizer. The "short tail" goes all the way to the bottom of the jug, and the other end goes into the carboy (the picture looks backwards because I had to swap out stoppers to fit this carboy). The only purpose of the "long tail" is to burp CO2 without letting nasties into the yeast. This is essentially an extended airlock with a "catch chamber".


Here's a picture of the beast in action (it's not quite high krausen in the picture, but that was soon to come):

Here's a shot of the product- about a pint of thick slurry:

This was quick and painless... it's definitely easier than wrestling the carboy post-primary. I'll see how well the top-cropped yeast performs soon- I have another batch planned for it in a couple of weeks.

 

[shortyjacobs]

Sooo, educate a dummy...

The idea is that you fill your carboy full enough so that it is forced to blow off? Then the blowoff goes through the tube that is inside the water, (is there water in the jug? or is it just sanitized), and the CO2 continues out the "short tube" and into the mason jar, which is your airlock?

Edit: waitasec, your pic shows the "long tail" going to the carboy, but your description says "short tail" to the carboy...educate me.

 

[boo boo]

Yeah, that's the idea alright.
I saw a DYO with this idea a while back.
I'll continue to do it the easy way, and harvest the cake.

 

[dwarven_stout]

Sooo, educate a dummy...

The idea is that you fill your carboy full enough so that it is forced to blow off? Then the blowoff goes through the tube that is inside the water, (is there water in the jug? or is it just sanitized), and the CO2 continues out the "short tube" and into the mason jar, which is your airlock?

Edit: waitasec, your pic shows the "long tail" going to the carboy, but your description says "short tail" to the carboy...educate me.

The jug is just sanitized. The "short tail" goes all the way to the bottom of the jug, and the other end goes into the carboy (the picture looks backwards because I had to swap out stoppers to fit this carboy). The only purpose of the "long tail" is to burp CO2 without letting nasties into the yeast. This is essentially an extended airlock with a "catch chamber".

Yes, I could just rinse the yeast from the carboy, and I've done that several times to great success. The reasons I'm trying this are: it's easier both to collect and to seperate trub and dead yeast, and it'll be more sanitary overall simply because there is less transferring back and forth of the yeast slurry.

 

[Ryan_PA]

I think this is really quite brilliant! I am going to give this a try with my next batch.

 

[zanemoseley]

So once you've collected the blow off yeast into the jug do you just add a bit of sanitized water to it? I'm assuming the blow off foam doesn't have a lot of liquid to it.

 

[dwarven_stout]

So once you've collected the blow off yeast into the jug do you just add a bit of sanitized water to it? I'm assuming the blow off foam doesn't have a lot of liquid to it.

It actually has a decent bit. What's there is a mixture of fermenting beer and lively yeast. I plan to wait until the krausen subsides to remove the jug. At that point I'll add previously boiled water, swirl, and let the yeast settle. I'll pour off the excess water, then pour the yeast into ziplock bags for reuse. (Here's a pro tip- ziplocks are sterile inside until opened, which makes them awesome for yeast. No more messing with Mason jars!)

 

[zanemoseley]

So what size of carboy are you using, 5 gal? I have a 5G better bottle and 5G glass carboy but I don't use it because it has what appears to be some stress fractures in the neck of it.

 

[addis29]

So if you were fermenting in a bucket could you just take a sanitized scoop of krausen of the top. Hmm

 

[dwarven_stout]

So if you were fermenting in a bucket could you just take a sanitized scoop of krausen of the top. Hmm

But then I'd have to be fermenting in a bucket. I have lots of better things to do with my beer.

 

[rsmith179]

So if you were fermenting in a bucket could you just take a sanitized scoop of krausen of the top. Hmm

Yes, if you are brewing with a bucket instead of a carboy, you can absolutely scoop the krausen off the top. Not sure what the OP meant by the last comment, but brewing in a bucket is perfectly acceptable and used by many HBTers.

 

[zanemoseley]

I also currently brew in buckets, guess all my AG batches would be un-drinkable to your standards, guess I'll have to continue to drink it all myself lol. But seriously I brew primarily quick fermenting session ales and have found no problems with the "ale pail". I have a 5 gallon BB and glass carboy collecting dust, course thats more of "secondary" size which I've replaced with kegs.

 

[MBasile]

And here I thought top cropping was taking the top layer of yeast of the cake.

 

[Zen_Brew]

Yeah, this has been talked about before using one of the two input carboy caps and a cut off straight piece of racking cane. You insert the racking cane down to the krausen level, then run the collection tube off the racking cane into another carboy cap that is attached over your sanitized borosil flask which the carboy cap fits perfect. I have tried it once or twice but always seemed to time the attempt to right when krausen was beginning to fade so I got small amounts of yeast.

Tasty Mcdole uses this method and refers to top cropped yeast as superman yeast. I think part of the benefit is that you are harvesting the very aggressive yeast at peak activity. It is also yeast that has not spent time soaking in the trub and dealing for long periods with the hop residue which is detrimental to yeast health.

Another variation which I intend to try in the near future is using the same set-up with a piece racking cane inserted in one of the carboy cap nipples with some tubing attached, which is then run to your collection vessel, and low pressure co2 going into the other carboy cap nipple. In this way you force the yeast up into your collection vessel. It only takes a couple minutes, and then you are done.

 

[dwarven_stout]

And here I thought top cropping was taking the top layer of yeast of the cake.

Actually, the top layer of the cake isn't great for reuse. I've forgotten the reason- I think it was that the last yeasties to flock out are less active and more likely to be mutated. If you're washing a cake, there's really no way to avoid taking the top layer- what you're aiming for there is settling out the hop particles, grain bits and dead yeast in the trub while retaining the yeast. That's why I rigged up this setup- I wanted to capture the most lively yeast at the peak of activity. There are some award-winning brewers who swear by top-cropped yeast, and I wanted to see for myself.

As far as buckets go, I think my comment was taken as more of a slight than I meant it. I've been brewing a lot of strong beers and a lot of spice beers (basil and jasmine IPAs were my last two). A bucket doesn't cut it for me. I have to work harder than I please to get the smell out, and basil aroma in my ESB doesn't really float my boat. Plus, I don't have to worry about scratching glass during cleaning- I just fill it up with oxiclean and forget it for a couple days. Sure, I could do that ESB in a bucket and scoop out yeast, but frankly, that's *at least* as much work as this rig I made.

 

[Zen_Brew]

Here is a video of the method I was describing. I think there may be one on youtube as well but I couldn't find it. Also be advised I believe the person who did this video should have had an airlock on the open nipple on the collection vessel just to be safe.

If you wanted to use the force method, which is useful if your fermentation is not quite so active, you would simply attach a hose with low pressure (maybe 3-4psi) Co2 hooked up to the second nipple on the carboy containing the wort.

http://www.aleiens.com/video/top-cropping-yeast-from-a

 

[killian]

I'm gonna give this a shot.
good idea thanks for the post

 

[Blender]

I think I am going to try it as well. I ferment 5.5 gallons in a 6 gallon carboy so I generally get some blowoff.

 

[dwarven_stout]

Thanks for the comments, Zen Brew. That looks like a nice improvement over my super-cheap option. If I had a flask like that, I'd give it a shot.

 

[Zen_Brew]

Dwarven. Not all that much cash really. Eventually many brewers go the stirplate route, and the erlenmeyer flask is the most common choice of vessel because the glass can go from burner to ice bath with no temp shock concerns. The flask can be had for $20 for the 2000 ml
https://morebeer.com/view_product/19891

The video shows a stainless steel racking cane, but it can be done with the $2-3 plastic one just as well.

The way you have it set up looks like it works great as well. Was just showing some options. It's a great way to collect yeast, and you can really minimize the infection risk with good sanitation of all the equipment. Washing the trub yeast is just more of a pain, and I'd say a tad more infection risk.

 

[Synovia]

Plus, I don't have to worry about scratching glass during cleaning- I just fill it up with oxiclean and forget it for a couple days.

Thats pretty much exactly how I clean my buckets.

 

[dwarven_stout]

Here's a shot of the product:

This was easily the quickest and cleanest yeast collection I've done. I'll be doing this again for sure.