TheZymurgist
Well-Known Member
Ok, maybe not. That's probably a bit of an exaggeration. But since there's been a few more conversations about yeast harvesting lately, I thought I'd share my method. I learned this from my home brew club, and to me, it seems more 'novel' than the Novel Approach. I will say, for those doing smaller than 5 gallon batches, this method might pose some issues, but for those doing five or more gallons (which I believe is the majority of us) it's pretty simple.
I'm sure some of you are already doing something similar, and others might think this is the stupidest thing in the entire world. There may even be a thread exactly like this one already, although I haven't seen one. That's fine, I just thought I'd explain what's worked best for me. I've found this to be both easier and cheaper than washing or creating an extra starter and splitting (the Novel Approach). Oh, and don't think that just because I mention the Novel Approach that I'm knocking it. On the contrary, that's the method I used for a long time before I switched to this one.
About six or so months ago, I started increasing my batch size by one gallon. This extra gallon gets run off, after the boil, into a (sanitized) one gallon glass jug and diluted (if necessary) to approximately 1.040 SG. How you do this is up to you, but I simply add water straight from the tap. Many will say your water needs to be boiled or sterilized in some way, but that's a different discussion that's been debated to death already.
I then pitch yeast into this one gallon mini-batch, and allow it to ferment. When it's done, there's roughly an inch of yeast in the bottom of the jug. I throw this in the fridge to cold crash, decant, and split into two or three small jars.
Before my next batch, I make a small starter with one of the jars, just to wake the little buggers up. I then take one of the other jars and throw it into the extra one gallon runoff from the new batch of beer, and the process starts all over. This method is great if you've found a 'house' yeast that you regularly use, or for any strain you use somewhat regularly, although I do this with any strain I purchase, just in case. It's cheaper since the cost of grain to increase your batch by one gallon is negligible, and the starters I do make are smaller, so I'm using much less DME. It also creates a lot more yeast than just a 2L starter.
"But WAIT! All of my hop additions are in 1oz increments, and increasing my batch by a gallon with throw off EVERYTHING!!!!"
Relax. Take a deep breath, it's ok. One extra gallon isn't going to make that much of a difference, and you can always adjust the timing of your later additions slightly if you're shooting for a very specific IBU. Or, you could choose a hop with a slightly higher AA% for bittering, and move your aroma additions slightly later to have the same effect. But you also have to consider that AA% change slightly from year to year and supplier to supplier, and most of us don't compensate for that change from one batch to the next. So, if you're not trying to be so exact that you're compensating for a change in AA%, then you probably won't notice much of a difference here. If you are trying to be that precise, then you're probably measuring your hop additions precisely anyway, and would have no problem compensating for the increased volume.
Personally, I made a slight adjustment to keep the total IBUs in the same ballpark, and left everything else the same, and haven't noticed any difference.
"BUT WAIT!!! What if I make a black-as-tar Russian Imperial Stout with a super freakin high OG????"
Again, you're diluting the extra gallon to about 1.040, so you'll be fine. If you want to pitch that slurry into a pale ale, just decant the extra liquid. It shouldn't have any noticeable effect. But, if you're concerned, then just skip this method on that batch. No worries.
Now, I'm sure there are a few of you that will take issue with this method, and that's fine. I'm certainly open to critique. Personally, I haven't run into any problems since I began using it. Since the long-term storage of yeast has been discussed in other threads, I'll defer to those on that subject. If you feel the need to transfer your slurry to sterilized water, than do so. I never have, and haven't had an issue. However, I haven't kept a jar of yeast over six or eight months, so I can speak to anything much longer than that.
Cheers!
I'm sure some of you are already doing something similar, and others might think this is the stupidest thing in the entire world. There may even be a thread exactly like this one already, although I haven't seen one. That's fine, I just thought I'd explain what's worked best for me. I've found this to be both easier and cheaper than washing or creating an extra starter and splitting (the Novel Approach). Oh, and don't think that just because I mention the Novel Approach that I'm knocking it. On the contrary, that's the method I used for a long time before I switched to this one.
About six or so months ago, I started increasing my batch size by one gallon. This extra gallon gets run off, after the boil, into a (sanitized) one gallon glass jug and diluted (if necessary) to approximately 1.040 SG. How you do this is up to you, but I simply add water straight from the tap. Many will say your water needs to be boiled or sterilized in some way, but that's a different discussion that's been debated to death already.
I then pitch yeast into this one gallon mini-batch, and allow it to ferment. When it's done, there's roughly an inch of yeast in the bottom of the jug. I throw this in the fridge to cold crash, decant, and split into two or three small jars.
Before my next batch, I make a small starter with one of the jars, just to wake the little buggers up. I then take one of the other jars and throw it into the extra one gallon runoff from the new batch of beer, and the process starts all over. This method is great if you've found a 'house' yeast that you regularly use, or for any strain you use somewhat regularly, although I do this with any strain I purchase, just in case. It's cheaper since the cost of grain to increase your batch by one gallon is negligible, and the starters I do make are smaller, so I'm using much less DME. It also creates a lot more yeast than just a 2L starter.
"But WAIT! All of my hop additions are in 1oz increments, and increasing my batch by a gallon with throw off EVERYTHING!!!!"
Relax. Take a deep breath, it's ok. One extra gallon isn't going to make that much of a difference, and you can always adjust the timing of your later additions slightly if you're shooting for a very specific IBU. Or, you could choose a hop with a slightly higher AA% for bittering, and move your aroma additions slightly later to have the same effect. But you also have to consider that AA% change slightly from year to year and supplier to supplier, and most of us don't compensate for that change from one batch to the next. So, if you're not trying to be so exact that you're compensating for a change in AA%, then you probably won't notice much of a difference here. If you are trying to be that precise, then you're probably measuring your hop additions precisely anyway, and would have no problem compensating for the increased volume.
Personally, I made a slight adjustment to keep the total IBUs in the same ballpark, and left everything else the same, and haven't noticed any difference.
"BUT WAIT!!! What if I make a black-as-tar Russian Imperial Stout with a super freakin high OG????"
Again, you're diluting the extra gallon to about 1.040, so you'll be fine. If you want to pitch that slurry into a pale ale, just decant the extra liquid. It shouldn't have any noticeable effect. But, if you're concerned, then just skip this method on that batch. No worries.
Now, I'm sure there are a few of you that will take issue with this method, and that's fine. I'm certainly open to critique. Personally, I haven't run into any problems since I began using it. Since the long-term storage of yeast has been discussed in other threads, I'll defer to those on that subject. If you feel the need to transfer your slurry to sterilized water, than do so. I never have, and haven't had an issue. However, I haven't kept a jar of yeast over six or eight months, so I can speak to anything much longer than that.
Cheers!