Super-simple yeast harvesting. Will this work?

[dangloverenator]

Afternoon all.

I was just browsing the forums and came across a pretty novel way of harvesting yeast without washing it - I don't have any mason jars but I have a porter that has finished primary fermentation that I would quite like to harvest a small amount of yeast from. Someone somewhere suggested just setting up a standard racking system, but dunking the racking cane right to the bottom of the trub and siphoning off some yeast into a mason jar (or jam jar in my case...), putting the lid on tight, refrigerating and then pouring straight into a next batch.

To my (very limited) knowledge, this should work, but I was wondering if anyone had any pointers - how long will the yeast last once it's been refrigerated? Should I make a starter to use it? Or am I completely delusional and this won't work at all...?

 

[jester5120]

it'll work if you can get enough through the siphon. you'll have some other gunk in there too but it's not a huge deal. I would make atleast a small starter regardless but definately do a starter if it's longer than a week or 2

 

[badhabit]

You are better off to try and get the middle section of the trub/yeast cake. If you use a bucket for the fermentation just scrape off the top and pull about a cup of the center section off. If you use it within a half day or so there is no need for a starter. Everything you use must be as sanitized as possible. I have pulled the better part of a pint off and held it for a week and then used it without a starter and it did very well. That is as far as I have ever pushed it.

 

[jwible204]

You could also buy a bomber of something you want to harvest from and pour the beer into a glass leaving about 1/2" of trub in the bottle. Pitch the new wort directly into the bottle, you could start with 12 oz. After that completes, chill/decant and pitch into a larger volume of wort. This method helps with minimizing your bacteria risk because you're not transferring into another vessel on the first go-around.

 

[BobBailey]

I just leave a little beer in my primary and give it a swirl or 2. Wipe the neck of the carboy with alcohol, pour the yeast/beer mixture into a sanitized Erlenmeyer flask, cover with sanitized foil and store in the fridge.

When you're ready to use it, pour off the beer on top and let it warm to a few degrees below pitching temperature. Gently swirl it or put it on a stir plate for 10 minutes or so and pitch into well aerated or oxygenated wort.

Just make sure you pitch at least as much slurry as Mr. Malty tells you. I don't worry much about hop debris, because I am usually pitching slurry from a pale ale into a similar IPA or another pale ale.

I haven't stored it for more than a week, but am going to start saving enough to pitch into 3 or 4 batches, so will know how well it stores for a month or 2 soon.

Bob

 

[BobBailey]

sorry for the double post.
Bob

 

[dangloverenator]

You could also buy a bomber of something you want to harvest from and pour the beer into a glass leaving about 1/2" of trub in the bottle. Pitch the new wort directly into the bottle, you could start with 12 oz. After that completes, chill/decant and pitch into a larger volume of wort. This method helps with minimizing your bacteria risk because you're not transferring into another vessel on the first go-around.

I like the sound of this... Not sure what to use yet, but I fancy doing something sour, might try with a 75cl bottle of Cantillon or Oude Gueuze. By "the new wort," I assume you mean the starter wort (ie. DME boiled up in some water)?

 

[jwible204]

I like the sound of this... Not sure what to use yet, but I fancy doing something sour, might try with a 75cl bottle of Cantillon or Oude Gueuze. By "the new wort," I assume you mean the starter wort (ie. DME boiled up in some water)?

Yes, the starter you'll make beforehand.