Bottling today and reusing yeast sunday, starter needed?

[cbehr]

I'm bottling a batch of 3G Kolsh today and plan to reuse the yeast in a 3G batch sunday. I've washed yeast before but should I go through that normal process to use it two days later? I'm assuming I don't need a starter....how do I know how much to use.

Mrmalty says I need 129B or 63mL, I just let the yeast settle like I'm washing and just measure that amount out and pitch?

OG on my batch will be 1.062

 

[KISS Brew]

You probably don't need a starter.

Using Mr. Malty, click on the "Repitching from Slurry" tab. Put in your OG, set the volume to 3 gallons, and put the harvest date to two days ago.

The default settings on the sliders are averages, and work for most applications if you've racked out all the beer and are left with just the trub. If I think I have a lot of trub or my slurry is rather thin, I might slide the first slider all the way to the left and the second all the way to the right. Even doing this with your beer (assuming an OG of, say, 1.055), you're still looking at only needing ~150ml or ~2/3 of a cup of yeast. I imagine your Kolsch has that much slurry for you to work with.

 

[nukebrewer]

Well, if you're going to make a habit out of reusing yeast, it's probably more cost efficient to do a starter instead of using enough of the yeast you already have since yeast is more expensive than malt extract. That's just my opinion, though, so take it with a grain of salt. If you decide not to use a starter, for the mrmalty calculator go to the repitching from slurry tab and enter your OG and volume. I would fail conservative and edge the yeast concentration to the left and the non-yeast percentage to the right to make sure you get enough yeast. Hope that helps.

-AJ

EDIT: Once again, beaten to the punch

 

[jwalker1140]

Well, if you're going to make a habit out of reusing yeast, it's probably more cost efficient to do a starter instead of using enough of the yeast you already have since yeast is more expensive than malt extract.

Sorry, but I don't understand this comment. The OP's batch of Kolsh is going to have more than enough yeast to get the next batch started. How is repitching, say, 1/2 cup of slurry, more expensive than doing a starter? Slurry is free. DME (and maybe nutrients and foam control) for a starter is not.

To the OP's question, I only wash when it's going to be more than a week before I use it or when I'm trying to protect against carrying unwanted flavors and stuff forward, like bits of coriander or orange peel from a wit. Otherwise, I repitch a measured amount of slurry. And I think this is the best post on the hows and whys: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/why-not-pitch-your-yeast-cake-166221/.

Good luck,
Jason

 

[cbehr]

I've washed a few batches but haven't used any yet. Here is a picture of one. I'm guessing this is where you would slide the top bar to the right and bottom bar to the left therefore only requiring a small amount(around 30mL)?

Once the yeast is a couple months old how do I figure out how to buid a starter if I only have say 30mL from one of these jars?

*EDIT* - thanks for the link, am ready now

 

[nukebrewer]

Sorry, but I don't understand this comment. The OP's batch of Kolsh is going to have more than enough yeast to get the next batch started. How is repitching, say, 1/2 cup of slurry, more expensive than doing a starter? Slurry is free. DME (and maybe nutrients and foam control) for a starter is not.

To the OP's question, I only wash when it's going to be more than a week before I use it or when I'm trying to protect against carrying unwanted flavors and stuff forward, like bits of coriander or orange peel from a wit. Otherwise, I repitch a measured amount of slurry. And I think this is the best post on the hows and whys: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/why-not-pitch-your-yeast-cake-166221/.

Good luck,
Jason

What I mean is that if the OP does a starter with say 1/4 cup of slurry instead of pitching a whole half cup of slurry, then that slurry will go further before he has to pay for more yeast.

-AJ

 

[KISS Brew]

What I mean is that if the OP does a starter with say 1/4 cup of slurry instead of pitching a whole half cup of slurry, then that slurry will go further before he has to pay for more yeast.

-AJ

I'm fairly frugal, and I think this is taking it a little far. He can get at least two batches worth for at least 3 generations, which would be 8 total pitches. Even with this conservative estimate, this is less than a dollar a batch for yeast.

Then again, starters aren't very hard, and if someone wanted to save a few cents here and there, your suggestion is sound.

 

[jwalker1140]

What I mean is that if the OP does a starter with say 1/4 cup of slurry instead of pitching a whole half cup of slurry, then that slurry will go further before he has to pay for more yeast.

I guess this makes sense if you only harvest enough slurry for one batch but then suddenly decide after the fact that you want to make two batches right away. Otherwise, and specific to the OP's situation, I think it would make more sense to just harvest more yeast from the batch he bottled today (say, 1 cup rather than 1/2 cup), or wait until the next batch finishes and harvest from it for pitching into batch #3. But whatever, different strokes.

 

[cbehr]

Well I waited to bottle until today so I can just harvet yeast and use to pitch. I think I should have enough that I can just use the slurry and still save a jar or two, especially because I typically brew 2.5-3.0G batches.

Thanks for everyone's advice!!