harvesting yeast after dry hopping

[balto charlie]

Hey all, I dry hopped into the primary for the first time to try a new method. I am ready to keg now but realized there are a lot of hops sitting on top of the yeast cake. I was hoping to use the yeast again. I read about yeast washing, actually tried it years ago but was not pleased with the results. So can I re-use it? What is the best way to save at this point? I want to pour some yeast slurry into mason jars for future use.
FWIW: I used 2.5 oz pellet hops on 5.5 gallons beer.

thanks all

 

[Morrey]

FWIW, I have always harvested slurry "as is" and never liked the washing route. Some will have a different viewpoint for sure, but washing seems much effort while direct slurry harvest works fine for me.

I use a bottom dump valve in a conical so my harvesting technique is different from those who scoop direct. If you don't have a dump valve, and I am assuming you may not, you may try gently pushing to the side the hop trub and getting down to the yeast cake to scoop. If you stick with the same type beer, I personally wouldn't hesitate to try this. If your recipe is radically different on the next batch, I may rethink the hop influence on said slurry. Typically high gravity beers have more harvest issues in my experience than highly hopped beers. Yours is a good question....good luck.

 

[IslandLizard]

What he says.^

To greatly reduce the amount of hop matter when harvesting yeast, you can pour the hoppy yeast slurry into a funnel lined with a fine mesh hop bag. The finer the mesh the more hops particles it will filter out. Those fine mesh hop bags will even filter out some of the trub.

Good sanitation is paramount!

 

[flars]

Are you fermenting in a bucket or carboy? This method may work for a bucket also by just tilting the bucket instead of laying it down. This is an IPA that was dry hopped in the primary.

Swirl up the contents of the fermentor. After about 15 to 20 minutes a thin line of clear beer forms on top. Most of the heavier hop debris has settled. Pour into a quart jar. A quart jar can be poured again into another quart jar after letting more hop debris settle. Keep some cheap beer on hand to add to jar for more volume. Using beer for extra volume is better than water. Osmotic pressure can damage the yeast cells if water is used.

This is a good read on yeast harvesting. Even though you will have some hop debris with the yeast there is still a lot of yeast being harvested.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/simple-yeast-storage-procedure-with-photos.579350/

 

[balto charlie]

Thanks all, I ferment in a glass carboy so the first info will not help. I guess I will try method 2 or 3 and see what I will get.
Method 2 looks easy enough but the potential for infection is higher. Method 3 looks easy as well but how much yeast will I get??
I will read the link posted and report back

In the future I might ferment in a plastic bucket for primary hopped IPAs and Pales.

 

[IslandLizard]

Problem with carboys is they are fragile and when they break they can cause serious injuries. After reading the broken carboy compendium, I switched to plastic buckets, using carboys for bulk aging sours. That minimizes the amount of routine handling carboys drastically. I now wear a welders apron and gloves when handling carboys. And steel toed boots.

 

[balto charlie]

I like glass carboys. I use to carry them with bare hands but nowadays I wear the gloves with a lot of gripping rubber which helps quite a bit. Plus I often carry them in high quality milk crates.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I've been using milk crates since 1994 to carry my glass carboys. I've never had a broken or cracked on yet.

I whirlpool and strain my wort as it goes into the primary. The hops and hot/cold break stays behind.

Your dry hopped yeast slurry will impact the brew you use it in. How much, I do not know.

 

[balto charlie]

View attachment 567387

Swirl up the contents of the fermentor. After about 15 to 20 minutes a thin line of clear beer forms on top. Most of the heavier hop debris has settled. Pour into a quart jar. A quart jar can be poured again into another quart jar after letting more hop debris settle. Keep some cheap beer on hand to add to jar for more volume. Using beer for extra volume is better than water. Osmotic pressure can damage the yeast cells if water is used.

This is a good read on yeast harvesting. Even though you will have some hop debris with the yeast there is still a lot of yeast being harvested.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/simple-yeast-storage-procedure-with-photos.579350/

So this is what I ended up doing. I laid the carboy on its side for a bit before pouring into the first quart jar, let it settle then poured into a pint jar. It really seemed to work. I only got 1 full pint jar using the double pour method but fairly clean. I did not add water nor beer to it as it was full.
I plan to use a starter with the yeast this weekend. Thanks all for your input.