Harvesting Yeast from Starters: UPDATE!!!

[Brulosopher]

The process is now simpler and safer for the yeast. Check it out:

http://brulosophy.com/yeast-harvesting/

 

[beersk]

Awesome. I may do this on my next yeast. Thanks for posting.

 

[flars]

You mention 100 billion cells. Is that per ml or for a 500ml starter wort of 1.040 SG with x amount of yeast pitched?

 

[Brulosopher]

You mention 100 billion cells. Is that per ml or for a 500ml starter wort of 1.040 SG with x amount of yeast pitched?

It's an estimate based on the latter. Cheers!

 

[natasatan]

I've been doing this same thing for awhile now with my "house" yeast (Ommegang's House) harvested from 1 bottle of Hop House. Works great!

 

[barnaclebob]

Would there be any problem with cold crashing the whole starter then decanting off the used wort? The remaining slurry would be divided between a glycerin solution in a mason jar for freezing and the beer.

After reading again it seems best to pull the .5L of starter off and cold crash separately because that gets you close to a 100bil cell starting point.

 

[Brulosopher]

I wouldn't think that'd be problematic at all. I have a friend who does just that and it works great.


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[Gus_13]

Wow thanks for sharing. I believe this will be my method going forward. Especially using strains like Wyeast 3822 or White Labs 540 that are some of my favorite strains. It will be easier since they are a seasonal strain then I can keep fresh yeast going.

 

[Goolsbymd]

I actually just did this, I started my starter of wlp001 just under 48 hours ago and forgot I had to take my wife to her Dr. Appointment today. So I boiled two 500mL mason jars and their lids, pulled the starter off the stir plate, star San everything and poured into the jars. They are in the fridge crashing today. Ill fill two jars about half way and boil them in microwave and cool over night. Decant, swirl and pour into cooled off new water and save for later dates. Nice clean yeast.

 

[Brulosopher]

Sounds great!


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[ph0ngwh0ng]

Hi!

I harvested yeast a couple of times using this method. Four times to be exact, with the same yeast. All about one year ago.

Due to a mistake on my behalf, the first harvest I made was left with beer over it in storage, while the others were stored with microwaved water over them. Turns out the only yeast that doesn't show signs of deteriorating is the FIRST one I made!

Doesn't prove anything, but the new method seems to make sense!

Thanks a lot for your article btw, it saved me loads of work and $$$

 

[Brulosopher]

Yeah, that's the only way I do it now. Cheers!


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[ph0ngwh0ng]

Hi!

I harvested yeast a couple of times using this method. Four times to be exact, with the same yeast. All about one year ago.

Due to a mistake on my behalf, the first harvest I made was left with beer over it in storage, while the others were stored with microwaved water over them. Turns out the only yeast that doesn't show signs of deteriorating is the FIRST one I made!

Doesn't prove anything, but the new method seems to make sense!

Thanks a lot for your article btw, it saved me loads of work and $$$

Made a starter with the one year old yeast and it took off!! Gonna step it up to be sure, but hurray for yeast harvesting!

 

[brewprint]

This looks like an extremely easy way to multiply yeast and get more bang for your buck for sure. It could be done each time you make a starter (or am I missing something?).

I just recently started using liquid yeast and for the cost, this is the only way to go.

Basically what I gather here is that you just need to make a 500ml larger starter each time and you essentially get a yeast pack that is $8.00 at the store?

 

[Brulosopher]

This looks like an extremely easy way to multiply yeast and get more bang for your buck for sure. It could be done each time you make a starter (or am I missing something?).



I just recently started using liquid yeast and for the cost, this is the only way to go.



Basically what I gather here is that you just need to make a 500ml larger starter each time and you essentially get a yeast pack that is $8.00 at the store?

I've got out 15 gens without issue. I've got a guy doing some cell count stuff and it might be a good idea to assume 70bil rather than 100bil cells per 500 mL harvest... then again, my beers are going well (personally and in comps) using the original suggestion


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[bob1852]

So basically, your harvesting yeast for the next batch before pitching/fermenting?

Interesting...

Less work on bottling/kegging day, no significant additional work on starter day, and clean/pure yeast (no trub, hops, dead yeast, etc).

I like it!

 

[zeptrey]

Nice article. I really like your site. The lager method blog is really interesting. Going to give that a shot. Hate brewing lagers for that very same reason. Tying up the Ferm chamber and a fermenter too long annoys me.


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[brewprint]

I've got out 15 gens without issue. I've got a guy doing some cell count stuff and it might be a good idea to assume 70bil rather than 100bil cells per 500 mL harvest... then again, my beers are going well (personally and in comps) using the original suggestion


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Either way...I can still increase the cell count by making larger starters. This is a great idea. I'm a total newb and glad I saw this post.

 

[Braufessor]

This is a great way to make starters..... I have done this over the last couple years when I brew really hoppy beers. If I am just brewing something like a Helles, mild, O. bitter, etc. I generally just harvest from the fermenter. Usually gravity is pretty low, not much hop debris, etc..... I just stir up what is in the bottom of the fermenter and pour it off into 3-4 mason jars.
But, whenever I was brewing beers that were getting up over 1.060, using lots of hops, dry hops, etc...... I knew that harvesting the yeast afterward was going to get me a lot of material I really did not want. So, this is exactly what I did. Get a good starter going and then basically turn it into 2-3 starters in advance. Nice, clean, healthy yeast. Easy to get multiple pitches off one yeast pack that would have been hard to do if attempting to harvest, clean, etc.
Great write up and instructions on it. It has got to be about the easiest method there is of getting multiple pitches off of liquid yeast.

 

[icebob]

guess who's making a bigger starter right now

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

Spread the holy word, people! Infinite yeast!

 

[Brulosopher]

guess who's making a bigger starter right now

Haha. Cheers!!


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[catdaddy66]

Just did this over the weekend, and it was glorious! Lol Used wlp007 dry English ale yeast.

Had a 1.5L starter after draining 500ml into jars... Awesome!


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[herc1354]

Wow sounds like I have a new method of creating good yeast starters. So buy using this method I am only ever creating a starter off of the original yeast strain and Not from my fermentation vessel, correct? While I understand that using this method I could harvest yeast I just want to make sure I understand the process fully.


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[Heavywalker]

This is how I thought everyone harvested yeast, been doing it this way since my first brew.

 

[Mordhaus]

Thanks for the update. I got lazy on the last starter and ended up doing the updated method anyways. Good thing!

One thing to note is that I only have a 2L flask so most of the time adding 500ml to my existing starter doesn't work. What I do is make a starter that yields a little over 200 billion cells and then I split that in half. Then I'll make a starter for the next beer with half and save the other for future use, repeat. I've split the same pack of Wyeast 1056 6 times now. They always take off about 90 minutes after pitching on the stir plate and within a few hours in the fermenter.

 

[Brulosopher]

Thanks for the update. I got lazy on the last starter and ended up doing the updated method anyways. Good thing!

One thing to note is that I only have a 2L flask so most of the time adding 500ml to my existing starter doesn't work. What I do is make a starter that yields a little over 200 billion cells and then I split that in half. Then I'll make a starter for the next beer with half and save the other for future use, repeat. I've split the same pack of Wyeast 1056 6 times now. They always take off about 90 minutes after pitching on the stir plate and within a few hours in the fermenter.

Sound like it's working great for you, which is all that matters!


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[brewprint]

Here is another question...perhaps it was answered but I didn't see it.

How long will the leftover yeast last in the fridge? Saying that I just stored it in the original starter wort.

6 months?

 

[catdaddy66]

Here is another question...perhaps it was answered but I didn't see it.



How long will the leftover yeast last in the fridge? Saying that I just stored it in the original starter wort.



6 months?

It will last that long and longer. I used a ten month old slurry of us-04 with very good results, but you will have to make a starter and increase a step or two to increase the numbers of cells (soldiers for the invasion!).


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[ph0ngwh0ng]

Here is another question...perhaps it was answered but I didn't see it.

How long will the leftover yeast last in the fridge? Saying that I just stored it in the original starter wort.

6 months?

I've just made a starter off of a 1 year old wyeast 1056 and it took off. :rockin:

I'll step it up 2 times to multiply it.

 

[brewprint]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to put some in the fridge either tonight or tomorrow.

How do you know what your cell count is and if you need to do a step up?

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to put some in the fridge either tonight or tomorrow.

How do you know what your cell count is and if you need to do a step up?

Simple math.

Plug your numbers in a calculator. I like this one. Then, say you make a 2 L starter, but save 0.5 L, then divide the cell count (after starter) by 4.

When making a starter out of your harvested yeast, assume the same viability as a liquid yeast starter.

For my one year old yeast, I entered 1 billion cells manually in the Starting Yeast Count box. Then I figured the number of step ups I needed.

Cheers!

 

[Brulosopher]

Results for the latest exBEERiment are in where I compared a fresh vial to harvested yeast. Check it out:

brulosophy.com/2014/07/07/fresh-vs-harvested-yeast-exbeeriment-results/


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[bbrim]

I also employ this approach because I feel better about saving yeast that hasn't gone through a full fermentation. When I buy the yeast I make a large starter that I split into 4 mason jars. When I'm ready to brew I make a starter large enough to split 3 ways. One to save and two jars to make 2 starters, one for each half of a ten gallon batch. This way I can go just 5 generations but make 20 batches, or 200 gallons total.

 

[brewprint]

Here's another question. When I look at step up charts the cell count is dramatically reduced when doing a step up. Wouldn't this apply to this yeast that we are harvesting from starters or does the yeast change after its been dormant for a while?

 

[Brulosopher]

Here's another question. When I look at step up charts the cell count is dramatically reduced when doing a step up. Wouldn't this apply to this yeast that we are harvesting from starters or does the yeast change after its been dormant for a while?

I seriously have no clue



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[beernutz]

Nice. I have used the method you wrote about in the 2012 HBT article many times without a problem. How does this differ from it?

 

[brewprint]

I seriously have no clue



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Perhaps if you have the means an actual cell count is in order. That may be why your recent exbeerement had your gravity being higher than with new vials?

 

[Brulosopher]

Perhaps if you have the means an actual cell count is in order. That may be why your recent exbeerement had your gravity being higher than with new vials?

Potentially, but the difference was very small. I'll definitely get back to this one at some point.


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[jwelch1103]

I'm going to try this.