Considering Harvesting my Yeast

[chemist308]

I have a stout that was brewed with a Wyeast smack pack. Since I like stouts, I want to save that yeast. I've heard everything from 'you have to do yeast washing' to just save some of the trub and throw that in your next batch.

I'm confused. What do I really have to do here? Is it a pain, or is it totally worth it?

Edit: One thing I should mention is that this stout is going straight from the primary (bucket) to bottles soon, if it makes any difference whether it was in the primary or secondary...

 

[BigKahuna]

Washing is the only way to go....unless you are brewing again in the next few days. In that case....leave a touch of liquid to protect the trub, and dump your next beer right in the same fermenter.

 

[ifishsum]

Refer to the yeast washing thread stickied at the top...I did my first real yeast washing procedure a couple of weeks ago following those instructions and it worked out very well. It's not that much of a pain, it may or may not be worth the trouble but I think it's a good technique to learn. I did it with a pacman cake because I don't always see pacman yeast available, now I have four jars of it ready to pour into a starter. Saved $25 or so, what the heck.

 

[JacobInIndy]

Is there anything wrong with just scooping some trub and yeast from the primary and saving that in a White Labs vial?

I did this with some Notty a while back, and it worked out well.

I did it again with some Wit yeast. It's been in the fridge for about 4 weeks now...think it will be ok? Everything was completely sanitized.

 

[phidelt844]

Is there anything wrong with just scooping some trub and yeast from the primary and saving that in a White Labs vial?

I did this with some Notty a while back, and it worked out well.

I did it again with some Wit yeast. It's been in the fridge for about 4 weeks now...think it will be ok? Everything was completely sanitized.

I am curious about this as well. I'm starting an empty WL vial collection

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

It's very worth it and not hard at all. I haven't had to buy yeast for the last 3 batches I've done. Saves me enough money to buy ingredients for another batch. Once I stock up on a few of the other strains I use it will be a long time before I have to buy yeast again.

And IMO it's best to go through all the washing and not just scoop up the trub into a WL Vile. You'll get a better cell count when it's all said and done.

 

[stephelton]

I tried the yeast washing technique and I think I shocked them by pouring fridge-cold water on top of the yeast cake. I would recommend making sure the water you use is (a) sanitized and (b) close in temperature to the yeast cake.

 

[Mutilated1]

Is there anything wrong with just scooping some trub and yeast from the primary and saving that in a White Labs vial?

As long as its clean there is probably not much wrong with that. But a White Labs vial doesn't hold very much. I use 1/2 pint jars, they're easy to clean and they hold enough to get a batch going without making a starter.

 

[Bob]

Harvesting is easy, and if you're going to brew in the few days following your harvesting, you needn't wash the yeast. By no means should you be knocking out into a dirty fermenter onto the yeast cake; that's a horrible practice I wish would go away.

Glass jam jars make excellent storage containers. Just clean and sanitize the jars and lids, skim the first few layers of the cake with a sanitized metal spoon, and fill the jars half to 2/3 full. Stick 'em in the fridge until brew day. It's best to store it under beer, even if you're only waiting a day, so the colony doesn't get too dry. I wouldn't store the harvested yeast for much longer than a fortnight without washing the yeast. The colony will lose viability by about 25% per week of storage.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[0202]

What's the length of viability if washed?

If you wanted to store for extended (2-3 months) times, would you need
to freeze the yeast using Glycol as mentioned in flyguy's thread?

 

[Bob]

Washed-yeast viability is too dependent on the exact process for accurate prediction. Better to ask in the yeast-washing thread for brewer's actual experiences.

Bob

 

[BierMuncher]

Quick and dirty…(but not really “dirty&#8221.

Get two large apple juice jars.

Fill one of the jars about half way with clean cool water.

Once your fermenter is empty, pour the water on the yeast cake and slosh it around.

Pour the entire mix back into the jar, put on lid and shake vigorously. Loosen the lid slightly to let gas escape.

Set jar down and wait 10 minutes.

Pour the mix (gently) into the other empty jar but leave behind the last ¼ inch or so.

Fill the new jar back up to top with water and shake again.

Wet it aside for 10 minutes and then pour back into the other jar that has been rinsed out.

Repeat this process once more.

Each time you add water, shake and let rest…the heavy particles you don’t want will settle to the bottom while the yeast will stay in suspension.

Top off the final stage with clean water and refrigerate until ready to use.

 

[chumprock]

I know of a commercial micro that just scrapes the trub into a sanitzed corny.

I don't think washing is essential unless you are considering long-term storage.