Harvesting yeast

[kdbentz]

Ok I have experimented with harvesting and reusing yeast in the past.....but I would like to make sure Im doing this right.
Basically Im just boiling some water, cooling it to room temp, then mixing it in with he yeast cake while still in the primary and running it out the spicket in to a sanitized mason jar......where it then separates out and can be dumped onto he next batch......
I have heard you can reuse each yeast cake 3 times or so before it alters and begins producing different beer.......any input on this?

 

[JLeuck64]

When I first started reusing yeast I stumbled across this video on YouTube

This process works well but soon after I started growing cultures in a flask using a stir plate.

 

[DaNewf]

I've washed yeast before and it worked well. Most recently I went with a slightly different method.

My schedule was to bottle a batch of Centennial Blonde Ale (light in color, fairly low gravity) on a Thursday night and brew a batch of Orfy's Hobgoblin Clone (ii) (darker, higher gravity, more hops than the Blonde) on the following Saturday.

After bottling the Blonde I collected a cup and a half of the trub into a sanitized mason jar and stuck it in the fridge. On Saturday I pitched the entire contents of the mason jar into the fermenter after racking the wort from the boiler. Less than eight hours later the beer was visibly fermenting.

I intend to follow pretty much the same process in a couple of weeks when I bottle the Hobgoblin clone and brew a batch of foreign extra stout (once again a stronger darker beer). My understanding is that the very short window of time from collecting the trub to pitching it means that washing isn't really required and there is no need for a starter because I collected plenty of yeast. I will mention that I use pellet hops in a mesh bag during the boil so the trub was reasonably clean.

The yeast I am "harvesting" is Danstar Nottingham. A lot of people would say dry yeast is so cheap that it isn't worth the effort just buy another sachet. Well in my area a sachet of Nottingham is $5.00 so I will be spreading that cost over 3 batches saving $10.00. That's worth it to me if there is no noticeable negative effect on the quality of the beer. I am conducting this experiment to see if this is the case.

 

[Braufessor]

What you are doing should be ok. However, storing yeast under water is more work and it is not all that great for the yeast. Storing under beer itself is better (and easier):
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=19850.0
(There is a wealth of information in this post).

I have a specific beer I brew where I usually harvest yeast. I brew a low abv, low hopped blonde ale. It is a clean beer, not much in the way of trub or hops in the fermenter. I leave about a quart of beer behind when I keg it off the primary fermenter.

Then, I swirl it up in the fermenter to get everything into suspension (just like you would with the water). I let it sit for a couple minutes to let the heaviest particles of trub or hops settle out. Then, I decant it into 6 sanitized mason jars. I use half pint or pint jars. You will end up with about an inch or so of compact yeast with 2-4 inches of beer on top of it. This is a better environment to store yeast than under water.

I make a 1L starter with each mason jar to brew whatever I want to brew. I use 1 of the 6 jars to brew another blonde (or other low abv, low hopped beer) and harvest another 6 jars...... I have brewed 30 beers off of a single pitch of yeast no problem.

I do the same with lager yeast - start with a Helles, collect yeast and repitich into other, bigger lagers I might be brewing.

 

[Natdavis777]

What you are doing should be ok. However, storing yeast under water is more work and it is not all that great for the yeast. Storing under beer itself is better (and easier):
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=19850.0
(There is a wealth of information in this post).

I have a specific beer I brew where I usually harvest yeast. I brew a low abv, low hopped blonde ale. It is a clean beer, not much in the way of trub or hops in the fermenter. I leave about a quart of beer behind when I keg it off the primary fermenter.

Then, I swirl it up in the fermenter to get everything into suspension (just like you would with the water). I let it sit for a couple minutes to let the heaviest particles of trub or hops settle out. Then, I decant it into 6 sanitized mason jars. I use half pint or pint jars. You will end up with about an inch or so of compact yeast with 2-4 inches of beer on top of it. This is a better environment to store yeast than under water.

I make a 1L starter with each mason jar to brew whatever I want to brew. I use 1 of the 6 jars to brew another blonde (or other low abv, low hopped beer) and harvest another 6 jars...... I have brewed 30 beers off of a single pitch of yeast no problem.

I do the same with lager yeast - start with a Helles, collect yeast and repitich into other, bigger lagers I might be brewing.

+1

Ive been using this method as well and I love it. Recently I made a low gravity amber and blonde (10 gal each) and used 001 for the amber and 007 for the blonde. I now have enough yeast to last me almost a year.

I too, started off washing the yeast with boiled and cooled water, but after awhile, I decided to use the remaining beer that was left in the fermenter. I like the fact that it is efficient and time saving. Beers still come out great.

 

[slym2none]

Hmm, maybe that is why my saved yeast takes so long to kick in? I have been storing it under water, not beer.

If I was brewing beer and had a little extra wort left over, could I use that? Boiled & cooled, of course...

 

[wilserbrewer]

Hmm, maybe that is why my saved yeast takes so long to kick in? I have been storing it under water, not beer.

If I was brewing beer and had a little extra wort left over, could I use that? Boiled & cooled, of course...

No! It would start to ferment. Storing yeast in wort makes beer. Beer stores well, unfermented wort does not.

 

[Braufessor]

Hmm, maybe that is why my saved yeast takes so long to kick in? I have been storing it under water, not beer.

If I was brewing beer and had a little extra wort left over, could I use that? Boiled & cooled, of course...

Not to store yeast - if you store yeast in wort, it will ferment it and cause problems for whatever container you are trying to store yeast in.

Just brew a slightly bigger batch.... 1/4 of a gallon even and leave some behind.

The other strategy that works well is to make a starter, and then hold back a little bit when pitching and just start another starter with it..... That is a pretty clean way to keep a yeast going for a long time.

 

[wallybangbang]

Braufessor- I use the water method but when I transfer to mason jars it is the color of beer. I always leave a little beer behind but even when I left barely any it seemed as if there was enough beer left in the trub to have an acceptable environment for the yeast to live in. Obviously it would be a very low abv mixing the water in but I always though at least its not all water. Am I wrong to think this?

 

[Braufessor]

All beer is best. One of the big things is the pH. Low pH (of fermented out beer) is protective. Water has a higher pH and that opens the door to possible infection. Additionally, putting yeast into water stresses it and puts it into a different state. Half beer, half water is better than all water. But, all beer is better than a blend.

The individual who posted the above link that I shared is extremely knowledgeable about yeast and outlines a variety of reasons it is best not to store under water.

 

[slym2none]

Just brew a slightly bigger batch.... 1/4 of a gallon even and leave some behind.

The other strategy that works well is to make a starter, and then hold back a little bit when pitching and just start another starter with it..... That is a pretty clean way to keep a yeast going for a long time.

I already put 2.5G in the MrBeer LBK... not really any room left for more beer.

 

[wallybangbang]

I already put 2.5G in the MrBeer LBK... not really any room left for more beer.

c'mon slym foot the bill for a six gallon bucket! Only 10 $ for a cheap one. I just saw my Mr. Beer jug in the outside shed today. Was trying to think of a use for it.

 

[slym2none]

It's about physical space limitations. I would love to brew 5 gallons of beer at a time, but I don't have the room for a fermentation chamber, nor could I cold-crash a FV of that size.

One day... maybe.