I'm finally in the club!

[burntchef]

So after a lot of reading and preparation, I survived my first brew day. I brewed the brown porter from beer smith. Everything went to plan and total time start to final clean up was 5 hours. Now if beer comes out of the fermenter it will be a banner day!
Things I learned:
1. get another burner, or a pump. Maybe both.
2. the wlp007 yeast is expensive! 10.00 a packet at mlhbs, I see a harvest at the end of this.

Anyway I am happy to be in the club at last. I could use some guidance on harvesting the yeast from this batch when finished.
Eric

 

[atsir]

Welcome!

 

[seatazzz]

Congratulations! Glad your first brew day went well. You'll find many different schools of thought on how to "harvest" or re-use your yeast. Since you're just starting out, may I suggest, once you've packaged your beer (either bottle or keg), research washing yeast. Since your first attempt was a darker beer, you will want to leave behind as much of the trub as you can in order to get "clean" yeast.

Washing yeast is deceptively simple and easy. The only extra equipment you will need is a large (quart) mason jar, and space in your refrigerator. Here it is in a nutshell (it's worked for me):

Once you have racked your beer into your bottling bucket (or keg, if you go that route), clap the lid back on the fermenter. (leave the airlock in place). Fill your quart mason jar with water, plus about 1/2 jar more, pour it into a pot, and boil it for at least 15 minutes. Once the water is cooled down to at least 170, pour it back in the jar, close it tightly, and refrigerate to get it to room temperature. (Side note - you can also do this step before you rack your beer into your bottling bucket or keg, saves time.)

The next step can be messy, so do it in an area that's easy to clean. Once your water is chilled down to room temperature, pour it into your fermenter on the yeast cake. Close the fermenter, and shake it well. Let it sit for about 20 minutes, this will let the trub settle to the bottom and the yeast will float on the top with the boiled water. After 20 minutes, pour this off into your mason jar (handily sanitized with your 170 water), leaving as much of the trub (darker layer that will be grainy) behind. Seal the jar, and put it in the fridge. And there's the yeast for your next batch! You can pitch it as is (after pouring off the beer-colored liquid that will have risen to the top), or you can make a starter with it (do some research on this).

Easy peasy, and can save you lots of $$$$.

 

[Manufacturedevolution]

Even more easy peasy than washing yeast is the "sloppy slurry" method. I prefer it. Just swirl up your trub with the little bit of beer left in your fermentor and pour it directly into clean and sanitized mason jars. I brew dark beer 80% of the time and never had ill effects pitching slurries into light beer. Once it has cooled for a while in your fridge you can decant most of the beer any way. This post will explain it all. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/simple-yeast-storage-procedure-with-photos.579350/

 

[AkTom]

Welcome to the club. You get to buy the next round.

 

[burntchef]

Thanx for the replies guys! I could not imagine a more straight forward process than the " sloppy slurry". The link was a read well worth the time.
Now the waiting begins and the anticipation rises. lol
Eric

 

[jcav]

Welcome! It's a great feeling to get that first brew day finally under your belt. You will get better and learn something each time you brew so have fun and make some beer!

John

 

[burntchef]

So at the 24 hour mark their was noticeable fermentation. At the 30 hour mark we are rolling! It will be beer!

I have a question about the og and fg. My hydrometer from the lhbss reads zero for water, o.k. My gravity after the boil was 10 on my hydrometer which when turned is 5%. So I get that specific gravity measures not just alcohol. The recipe called for a og of 1.047, where am I on the scale? Hydrometers for dummies would be much appreciated here.
Eric

 

[Jtk78]

So at the 24 hour mark their was noticeable fermentation. At the 30 hour mark we are rolling! It will be beer!

I have a question about the og and fg. My hydrometer from the lhbss reads zero for water, o.k. My gravity after the boil was 10 on my hydrometer which when turned is 5%. So I get that specific gravity measures not just alcohol. The recipe called for a og of 1.047, where am I on the scale? Hydrometers for dummies would be much appreciated here.
Eric

I think you're reading the brix scale on your hydrometer, and not the specific gravity. On the specific gravity scale, the hydrometer should be at 1.000 in water (at the calibrated temperature, which should be labeled on the hydrometer)

 

[Pappers_]

What he said ^^^^^

 

[whiskeyjack]

Many ways to wash/build yeast bank. I've used both methods previously mention, and they work great! My current method is different, just wanted to share. I bought some 50 ml sterile test tubes and racks on amazon for around $15. I do a 1-2 liter starter with brand new pack of yeast. When done toss the starter in fridge for 2-3 days. When you are ready to pour them in the tubes, sanitize the top of your starter, decant 90-95% of the beer on top, shake up the yeast and fill as many vials as you can. I get 4-6 tubes/vials from one yeast pack, with 25-30 mls of yeast in each. I use 1-2 per beer, depending on size. And if i get down to one I start all over. To me this is a huge space saver. Occupies 6"x12" space in my fridge and holds 20 tubes of yeast. I keep it in the original wrapping and box so it doesnt get bumped by my heathens and food on it lol

 

[burntchef]

Thanx for more replies. I went on you tube and got a education on hydrometers for dummies. I was reading the wrong scale..... When rotated again I am right on the numbers for the recipe! What a bonus, I am a dummy.
Eric

 

[burntchef]

So day three in the fermenter has arrived and fermentation has slowed greatly. I read somewhere that the wlp007 was a fast finisher, I will prolly leave it be till Sunday and pull a sample to check the gravity. Any thoughts?
Eric

 

[madscientist451]

Don't be in a rush, if the gravity seems high, just wait it out and let it finish.
If you are fermenting in a cool spot like a basement, bring the fermenter to a warmer, room temperature location (unless your room temp is really hot) and the yeast will finish up nicely.
I've been doing the sloppy slurry yeast saving routine for years without any problems.
You don't have to boil your jar, just clean it and sanitize with star san and it will be fine.
An even sloppier method is to have another brew ready and when the fermenter is emptied out, just dump the next wort right in and it will take off pretty quick.

 

[burntchef]

Thank you. I pitched at 60 degrees and have been fermenting is the beer shed at a temp between 65 and 70 degrees. With the heat wave on the way I presume temps to increase to 70 to 75. The hydrometer will tell the tale on Sunday.
Eric

 

[RM-MN]

So day three in the fermenter has arrived and fermentation has slowed greatly. I read somewhere that the wlp007 was a fast finisher, I will prolly leave it be till Sunday and pull a sample to check the gravity. Any thoughts?
Eric

Pulling a hydrometer sample on Sunday is a great idea. I'd put it off until next Sunday though. It really won't help to check it too soon. Patience in brewing is a real virtue and really hard to do.

 

[burntchef]

So I stopped by my lhbs for the big toast yesterday with the intent of getting hammered.... Then work called. After toasting and talking to the brewer their I am not even going to test until day 14. If it is finished then, I am going to keg and crash. The waiting is killing me.
Eric

 

[boland]

So I stopped by my lhbs for the big toast yesterday with the intent of getting hammered.... Then work called. After toasting and talking to the brewer their I am not even going to test until day 14. If it is finished then, I am going to keg and crash. The waiting is killing me.
Eric

Welcome to the club cool to see you so eager. It does pay off to be patient with beer. If you keg too early you may have unfinished beer.

And thank you everyone for the yeast harvesting tips! I accidentally came across this post and I have been looking for good instructions on harvesting yeast for some time, yeah!

 

[burntchef]

Its gonna be beer!! Well tomorrow after it carbs up a bit. Checked the gravity and it held steady for 3 days so I kegged it today. Harvested my yeast, and waiting for the taste test after carbonation. My estimate is I hit 4%.
Eric

 

[stosh]

Its gonna be beer!!

What else were you expecting?

All kidding aside congrats on the first brew. My first one was nerve wracking since I'm such a perfectionist. Fortunately I had a detailed outline of the things I needed to do so things went very smoothly.

I recently started harvesting yeast and have a few batches under my belt that came out great.

The first harvest I did was just to go thru the steps. Again, because I suffer from the disease otherwise known as perfectionism, I rinsed it excessively. Not really needed and increases contamination risk.

Another way to "harvest" yeast is to build a starter bigger than what you need and save that. Either way works.

I have fun employing both methods.

 

[burntchef]

What was I expecting?? Reading here about new people screwing the pooch, I was prepared to find Jimmy Hoffa under the lid of my fermenter, or at the very least a raging case of ebola. lol
Lucky for me it was just beer.
Eric

 

[boland]

The first harvest I did was just to go thru the steps. Again, because I suffer from the disease otherwise known as perfectionism, I rinsed it excessively. Not really needed and increases contamination risk.

Another way to "harvest" yeast is to build a starter bigger than what you need and save that. Either way works.

You don't have to clean the yeast I've just saved the slurry with some of the beer on top, and it's now fermenting another beer.

 

[passedpawn]

What was I expecting?? Reading here about new people screwing the pooch, I was prepared to find Jimmy Hoffa under the lid of my fermenter, or at the very least a raging case of ebola. lol
Lucky for me it was just beer.
Eric

Congrats on your first beer. You'll find that more time in the keg will clear the beer, improve the carbonation, and generally result in a better experience. I don't pull a tap until it's been on gas for at least a week. Takes time for the gas to get into the solution, and to the bottom of the keg where the beer is drawn from. I also use gelatin as a clearing agent on ALL beers, even IPAs. I found that the taste of yeast in solution was annoying, and gelatin / coldcrashing speeds up the clearing even much more quickly than when not using it. Anyway, Enjoy.

Saving yeast: I'm probably repeating what others above said, but anyhoo I use a large funnel and just pour the yeast slurry from the fermentor into 4 mason jars. Put a piece of painters tape on them with the yeast type and date. Then into the garage fridge. I don't use it if it's more than a few months old - I'm a cheap basterd, but there's no economy in ruining a batch of beer with questionable yeast. When time to pitch yeast, just open and pour jar into the fermentor.

 

[burntchef]

So it's been in the keg going on five days. I started drinking it on day 1. Today it is starting to get a much better mouth feel, the flavor is richening up a bit and the carbonation is getting where I like it. I really need to build a keezer so I can be aging and drinking at the same time! lol