First time yeast harvest help!

[dietmb]

I just racked my black IPA to the keg and wanted to try harvesting the yeast. I boiled water, cooled it, swirled it with the yeast cake, poured into sanitized jar, and let sit over night in the fridge. I can see layers here, but which later do I want to save? And what's the next step? I've seen some youtube videos and am confusing myself even more


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[eastoak]

the simplest way is to have your sanitized jar at the ready when you rack the beer then scoop the yeast cake into it and seal. depending on the quantity you can either make a starter or pitch it directly into the next beer. in your picture everything under the liquid contains yeast.

 

[dietmb]

Great thanks!! Would you recommend pouring off the liquid and replacing with boiled/cooled water?


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[flars]

I stopped using the boiled water method. I leave about 12 ounces of beer in the fermentor to pour out with the yeast into a quart jar. Yeast seems to store longer this way.

The yeast that is still in suspension will drop out after another day in the frig. the liquid top layer will be clear. The remainder is yeast and break material. You have a lot of yeast in the jar.

Links to some helpful information:
http://www.woodlandbrew.com/2013/01/yeast-washing-revisited.html
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/cold-hard-truth-about-rinsing-yeast-boiled-water-451925/
http://brulosophy.com/methods/yeast-harvesting/

 

[eastoak]

like flars pointed out the boiled water is not needed. i don't save yeast anymore but i have saved it and used it many months later without problems. what i do now is time my brew day with racking a beer off of the yeast then i scoop some of the cake into the fresh wort or i get fresh yeast from my local brewery, that's my favorite method.

 

[RichCityFireGuy]

Does the yeast that is saved have to be used with the same style beer that the original yeast was used for?

 

[eastoak]

Does the yeast that is saved have to be used with the same style beer that the original yeast was used for?

depends on how hoppy or dark the original beer was. i've used yeast from a porter in a pale ale before but i won't go out of my way to do it again.

 

[dietmb]

How much of this should I pitch into my next IPA batch? It'd be 5 gallons with a 1.068ish OG? And do you guys usually use a yeast started with used yeast to get them going again?


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[flars]

How much of this should I pitch into my next IPA batch? It'd be 5 gallons with a 1.068ish OG? And do you guys usually use a yeast started with used yeast to get them going again?


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This calculator will help you out on the amount to pitch.
http://www.yeastcalc.co/washed-yeast-calculator

If you are not brewing for a while you may need to make a starter if you don't have the volume based yeast viability. Viability will decrease with each day from the production date. These calculators will help with estimating viability.
http://www.yeastcalc.co/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator
http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/

 

[dietmb]

Great thank you!


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[heckler73]

I find the easiest way to reuse it is just that - brew on the same date you rack a previous similar batch to secondary.

Take the yeast cake in the primary with a bit of beer on the top and swirl it around, suspending the yeast in the beer. Let that settle for about an hour while you brew a new batch, then pour the beer with suspended yeast into your new primary, leaving the heavier trub behind.

Previously, I'd done the rinsing and jarring technique and just ended up with far too many jars in the fridge.

Yes, make a starter from your saved jar of yeast!

 

[Natdavis777]

I find the easiest way to reuse it is just that - brew on the same date you rack a previous similar batch to secondary.

Take the yeast cake in the primary with a bit of beer on the top and swirl it around, suspending the yeast in the beer. Let that settle for about an hour while you brew a new batch, then pour the beer with suspended yeast into your new primary, leaving the heavier trub behind.

Previously, I'd done the rinsing and jarring technique and just ended up with far too many jars in the fridge.

Yes, make a starter from your saved jar of yeast!

I utilize this method a lot. Next week, when I rack two 5 gal stouts to kegs, I will be brewing 10gal stout the same day, so at the end, I will rack to the kegs, then runoff the new wort into the carboys with yeast cakes, then back into the ferm chamber.

 

[heckler73]

Fresh out of the primary today, I racked my primary Centennial Blonde over to a carboy and dumped what was left into a 1 gallon carboy.

Half an hour later, I get a layer of foam and beer on the top, a thick band of creamy yeasties, and a small layer of junk on the bottom.

Decant the beer layer, pour the yeast into the Sierra Nevada wort I'm brewing now in a couple hours, and leave the junk on the bottom. Bada boom, bada bing.

 

[heckler73]

View attachment 226037
I just racked my black IPA to the keg and wanted to try harvesting the yeast. I boiled water, cooled it, swirled it with the yeast cake, poured into sanitized jar, and let sit over night in the fridge. I can see layers here, but which later do I want to save?

since you cooled it overnight, I assume you've got a lid on the jar and the jar and lid were boiled before putting the yeast in.

In that case, you want to keep the whole thing in the fridge without opening it. It'll settle over time to even heavier sediment on the bottom, then a layer of yeast, then a layer of beer. Ideally, let it settle before you put it in jars, and pour off the top layer of beer first.

When you go to use it, carefully pour off the beer, then carefully pour the yeast in a starter wort and leave behind the junk on the bottom.

 

[heckler73]

I'm pretty sure the darker white spots in your yeast layer will have settled down to the bottom by now.