First yeast rinse

[stonecutter2]

Just wanted to confirm the process for using some yeast from a previous batch of beer. Any advice or wisdom is greatly appreciated

I had a beer that fermented just fine (it was a 1 gallon batch). I used Nottingham yeast, which given that it runs around $5 a packet, I decided I'd try to stretch out my use of it a bit. I pitched 1/2 of the packet in this brew, and the rest in another 1 gallon batch. And decided to try yeast rinsing and get a 3rd batch out of it (or more).

When I bottled, I put some distilled water in the fermenter, swirled it, then let it settle. I poured off the clearish portion of liquid into a sanitized mason jar, then let that settle in the fridge overnight. I then again poured off of the clearish part into another sanitized mason jar. It has sat in my fridge since (this was on 10/18).

I now have a mason jar with some good looking white settled yeast on the bottom (maybe 1/4 of an inch thick). I think this will work for another 1 gallon batch.

My questions:

When I'm ready to try to use this, do I leave it out of the fridge to warm up first?

Do I directly pitch it into the new wort, or make a starter first?

What warning signs should I look for that the yeast might not be a good idea to use? Odd smell? I have dry yeast on hand to pitch with if anything goes wrong.

Thanks - first go at reusing yeast and I want to know if I've got the idea down.

 

[joyceman]

Unless you have a good estimate of your cell count, Id make a starter. Thats the best way to proof your yeast and make sure youre not underpitching.

That being said, Ive made small batches (1-2 gals) from third runnings as starters for 5 gal batches of big beers. I usually just pitch a washed jar. Anecdoctal I know, but no probs so far. If youre doing 1 gal batches you should be OK.

 

[stonecutter2]

Unless you have a good estimate of your cell count, Id make a starter. Thats the best way to proof your yeast and make sure youre not underpitching.

That being said, Ive made small batches (1-2 gals) from third runnings as starters for 5 gal batches of big beers. I usually just pitch a washed jar. Anecdoctal I know, but no probs so far. If youre doing 1 gal batches you should be OK.

Cool, thanks - yeah that makes sense. A starter would at least let me know if my yeast is still ready to go...without wasting time waiting for a fermentation that never starts.

I'll get a starter going before I pitch

 

[stpug]

When I bottled, I put some distilled water in the fermenter, swirled it, then let it settle. I poured off the clearish portion of liquid into a sanitized mason jar, then let that settle in the fridge overnight. I then again poured off of the clearish part into another sanitized mason jar. It has sat in my fridge since (this was on 10/18).

The only part of your process the concerns me is when you settled the first mason jar in the fridge overnight, and then collected ONLY the top water in another new mason jar. If you cold crashed your collected yeast and the next day only collected the top water then you collected the most attenuative and least flocculating yeast. While these are definitely part of the "make up" of a yeast strain, they should be in balance with the less attenuative and more flocculant yeast.

While these yeast will certainly ferment a beer, they may ferment lower than you expect, and may not flocculate very well leaving you with overly attenuated and cloudy beer.

BUT, the only way to know will be to try them out.

I now have a mason jar with some good looking white settled yeast on the bottom (maybe 1/4 of an inch thick). I think this will work for another 1 gallon batch.

That's actually more than I would have expected since you only collected top water twice, and once was after cold crashing. Maybe there's a decent mix in there.

My questions:

When I'm ready to try to use this, do I leave it out of the fridge to warm up first?

Do I directly pitch it into the new wort, or make a starter first?

What warning signs should I look for that the yeast might not be a good idea to use? Odd smell? I have dry yeast on hand to pitch with if anything goes wrong.

I pull mine out of the fridge right after doughing in or about 3-4 hours prior to pitching. I pour off the top water, swirl it up to get the cake into a slurry, and let it sit on the counter. By the time I'm pitching the yeast is within about 10F of my cooled wort, which is said to cause less yeast shock.

I pitch the slurry directly into my wort as long as I'm confident it's plenty viable and hasn't been stored too long. I'll use stored, washed yeast from about a month ago without any additional steps. Much longer than that and I'll create a starter a day or three prior to brewday. I judge how much yeast I have by how old it is and how many milliliters I have.

Warning signs: Taste the top water; how does it taste? It might be a little flavorless, yeasty, and maybe ever so slightly "off" BUT it should not be off-putting. It should only be fruity/belgiany/phenolic if that's the yeast strains characteristic. It should not taste like bandaids, metal, or other off-putting things. You're tasting for things that would indicate it's bad, as opposed to good. I have found that stored, washed, starter yeast is always different that the product it produces. Stored, washed yeast might be really bitter from the last beer. It might be carbonated with a mild bite. These are all okay. Starter yeast might taste very bland, and have a slight tang to it.

Smell the slurry. How does it smell? It should smell like (well) yeast and not have any odors that are uncommon for the strain (i.e. nottingham should not smell like bananas, cloves, or fruit). If it's washed yeast then it might smell fairly hoppy as well. Use your nose to judge. Remember, you're smelling for any signs that it might be bad - not necessarily that it's good.

Hope this helps. Remember, these are my experiences with re-using yeast and they will differ from other folks

 

[stonecutter2]

The only part of your process the concerns me is when you settled the first mason jar in the fridge overnight, and then collected ONLY the top water in another new mason jar. If you cold crashed your collected yeast and the next day only collected the top water then you collected the most attenuative and least flocculating yeast. While these are definitely part of the "make up" of a yeast strain, they should be in balance with the less attenuative and more flocculant yeast.

While these yeast will certainly ferment a beer, they may ferment lower than you expect, and may not flocculate very well leaving you with overly attenuated and cloudy beer.

BUT, the only way to know will be to try them out.



That's actually more than I would have expected since you only collected top water twice, and once was after cold crashing. Maybe there's a decent mix in there.



I pull mine out of the fridge right after doughing in or about 3-4 hours prior to pitching. I pour off the top water, swirl it up to get the cake into a slurry, and let it sit on the counter. By the time I'm pitching the yeast is within about 10F of my cooled wort, which is said to cause less yeast shock.

I pitch the slurry directly into my wort as long as I'm confident it's plenty viable and hasn't been stored too long. I'll use stored, washed yeast from about a month ago without any additional steps. Much longer than that and I'll create a starter a day or three prior to brewday. I judge how much yeast I have by how old it is and how many milliliters I have.

Warning signs: Taste the top water; how does it taste? It might be a little flavorless, yeasty, and maybe ever so slightly "off" BUT it should not be off-putting. It should only be fruity/belgiany/phenolic if that's the yeast strains characteristic. It should not taste like bandaids, metal, or other off-putting things. You're tasting for things that would indicate it's bad, as opposed to good. I have found that stored, washed, starter yeast is always different that the product it produces. Stored, washed yeast might be really bitter from the last beer. It might be carbonated with a mild bite. These are all okay. Starter yeast might taste very bland, and have a slight tang to it.

Smell the slurry. How does it smell? It should smell like (well) yeast and not have any odors that are uncommon for the strain (i.e. nottingham should not smell like bananas, cloves, or fruit). If it's washed yeast then it might smell fairly hoppy as well. Use your nose to judge. Remember, you're smelling for any signs that it might be bad - not necessarily that it's good.

Hope this helps. Remember, these are my experiences with re-using yeast and they will differ from other folks

Awesome stuff, thank you! Yeah, I realize now that I likely let some good yeast go when I only poured off top water. It took a little time in the fridge, but the yeast has dropped and i've got an okay little cake of yeast. I'm thinking I'll pitch it for something cheap n easy (pale ale or something) and see how it goes.

The warning signs were exactly the kind of info I wanted. Just to know if something is "wrong."

Thanks for explaining your pitching process - just have to decide if I really want to go with a starter or not. Given that it's only 1 gallon that I'll be using it for, I might go for a SMaSH 1 gallon experiment and just pitch it directly in. If it doesn't show signs of life, I can throw some dry in and make it take off.

 

[stpug]

Warning signs: Taste the top water; how does it taste?

I should clarify that I pour some of the top water off into a little glass for tasting; the rest of the top water goes down the drain. I don't taste directly from the container holding the yeast.

Smell the slurry. How does it smell?

I smell the slurry immediately before pitching. Since it's had a chance to warm up and come back to life I figure this is probably the best time to catch an off scent.

It's also the worst time to determine you've got bad yeast since you're literally a few seconds away from pitching. Because of this, I always keep a sachet or two of dry yeast in my fridge in case I find myself handcuffed. The stuff will last at least one year in your fridge, and many folks have used 2+ year old dry yeast with no problems.