Harvested yeast layers

[homebrewlover]

I have done about 9 brews so far and decided to dabble in harvesting yeast for the first time. The strain is White Labs California Ale WLP001. The brew that I harvested from sat in the primary for 3 weeks before I harvested the yeast. I added sterile water to the bottom of the carboy, swirled and dumped everything into a single vessel, let settle, then poured into individual mason jars one at a time letting settle before pouring each. I let them sit in the fridge overnight, the next day I decided to swirl them to see if I could see distinct trub drop that I could pour off. I really only saw quick separation in 1 jar. I poured off now all jars look the same. I am barely seeing 3 layers after a couple more days in the fridge. Should I be worried?

 

[flars]

Don't worry, you have a almost pure layer of yeast in the pictured jar. There is more yeast in suspension that will settle out with more frig time.

 

[homebrewlover]

Don't worry, you have a almost pure layer of yeast in the pictured jar. There is more yeast in suspension that will settle out with more frig time.

Whew! You have no idea how relieved I am hearing that

 

[eadavis80]

Yeah, that looks like good yeast to me. When you're ready to use it, a 1L starter should be plenty to get it going and you would have saved yourself about $7 per mason jar (minus the cost of the DME for your starter).

 

[homebrewlover]

Yeah, that looks like good yeast to me. When you're ready to use it, a 1L starter should be plenty to get it going and you would have saved yourself about $7 per mason jar (minus the cost of the DME for your starter).

I am totally stoked about trying it and saving a ton of money! One thing I am still confused about is the generations they can be used for. I have heard people say up to 5 generations but I am not sure what that means. Once I have used up the mason jars from this harvest should I just purchase a new vial and start over?

 

[IslandLizard]

Next time you make a starter make it a little bigger, save some (don't pitch all). With that saved yeast makes another starter, again a bit more than you need, and save that out. You could do this indefinitely with each of those jars you have there, as long as you keep sanitation standards high.

When my starter has cold crashed I pour off the starter beer into a well sanitized jar, leaving a thinnish pourable slurry behind. I then pour some of that slurry (eyeball, 1/4-1/2 inch) into a sanitized mason jar (1/2 pint, or now 1/4 pint jars, work best for me), and top that up with the saved starter beer. Lid it and refrigerate.

If I have a lot of starter I may fill 2 or 3 more 1/2 pint mason jars that way. Those are all 0-generation.

 

[ittybittykittycommittee]

You could also just use US-05 and not worry about starters at all. It is dry, so much cheaper than liquid too, so you could just pitch a new packet every time and still save money over liquid.

 

[mdbrewer1]

You could also just use US-05 and not worry about starters at all. It is dry, so much cheaper than liquid too, so you could just pitch a new packet every time and still save money over liquid.

I don't know if you're following the economics involved.

A packet of US-05 is about $3-4. You need a new one each time.

A vial of the WLP001 the OP mentioned is around $7-8. With proper care, you can ferment dozens of batches with just one vial. Even if you have to buy the mason jars to get started and factor in the cost of the DME, you start to come out ahead after 3 or 4 brews using harvested liquid yeast.

 

[homebrewlover]

Next time you make a starter make it a little bigger, save some (don't pitch all). With that saved yeast makes another starter, again a bit more than you need, and save that out. You could do this indefinitely with each of those jars you have there, as long as you keep sanitation standards high.

When my starter has cold crashed I pour off the starter beer into a well sanitized jar, leaving a thinnish pourable slurry behind. I then pour some of that slurry (eyeball, 1/4-1/2 inch) into a sanitized mason jar (1/2 pint jars works best for me), and top that up with the saved starter beer. Lid it and refrigerate.

If I have a lot of starter I may fill 2 or 3 more 1/2 pint mason jars that way. Those are all 0-generation.

Thanks for the great info! Doing it that way would definitely save room in the fridge

So when you make your starter how much of it do you use for you brew and how much is left behind? How long do you let your starter cold crash before pouring off?

 

[IslandLizard]

Thanks for the great info! Doing it that way would definitely save room in the fridge

So when you make your starter how much of it do you use for you brew and how much is left behind? How long do you let your starter cold crash before pouring off?

I used to save about 1/4-1/2" of the pourable yeast slurry in a 1/2 or 1/4 pint jar. 1/2" is about 30-40 grams. Now I usually weight the amount, placing the jar on my scale, tare, and pour until I get 30-50 grams. A WLP tube has about an ounce (28 gr) in it, which is a bit thinner than my slurry.

The following sounds way more complicated than it really is.

To estimate how much slurry I have, I've first numbered and weighted all my empty flasks and containers and wrote them down. They are numbered since their tare weight can vary widely.

When decanting I pour slowly until the first bit of slurry wants to come out, then tip back. I feel that is about the thick slurry Mr. Malty refers to (4.0). I weight the flask with slurry and subtract the tare weight. The difference is my weight of (thick) slurry, say 120 grams. I know I need 80 grams, roughly 80 ml, for the beer (per Mr. Malty or Brewer's Friend) which is 2/3, so I can save out 40 grams (1/3).

Note: This slurry is too thick to swirl and pour, so unless I'm stepping up, I pour some of that saved starter beer back on top, swirl, re-weight, then pour proportionally. Does not need to be exact to the ml (or gr), although you could.

Cold crashing depends on the yeast. Some Belgian yeasts drop like a brick within a few hours and completely after 24h in the fridge. Other yeasts (e.g., WY1272) take 2-3 days in the fridge to precipitate acceptably.

 

[eadavis80]

What I do, and I am pretty new at harvesting yeast I'll admit, is buy X kit with liquid yeast. Make a starter, use the WYeast Smack pack with that starter and brew batch 1. After batch 1 has fermented, I'll harvest 4 mason jars worth of yeast. I'll use those 4 mason jars on future batches. I have not harvested yeast from a batch that was made with harvested yeast. Many do, but a few things keep me from doing that: 1) I don't usually have more than 4 batches in a row using the same yeast. 2) I can't have a zillion mason jars in my fridge. I am happy harvesting 4 mason jars worth of yeast and saving $28 in each harvest - that basically pays for the next kit.

 

[IslandLizard]

I started with pint mason jars, but after running out of space (I have one shelf for yeast, which are in a box that just fits between the 2 shelves, keeps them all nicely together, stacked, and no falling over) I started to use 1/2 and now 1/4 pints (little Mason jam jars). Labels on the lids.

You will want a few varieties of yeast around, believe me. And yes, 4 jars each is a good median.

 

[homebrewlover]

I used to save about 1/4-1/2" of the pourable yeast slurry in a 1/2 or 1/4 pint jar. 1/2" is about 30-40 grams. Now I usually weight the amount, placing the jar on my scale, tare, and pour until I get 30-50 grams. A WLP tube has about an ounce (28 gr) in it, which is a bit thinner than my slurry.

The following sounds way more complicated than it really is.

To estimate how much slurry I have, I've first numbered and weighted all my empty flasks and containers and wrote them down. They are numbered since their tare weight can vary widely.

When decanting I pour slowly until the first bit of slurry wants to come out, then tip back. I feel that is about the thick slurry Mr. Malty refers to (4.0). I weight the flask with slurry and subtract the tare weight. The difference is my weight of (thick) slurry, say 120 grams. I know I need 80 grams, roughly 80 ml, for the beer (per Mr. Malty or Brewer's Friend) which is 2/3, so I can save out 40 grams (1/3).

Note: This slurry is too thick to swirl and pour, so unless I'm stepping up, I pour some of that saved starter beer back on top, swirl, re-weight, then pour proportionally. Does not need to be exact to the ml (or gr), although you could.

Cold crashing depends on the yeast. Some Belgian yeasts drop like a brick within a few hours and completely after 24h in the fridge. Other yeasts (e.g., WY1272) take 2-3 days in the fridge to precipitate acceptably.

I really appreciate this ^^ I am definitely going to try. I may need to invest in some smaller jars as well. My husband is building me a stir plate which I'm dying to try with these yeast harvests. Thanks again for all your help!