I want to reuse yeast for the first time

[urg8rb8]

I am making three batches that use the same yeast (US-05). One is an IPA (one packet), then a 999 barleywine (two packets), then an 11% RIS (two packets).

I'm not sure I can do them back to back to back so there will be a bit of a delay between them. What is the proper way to clean the yeast and then store them? Is storing the yeast in the fridge for let's say a month in between too long?

This will save me from buying 4 packets and saving about $16. Plus it would be really cool to do this.

 

[urg8rb8]

Do the flavors of one beer carry over to the next one? When you do the yeast washing?

 

[JordanKnudson]

Honestly, I'm not sure I would reuse yeast from batch to batch with the beers you've listed. Yeast tend to get stressed when fermenting high gravity beers like that, and aren't always healthy enough to pitch into another batch (especially another super strong one). I'd just do what you said in your first paragraph -- use multiple packets of new yeast for the subsequent batches. It's not a huge expenditure, since it's dry yeast, and you will be giving yourself insurance that those beers (which will no doubt cost quite a bit in ingredients) will turn out as best they can.

 

[petrolSpice]

What I do is intentionally fill the fermenter more than you normally would to encourage blow off. The run the blow off tube into a sanitized mason jar to collect it (will take some fabbing to make an air-tight setup).

The yeast that is collected is usually very clean depending on the intensity of the blowoff. You can also cold crash the blowoff liquid and decant the wort back into the fermenter and keep the yeast that settles to the bottom.

 

[Sadu]

All of those beers are high gravity / hoppy which means that they aren't ideal for harvesting yeast. While I'm sure it's possible to recycle yeast from these kinds of beers with success I wouldn't use less than perfect yeast on an expensive batch of beer.

Personally I would brew a 5% blonde ale or something simple / fast with one pack of yeast, then package the yeast cake from that into 3-4 quart jars in the fridge. Pitch one quart jar for each of your big brews and if it's going to be longer than a few weeks of storage I would make a starter. That $16 you saved gives you a free batch of beer.

I would also recommend a vitality starter on the day since it's easy/free and gets your yeast into good health before pitching.

 

[eadavis80]

I'd brew the IPA and then pitch the barely wine on the IPA's yeast cake. But for your third beer I'd just pitch a pair of 05 packets.

 

[ziggurat]

I would go with Sadu's suggestion if you want to try washing yeast. My experience with washing yeast on my one gallon batches has been positive and the savings added up quickly.

A month is fine between uses. Any longer and a yeast starter would be a good idea. Actually, a yeast starter would be a good idea regardless.

 

[urg8rb8]

Awesome replies!

Sadu, why a blonde? Just curious! Low gravity and low hop?

 

[Sadu]

Sadu, why a blonde? Just curious! Low gravity and low hop?

Yeah basically. Low gravity means that your 1 pack of yeast will be a solid pitch and it will ferment quickly so you can get on and brew what you really want to brew. You don't want to end up in a situation where you have to delay your brew day because the yeast-builder batch isn't ready.

Also low gravity puts less stress on the yeast so it's in good condition. Low hops just means cleaner yeast.

Blonde ale is perfect with us-05, and would be my pick. But you could also do a nice session APA and do your dry-hopping in secondary after stealing the yeast cake.

Once you start recycling yeast you will love it. I love that I can get a whole batch of session beer brewed for less than the cost of a liquid yeast pack.

 

[urg8rb8]

Yeah basically. Low gravity means that your 1 pack of yeast will be a solid pitch and it will ferment quickly so you can get on and brew what you really want to brew. You don't want to end up in a situation where you have to delay your brew day because the yeast-builder batch isn't ready.

Also low gravity puts less stress on the yeast so it's in good condition. Low hops just means cleaner yeast.

Blonde ale is perfect with us-05, and would be my pick. But you could also do a nice session APA and do your dry-hopping in secondary after stealing the yeast cake.

Once you start recycling yeast you will love it. I love that I can get a whole batch of session beer brewed for less than the cost of a liquid yeast pack.

Hmmmm now I'm excited! I've never done a blonde before. Lol.

So make a small beer, save/wash yeast into three jars. Then make yeast starters for the three original beers I want to make. Once I'm done with the three beers I should throw away the year cakes because they'd be stressed out from the high gravity?

How many generations should I limit the yeast to?

I've never done a starter but I have lots of left over DME I haven't used since I switched to all grain.

I also have lots of handy pale 2-row. Maybe I'll make a session SMaSH.

 

[Sadu]

Reusing yeast is surprisingly simple but you are going to find that everyone's process is different - this makes getting started difficult since there is so much conflicting information out there.

But to answer your questions from my experience...

1. Don't bother washing the yeast, put it into a sterilised or sanitised jar then into the fridge
2. 1 quart of yeast slurry won't need a starter if it's less than a week or 2 old, but it never hurts to make one.
3. Yes I would throw the yeast away after making an IPA / Barleywine / RIS.
4. Once you start getting to 5 or 6 generations, just make a fresh starter from that leftover blonde ale slurry you have in the fridge and the counter starts from 1 again.
5. Just be careful that you don't spend more on DME than you would on buying yeast.

One more point I'd like to make is that a vitality starter can be a great way to get the benefits of a starter without any of the negatives (time + DME). To do this you take a pint of wort out of the mash and boil it in a small pot for 10 mins. Then cool it in a bowl of water. Dilute it with cooled boiled water until it's about 1.040 gravity. Then add that wort plus your yeast slurry to a growler or bottle (lid loosely screwed on) and shake it every 10 mins while you carry on with brew day. By the time you are ready to pitch this yeast has had 2-3 hours of feeding time and you should see it bubbling and getting active.

 

[urg8rb8]

Wow thanks for all the great info!!!!

If you're not washing then you're keeping all the trub as well? Probably a few quarts worth? So when you start your next batch you take a quart of slurry at a time? Do you then store the yeast cake from the second batch of beer?

It would be cool to have a fridge with jars of different generations of yeast.

 

[Jim311]

A quart is a lot of yeast man. I use more like 8 ounces of slurry from a previous batch in an average gravity beer 1.06 or less. I don't brew big beers but I have read that yeast that's been used to brew high gravity stuff is stressed and possibly not the best to reuse, and you'd probably want to save more of it if you planned to brew a large beer again. Really it's as simple as swirling the carboy up to mix the slurry and pouring that mixture into a sanitized jar and sealing the jar up and putting it in the fridge. I use old pickle jars, mason jars, whatever has a good seal. It keeps a long time too, I've used yeast that was 6 months old without problems. It saves money on yeast and it ferments faster than dry yeast when you reuse it. It's really a win all the way around.

 

[sd_brewbie]

I am making my first big beer, a stout with a OG of 1.111. I had a Pale Ale with an OG of 1.055 that i kegged while brewing and simply dumped my stout into the same carboy right on to the yeast cake. Took off like a rocket.

 

[cegan09]

I think an easier way to dive into yeast harvesting/growing would be to make a starter with your first packet, and build that up a few times until you have a larger amount of yeast. Then take that and split it up. Use the first to ferment the IPA, the second the Barley wine, the third the RIS, and then the remainder to once again build up more.

Basically, make a 800ml-1000ml starter of 1.040 wort. Let that ferment out and then cold crash.
Make a 1500ml 1.040 starter. Decant most of the liquid off the previous starter, add the new one, let it ferment out.
You should now have enough for a few jars worth. I use 8oz mason jars. When you're ready to use you could either just swirl it up and dump, or build another 800ml-1000ml starter and dump that into the wort. Anything over a month and a starter is a good idea.

I have used the above, and I have also harvested off a yeast cake. Both work, but the above is an easier introduction. If you're harvesting off the yeast cake you can wash it a few times. I get a lot of trub in my fermenters, even with clean beers. So I'll swirl up everything at the bottom of the fermenter, let it sit for 30 minutes to let a lot of the trub drop out while the yeast stays in suspension, then pour the liquid containing the yeast off into another container. Do that a couple times and you're mostly clean.


Make sure you have fridge space. Because soon you'll have whole shelves devoted. I currently have a bunch of Gen 2 Conan, and some Conan WLP644 Hybrids all built up. I need a Belgian stain and I'll be in good shape for a long time.

 

[urg8rb8]

I think an easier way to dive into yeast harvesting/growing would be to make a starter with your first packet, and build that up a few times until you have a larger amount of yeast. Then take that and split it up. Use the first to ferment the IPA, the second the Barley wine, the third the RIS, and then the remainder to once again build up more.

Basically, make a 800ml-1000ml starter of 1.040 wort. Let that ferment out and then cold crash.
Make a 1500ml 1.040 starter. Decant most of the liquid off the previous starter, add the new one, let it ferment out.
You should now have enough for a few jars worth. I use 8oz mason jars. When you're ready to use you could either just swirl it up and dump, or build another 800ml-1000ml starter and dump that into the wort. Anything over a month and a starter is a good idea.

I have used the above, and I have also harvested off a yeast cake. Both work, but the above is an easier introduction. If you're harvesting off the yeast cake you can wash it a few times. I get a lot of trub in my fermenters, even with clean beers. So I'll swirl up everything at the bottom of the fermenter, let it sit for 30 minutes to let a lot of the trub drop out while the yeast stays in suspension, then pour the liquid containing the yeast off into another container. Do that a couple times and you're mostly clean.


Make sure you have fridge space. Because soon you'll have whole shelves devoted. I currently have a bunch of Gen 2 Conan, and some Conan WLP644 Hybrids all built up. I need a Belgian stain and I'll be in good shape for a long time.

Thanks for more suggestions!

I'll start brewing again after this stupid hurricane is gone!

 

[urg8rb8]

Btw that RIS is supposed to be a Bell's Expedition clone. I can't find that beer near me so I won't be able to harvest it. You think US 05 would be a good substitute?

 

[urg8rb8]

I think an easier way to dive into yeast harvesting/growing would be to make a starter with your first packet, and build that up a few times until you have a larger amount of yeast. Then take that and split it up. Use the first to ferment the IPA, the second the Barley wine, the third the RIS, and then the remainder to once again build up more.

Basically, make a 800ml-1000ml starter of 1.040 wort. Let that ferment out and then cold crash.
Make a 1500ml 1.040 starter. Decant most of the liquid off the previous starter, add the new one, let it ferment out.
You should now have enough for a few jars worth. I use 8oz mason jars. When you're ready to use you could either just swirl it up and dump, or build another 800ml-1000ml starter and dump that into the wort. Anything over a month and a starter is a good idea.

I have used the above, and I have also harvested off a yeast cake. Both work, but the above is an easier introduction. If you're harvesting off the yeast cake you can wash it a few times. I get a lot of trub in my fermenters, even with clean beers. So I'll swirl up everything at the bottom of the fermenter, let it sit for 30 minutes to let a lot of the trub drop out while the yeast stays in suspension, then pour the liquid containing the yeast off into another container. Do that a couple times and you're mostly clean.


Make sure you have fridge space. Because soon you'll have whole shelves devoted. I currently have a bunch of Gen 2 Conan, and some Conan WLP644 Hybrids all built up. I need a Belgian stain and I'll be in good shape for a long time.

So I finally put my makeshift stir plate together, got an Erlenmeyer flask, and began the journey! I emptied out a packet of US-05 into 1 liter of wort and let the stirplate do its thing for two days. Cold crashed until all the yeast settled down. Pour out the beer and then poured in 2 liters of wort. I'd say within 30 mins, I was getting lots of krausen, even on the stirplate. After two days, now I'm cold crashing and I'm already noticing a very thick layer of yeast forming.

I got a bunch of 1 pint jars. I am making three big beers with this yeast. Should I just divide up the yeast into three 1-pint jars and use them when ready? Or should I divide them up into 4 1-pint jars so that I could store the 4th pint to make more yeast for future use? Or should I just wash the yeast from the three batches?

 

[cegan09]

So I finally put my makeshift stir plate together, got an Erlenmeyer flask, and began the journey! I emptied out a packet of US-05 into 1 liter of wort and let the stirplate do its thing for two days. Cold crashed until all the yeast settled down. Pour out the beer and then poured in 2 liters of wort. I'd say within 30 mins, I was getting lots of krausen, even on the stirplate. After two days, now I'm cold crashing and I'm already noticing a very thick layer of yeast forming.

I got a bunch of 1 pint jars. I am making three big beers with this yeast. Should I just divide up the yeast into three 1-pint jars and use them when ready? Or should I divide them up into 4 1-pint jars so that I could store the 4th pint to make more yeast for future use? Or should I just wash the yeast from the three batches?

Entirely depends what you want to do. There's a deep rabbit hole you can climb into with yeast banking. I would say divide into a few jars and start brewing. If want to set aside a jar now, just take note of how much yeast settles out in each. If it doesn't end up being a ton, just make a new starter with the jar's contents before each brew. If you plan on using one of the jars after it's been sitting a few weeks I'd throw it back on the stir plate with some fresh wort anyway. You can split the starter then to have another jar to propagate at that time.

 

[Yooper]

Use this yeast pitching calculator: http://mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html , selecting the "pitching from slurry" choice on the tab.

You can select the date of harvesting for the viability guess. I use pint jars, and even about 1/2 pint is usually sufficient for a moderate gravity 11 gallon batch.

 

[Aristotelian]

Wow thanks for all the great info!!!!

If you're not washing then you're keeping all the trub as well? Probably a few quarts worth? So when you start your next batch you take a quart of slurry at a time? Do you then store the yeast cake from the second batch of beer?

It would be cool to have a fridge with jars of different generations of yeast.

You can pseudo wash it when you are ready to reuse. When you save it, add some distilled or sanitized water. Then when you are ready to use give it a good shake. Let the trub settle to the bottom. Decant off the milky beige liquid and use that either directly in your next batch (if it is fresh) or to make a starter.

 

[urg8rb8]

I think an easier way to dive into yeast harvesting/growing would be to make a starter with your first packet, and build that up a few times until you have a larger amount of yeast. Then take that and split it up. Use the first to ferment the IPA, the second the Barley wine, the third the RIS, and then the remainder to once again build up more.

Basically, make a 800ml-1000ml starter of 1.040 wort. Let that ferment out and then cold crash.
Make a 1500ml 1.040 starter. Decant most of the liquid off the previous starter, add the new one, let it ferment out.
You should now have enough for a few jars worth. I use 8oz mason jars. When you're ready to use you could either just swirl it up and dump, or build another 800ml-1000ml starter and dump that into the wort. Anything over a month and a starter is a good idea.

I have used the above, and I have also harvested off a yeast cake. Both work, but the above is an easier introduction. If you're harvesting off the yeast cake you can wash it a few times. I get a lot of trub in my fermenters, even with clean beers. So I'll swirl up everything at the bottom of the fermenter, let it sit for 30 minutes to let a lot of the trub drop out while the yeast stays in suspension, then pour the liquid containing the yeast off into another container. Do that a couple times and you're mostly clean.


Make sure you have fridge space. Because soon you'll have whole shelves devoted. I currently have a bunch of Gen 2 Conan, and some Conan WLP644 Hybrids all built up. I need a Belgian stain and I'll be in good shape for a long time.

After I have done cold crashing the second step, do I completely decant the beer and use fresh, cooled-down boiled water? Or do I store it in the beer from the starter?

 

[cegan09]

After I have done cold crashing the second step, do I completely decant the beer and use fresh, cooled-down boiled water? Or do I store it in the beer from the starter?

Either/or. I've always just left a little beer in there and used that. Easier to me than boiling and cooling water. But you'll find plenty of people who use either method.

 

[urg8rb8]

Either/or. I've always just left a little beer in there and used that. Easier to me than boiling and cooling water. But you'll find plenty of people who use either method.

Thanks. That's what I ended up doing. After cold crashing, I decanted the beer until I had 1400ml of volume left in the flask, stirred the yeast cake back up, then poured into three 1 pint jars.