Harvesting yeast

[tanman92]

How many generations do you guys reuse yeast for?

 

[Conehead]

3 -4 max.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

It depends on the yeast - some British breweries have yeast that are 1000s of generations old, but that's because multistrains are rather more robust than single strains. Dry yeast don't last as long when repitched - maybe only 2-3 generations if that before they go weird, people seem to use the normal liquid strains for maybe 7-8 before they start changing, they tend to end up cycling between "good" and "bad".

See this thread for more (and in general it's a good idea to use the search function for this kind of thing rather than starting a new thread as it comes up regularly)

 

[tanman92]

Thanks for the input!! I'm new to this app so I apologize for the user error after doing a search I found all kinds of threads about reusing yeast. Cheers boys!

 

[Kiln]

Forever.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Depends on a few things... Are you reusing to save money? Are you reusing because it's a "special" or hard to find strain? Maybe just being a nerd and like the challenge and science behind it? It also depends on the strain itself. Some go many generations very well, some morph into crap. If it is a mixed or multiple strain culture, you should never reuse it, because the strain ratio will drift. There's also different ways of reusing yeast. You can do a large starter, then restart small samples of it. You could just reuse a yeast cake. You could go for the gusto and make a ton of slurry. You could do a full wash. Or maybe dish and slant to try to pull more purity. If you are doing one of those 150 IBU man-bun and neckbeard hazy turpentine brews, I would recommend against reusing the yeast.

Here's some examples of my experiences...

WY3711: Almost indefinitely (this stuff will outlast a nuclear war)
Allegash house yeast: After about 4 uses, it gets wierd (I think its a blend)
Dupont/WY3711 mix: Once (the Dupont character fades away)
Nottingham: Up to 8 so far without issues
WLP300: Once (your results may vary, I can't get consistency reusing it)
Urquell H: Im up to 3 so far without issues

There's a few others in my fridge but I was too lazy to dig out my notes

 

[tanman92]

Depends on a few things... Are you reusing to save money? Are you reusing because it's a "special" or hard to find strain? Maybe just being a nerd and like the challenge and science behind it? It also depends on the strain itself. Some go many generations very well, some morph into crap. If it is a mixed or multiple strain culture, you should never reuse it, because the strain ratio will drift. There's also different ways of reusing yeast. You can do a large starter, then restart small samples of it. You could just reuse a yeast cake. You could go for the gusto and make a ton of slurry. You could do a full wash. Or maybe dish and slant to try to pull more purity. If you are doing one of those 150 IBU man-bun and neckbeard hazy turpentine brews, I would recommend against reusing the yeast.

Here's some examples of my experiences...

WY3711: Almost indefinitely (this stuff will outlast a nuclear war)
Allegash house yeast: After about 4 uses, it gets wierd (I think its a blend)
Dupont/WY3711 mix: Once (the Dupont character fades away)
Nottingham: Up to 8 so far without issues
WLP300: Once (your results may vary, I can't get consistency reusing it)
Urquell H: Im up to 3 so far without issues

There's a few others in my fridge but I was too lazy to dig out my notes

Awesome! Thanks for your input! And I typically stay under 85 ibu