harvesting Yeast from Bottles

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Loweface

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2007
Messages
1,037
Reaction score
12
Location
Limerick, Ireland
I won't be able to make a trip to a home-brew store for awile and I'm bored. Since I'm new to this I don't have a stockpile of ingredients lying about. I was thinking of making some cider because I can get the apple juice anywhere.

Question is I have no yeast. Can I use the yeast in my homebrew bottles?
How would I wash this. I should have no problem draining a free down to the sediment:drunk: but how do I go about washing it? I've read up some but it only seems to deal with harvesting direct from the primary... Can it be done from bottles in the same way? And how many will I need to drink to get enough? Might need to call for reenforcements!!!:mug:
 
Washing only enters the picture when you have a mixture of yeast, grain particles, hops, etc. in your fermenter. The yeast in a bottle of homebrew has gone through two clearing steps. One bottle should be plenty, just make a starter.
 
I am going to start making starters from beer bottle sediment! It is clean, safe, sterile... also I will have to drink each time I want to make a starter! LOL
 
Did you add extra yeast when you bottled? Otherwise, the yeast was probably sitting in primary for a month or more, it may be pretty stressed. Might as well give a try though.
 
Man, if it is a heffe, that yeast is only a couple weeks old! I brew ALOT of heffe... this is a good idea, more efficient than yeast washing! I will have about 50 yeast slants! HA
 
The US seems to be the only place to sell non alcoholic apple cider. Here we get juice. So thats what I'm stuck with. I'll be doing it in a 1 gallon demijohn (imperial 4.8L) to check it out. Might add like a litre of cranberry to the next just to see...

So you reckon i just drink a bottle and throw the dregs into a starter?

Thanks for the help.
 
Just an update...

I filled the demijohn with apple juice and simply tossed in the last bit of a bottle of homebrew. It's fermenting away nicely and I'd say making a starter would certainly have gotten rid of any lag time... I'll let you know how it tastes around christmas...
 
3 weeks on and it's still bubbling away.. Slowed down alot though. I think 3 more weeks, then bottling... What are peoples opinions on carbing cider?
 
Back
Top