Harvesting yeast from blow off?

[bensyverson]

I have a 1 gallon batch fermenting with some very top-cropping yeast (3944), and it's blown off a lot of yeast through the blow off tube into my pitcher of sanitizing solution, leaving a half-inch (!) layer of yeast.

Is it possible to harvest this yeast for re-use, or should I just let it go?

 

[Judd]

So - this yeast is in a bucket of sanitizer? It doens't seem worth the trouble, or the risk of infection.

 

[WortMonger]

Yes, you can harvest the yeast from blow off, but I wouldn't want to use what was in the sanitizing solution. If you made a collection reservior with an airlock on it then maybe that would work and you wouldn't have to use sanitizer anywhere but the airlock.

 

[bensyverson]

Ah, that's a good idea... A completely closed-off blow-off system...

 

[WortMonger]

Yep, look up pseudo Burton Union type systems. Those are the ones where the excess wort flows back into the fermenter from the collection reservoir and the blow off yeast stays in the collector.

 

[batesjer]

Seems like an interesting project, but probably not the best or easiest way to harvest yeast from a primary fermenter.

 

[bensyverson]

True -- I guess you can always wash the yeast after racking to the secondary

 

[batesjer]

True -- I guess you can always wash the yeast after racking to the secondary

Don't even have to wash, just plan ahead so that your first beer is lighter in color, hopped less, and doesn't have any special flavoring to it. I don't know if your using a carboy but if you aren't you can always do what Samuel Smith's does and harvest the yeast off the top of the primary during fermentation.

 

[Blender]

Sometime in the next couple of months I am going to collect my yeast from the blowoff. It is always nice and clean and quite healthy. You just need to make sure everything is sanitized and the system is closed to the open air. I will just use boiled water at the bottom of the catch vessell.

 

[duskb]

Sometime in the next couple of months I am going to collect my yeast from the blowoff. It is always nice and clean and quite healthy. You just need to make sure everything is sanitized and the system is closed to the open air. I will just use boiled water at the bottom of the catch vessell.

Forgive my ignorance on this topic. I just harvested a bunch of American Hefe yeast today while switching out my blow off tube to a regular airlock. My blowoff "system" was pretty homegrown, I just took the hose and cane from my racking siphon and stuck the open (hose) end in the airlock hole and the racking cane end into a punch bowl full of water. The water and the bowl were not sanitized but the cane and tube were. They were exposed to air for a few days. I have at least 1/4 jar full of beautiful white yeasties and it appears to be ok...

Anyways should I dump this stuff? How important is it to have the yeast come from a fully sanitized environment? What could go wrong if I use it?

 

[sammo]

british brewerys skim yeast off the top of a previous batch to put in the next one, i do this all the time. as long as you use a steralised spoon and bucket, there shouldnt be any problems

 

[IrregularPulse]

british brewerys skim yeast off the top of a previous batch to put in the next one, i do this all the time. as long as you use a steralised spoon and bucket, there shouldnt be any problems

This assumes the use of a bucket. This would be quite difficult from a carboy/better Bottle

 

[Blender]

I have not done this yet because I have been using dry yeast for the last several batches and I use foam control in my boil which seems to tone down the blow offs I was getting prior to its use.It's not really worth it for dry yeast IMO.

duskb..if the yeast smell fresh and good I would give it a try. I ferment in 6 gallon carboys and usually get some blowoff yeast. My plan was to close off the top of the blowoff container to prevent bacteria from getting into it. I also thought that I would need to vent the container with some form of airlock to insure decent sanitation.

 

[GearBeer]

What could go wrong if I use it?

The worst that could happen is that you'd end up with an infected beer. However, it sounds like you lucked out here.

I think you might do well to make what amounts to a very large starter, instead of risking an entire 5 gallon batch.

 

[duskb]

The worst that could happen is that you'd end up with an infected beer. However, it sounds like you lucked out here.

I think you might do well to make what amounts to a very large starter, instead of risking an entire 5 gallon batch.

Kyle,
Thats a really good idea. FWIW I brew a starter anyways, typically a day before brewing, just not that big. How long would it take before the starter would show infection? Should I leave it in there for a week to test and then pitch?

I also took a whiff of the yeast and it smells like beer, which is good of course. I kegged a cream ale a month ago but was not able to bottle the leftovers the same day. I came back to bottle the rest two days later and the whole container smelled (and tased) like dog crap. I had to dump it. Amazing how fast that stuff went bad...

Anyways it's not like I'll have a shortage of yeast from primary when I keg it so if I lose it its no big deal...it's just so clean its a shame to throw it out.

Thanks for your input.

 

[flyangler18]

This assumes the use of a bucket. This would be quite difficult from a carboy/better Bottle

I'm glad that I did a search on this topic; the new episode of Basic Brew Radio is discussing top-cropping yeast from a carboy. The person James is interviewing (Sam Scott) uses a racking cane pushed through one of the holes in carboy cap to effectively lower the level of the carboy.

Hopefully this is clear:

(1) Cut a racking cane in half; one half for the carboy and the other half into a sanitized Erlenmeyer flask or otherwise suitable collection vessel stoppered with a carboy cap.

(2) Connect the two racking canes with a length of sanitized tubing.

It's basically a controlled blow-off. I'll have to give this a whirl on my next batch.

Top cropping yeast from a carboy. - ALEiens Homebrew Club

 

[AnOldUR]

It's basically a controlled blow-off. I'll have to give this a whirl on my next batch.

Well, I have a not so controlled blow-off going on and wasn't too happy about the loss of beer. May be harvesting some yeast will give it some purpose. Think this quick set-up will work or will there be too much risk of contamination?

I sanitized the jar and the blow-off tube and covered the top with paper towels soaked in Star San.

 

[flyangler18]

Think this quick set-up will work or will there be too much risk of contamination?

I think that should be perfectly workable.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

A question regarding top-cropping. I'm gonna be trying this soon.

Wyeast says:

Open Vessels (Top Cropping): Yeast can be harvested once the gravity has dropped below 50% of original gravity. First head will rise approximately 24-36 hours into fermentation. Discard 1st skim (“dirt skim&#8221. A clean, 2nd head will rise which can be harvested with a 2nd skim.

In that video method...did they do a 'first skim' to get all the nasty stuff off the top of the krausen and then wait a day to do the actual top-cropping?

Have those that have done this waited until the gravity has dropped below 50% of the OG?

 

[vabites]

For my blow off I just use a tube that goes over the inside part of my airlock (cap off, internal piece set aside). Seems to me (being a cobbler kind of guy) I could take some thing like a mason jar, put a hole in the lid just big enough to fit that tube snugly and make a second hole for a grommet and air lock. Just use a jar large enough and maybe a couple of inches of sterilized water in the jar, so the tube end is below the surface. After a couple of days switch the blow off set up to a normal airlock, and the collected yeast is ready to play. Am I way out in left field? Of course everything needs to be sanitized first (air locks, blow off tube, jar, lid and water) but isn't that normal modus operandi anyways?

 

[Riot]

The beer I'm about to pitch is using yeast from pretty much exactly the method bing discussed. I woke up to almost a pint of yeast in the blowoff jar, so I sanitised my flask, put 600 ml of starter wort in it and used that as my blowoff jar(closed up with multiple layers of tinfoil to keep it sealed with a hose running in). I figured that dirt skim happened into the sanitiser and I should now get nothing but yeast. I fed it again last night and it looks and smells great.

 

[PintDrainer]

I had a crazy blow off from my last wheat batch. I simply cleaned up the edge of my mason jar that i was using as my blow off vessel and poured the yeast into a sanitized white labs yeast container. after it settled for a day in the fridge, it was a perfectly golden and clear beer with a ton of yeast in the bottle. held it up to another bottle of the same strain and other than the broken seal, they were identical.

oh, the heavenly smell of bananas that brew let off.

anyways, ill pitch the same yeast in another starter next time I revisit that brew, so i'll let you know how well it worked out/

 

[Yesfan]

..........resurrected..........


I've got a one gallon cider batch going now that I pitches some 1056 slurry in it and had to use a blowoff tube from the fermenter to a mason jar 3/4 full of sanitizer. I have decent layer of yeast in there and was wondering if I could harvest this yeast since it's under the sanitizer and not exposed to the open air (despite not using a lid on the jar). Also, since this is a beer yeast, is there anything wrong with going from beer to cider to back to beer as far as reusing slurry goes?

Can I use this in a American wheat I plan on brewing or should I chuck it? I have more of the same slurry in another jar if that's preferred.

 

[Queequeg]

Seems like an interesting project, but probably not the best or easiest way to harvest yeast from a primary fermenter.

Its is the best because its the healthiest mutant free yeast free of trub. The cake is easier but worse quality as it contains early under attenuating/high floccuative mutants

Its also pretty easy since you don't need to rinse unlike with harvesting the cake.