Harvesting Slurry

[ShareBrewing]

Yesterday, I racked off a batch of blonde ale 100% fermented by WLP653 Brett Lambicus into secondary, leaving behind a healthy yeast cake. I would like to re-use it for an upcoming batch, but am a bit unsure of if and how I should harvest it.

As soon as it was racked off, I covered the carboy with an airlock and insulated it with sanitized aluminum foil. The yeast will be used in about 2 weeks for a 5 gal batch. I understand Brett fairly well but have never harvested it before.

Am I able to cleanly harvest the yeast or should I just dump it? Any suggestions on storage, cleaning and future propagation?

 

[IslandLizard]

Keep all of it. You'll likely have enough cake for 2 to 4 batches now, depending on their gravity.

A lot of the Brett remains in the beer above the slurry, you could feed it some wort if you want, to maintain your culture.

The only thing is, the oxygen in the now huge headspace may entice the Brett to produce acetic acid. So in that light, transferring it to a mason jar or 2 with a smaller headspace is better. You can refrigerate it if you want, it will go dormant, but cellar temps will keep Brett happy (and it will grow) if you feed it some wort regularly, say every month.

I would brew something sooner, say by this weekend, pour half the slurry into mason jar, for another batch, than rack you new wort on top of the slurry in the carboy.

 

[jinjorge]

Am I able to cleanly harvest the yeast or should I just dump it? Any suggestions on storage, cleaning and future propagation?

Take a look at this thread. Lots of useful info.

I save the slurry in mason jars and pitch one jar in my next 5 gallon brew.