growing my own yeast

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robs1642

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so...i'm a beginner.

say i didnt want to have to buy yeast everytime i wanted to brew. could i use 90% of the yeast in my beer...save 10% and grow more from that 10%...i.e. could i just make some sugar water and have my little yeasties grow in my fridge?
 
robs1642 said:
so...i'm a beginner.

say i didnt want to have to buy yeast everytime i wanted to brew. could i use 90% of the yeast in my beer...save 10% and grow more from that 10%...i.e. could i just make some sugar water and have my little yeasties grow in my fridge?
Read up Yeast Starters. A large yeast starter will give you enough yeast to start three or four batches. It's a common practice to get your yeast multiplying well in advance of brewing so you can save some off for other brews.

Simply saving off 10% of your original (out of the package) yeast wouldn't be the best solution.

One other idea is to use the yeast "cake" that is created at the bottom of your fermenter after your beer has finished fermenting. You'll have 20 times the amount of yeast you started with and you can harvest and clean that yeast, split it up and save. Do a search on "Harvesting Yeast" or "Yeast Washing".
 
BierMuncher said:
One other idea is to use the yeast "cake" that is created at the bottom of your fermenter after your beer has finished fermenting. You'll have 20 times the amount of yeast you started with and you can harvest and clean that yeast, split it up and save. Do a search on "Harvesting Yeast" or "Yeast Washing".

Even easier... just dump your beer on top of the entire yeast cake. Siphon one beer off into the secondary, cap off the carboy, brew your second beer, a few hours later, add the cooled second beer onto the yeast/sediment remaining from the first one.

This is a very common practice, eliminates the need for a starter, and results in great fermentations. In fact, it's actually EASIER than pitching fresh yeast because you don't have to re-sanitize the fermenter!!!! I personally try to get 2 or 3 batches off of each yeast cake. No washing... just keep on brewing along....
 
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