Harvesting Yeast

[mingo]

I'm attempting to use harvested yeast for the first time and not sure how to check for healthy yeast. I made my starter and combined the yeast and have it on the stir plate, but not certain what to look for.

 

[Hex23]

Definitely start with some patience. It can take harvested yeast a little while longer to get started. I harvested some Pacman once and it showed no activity at all for over 48 hours, then all of a sudden near 72 hours just took off - the starter went from totally clear to very cloudy with a tall krausen. According to many folks on here, some starters may show very little signs of activity at all (but that's never been my experience). If it goes on too long with no visible signs, it might be a good idea to start giving it a sniff test to see if any nasties took hold. I had a failed attempt on a bottle of Rochefort, and after a few days it did get pretty nasty. Even if your starter does look healthy, it would not be a bad idea to smell it. Don't be looking for a perfect beer like aroma as it will be oxidized. But if it's gone bad it will probably not smell great.

 

[brew_ny]

I'm attempting to use harvested yeast for the first time and not sure how to check for healthy yeast. I made my starter and combined the yeast and have it on the stir plate, but not certain what to look for.

if your yeast is healthy you will know it will look like beer fermenting


S_M

 

[mingo]

So, even on the stir plate I should see activity in the form of krausen?

 

[Riot]

You can usually see some gas release when you turn off the stirplate, not as much while it's running.

 

[kh54s10]

Get a flashlight and look very closely. You should see tiny bubbles of co2 rising. I usually don't see much when using my stirplate.

The other way is to chill the starter until the yeast settles on the bottom of the flask and see how much increase there is.

 

[mingo]

A nice krausen has formed at nearly 60 hours, time to brew!