Harvested yeast question

[cms]

I took my Wyeast 1056 yeast cake when I racked my IPA to secondary.

To get the cake out, I added some sanitized water, sloshed it around and dumped it all into a growler. Then I placed the growler in a fridge.

A couple day's later, this is what it looks like.

The top is just water and beer. The rest of it looks like trub. There's supposed to be yeast in the middle, right? There's a narrow band of white in there - I suppose that's it, but that seems like nothing. I can decant the beer and try to eek out just that layer, but is that worth saving? This is the first generation from the smack pack and I would love to re-use it.

 

[djsethall]

Why not take the white band of healthy live yeast and make a new starter out of it?

 

[iparks81]

yes...looks good.
theres more yeast in there than you think. There is a lot of Trub/hops/cold break in there but its still good to go...look up the yeast washing thread and you'll be set to make a starter and have Plenty of yeast for brews to come.

(Personaly, I decant the liquid off top, then pour about a cup or so of the mix into a a 1 Liter starter and save the rest until about 4 baches later...thats when i start to notice a decline in quality)

 

[Golddiggie]

How long was the brew in primary before you racked?? I get plenty of yeast when I let the brew go 2-4 weeks in primary (no secondary)...

Chances are, that thin line is the yeast. Do what you can to get it into another jars. If you split that into two, or three, small jars, you could have enough to brew with, if you also make starters far enough ahead.

I usually collect into two 1/2 gallon or one full gallon jar when I wash a gen 1 batch. If you follow the methods outlined in the sticky, you should get a good amount of yeast. That is, IF the brew was in primary long enough. Although 1056 probably wasn't the best choice to harvest from... Since it's a Medium-Low flocculating yeast strain. Meaning it takes a lot longer to flocculate out than say 1728...

 

[cms]

How long was the brew in primary before you racked??

14 days. It'll be in secondary for 14 days also. Should I try to harvest from secondary also/instead? I wonder if I'll get more that way... I was really hoping to get a few batches out of this. For the style of beer I prefer to drink (and therefore brew), 1056 is a good fit. I could get a lot of mileage out of it.

Why not take the white band of healthy live yeast and make a new starter out of it?

It seems like such a small amount. Perhaps I just had the wrong expectation, but I thought I would have a ton of yeast - I'd slurp it out with a turkey baster and have enough to start a few new batches. If that's the whole amount (meaning that leaving it in the fridge longer won't yield more separated yeast) then making a new starter (and maybe having to step it up) might be all I can do.

yes...looks good.
theres more yeast in there than you think. There is a lot of Trub/hops/cold break in there but its still good to go...look up the yeast washing thread and you'll be set to make a starter and have Plenty of yeast for brews to come.

I will. I'll try to wash out most of the junk and try not to stress over the volume too much.

 

[Golddiggie]

I would have left the brew in primary for a month, then harvested the yeast... Try that next time... With a medium-low flocculation yeast, you need more time for it to fall out of suspension... Most people won't harvest from secondary. Since I don't rack brews except to bottle (or off of/onto flavor elements after being on the yeast for at least a month) it doesn't matter to me.

Pick a different yeast for you next stab at it... Something that has a higher flocculation rate. Plus, leave it in primary for at least 3-4 weeks before you harvest (basically, leave it on the yeast until you bottle it)...

I'll be harvesting a cake of 1335 in another week or two... Should get a good amount of yeast from that batch.

 

[joel4482]

I would look at the yeast washing thread. I have seen a video on here about yeast washing. I looks like you started washing right but did not let the trub settle out. before putting it in the growler. Only use yeast from the primary 10-14 days is enough. If you get yeast out of the secondary every batch you use that yeast on will be sluggish and very low flocculating. It is like breeding dogs, you don't breed the slow dog and hope to get a fast dog. I slosh around the primary carboy with sterile water. Let it sit for about 5-10 min then using a racking can I siphone off all the yeast except for the last 1/8" or so into a container 1/2 gal-1gal. Then you let that sit for 5-10 min. Then I put that in 4-5 16oz containers leaving 1/8 in the bottom of the 1/2 gal container. I pitch one 16oz container per 5gal of beer. You may want to pitch 2 containers if the yeast is a few months old. What you got in your picture looks like mostly good yeast under the water level. I looks like it has a little trub mixed in though. When you let it settle twice you will get most of the trub out. A little trub won't hurt.

 

[cms]

That's exactly right - I shook it up and immediately dumped it all in there. I'm hoping that it stratifies in the growler and I can separate it a little better.

If it's not too bad to get the extra trub in a new batch, maybe I won't sweat it too much since every time I transfer the yeast around, I have a contamination risk.