Pouring wort onto yeast slurry from a previous batch

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.

klamz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
193
Reaction score
0
Ive heard about people dumping wort right into a fermentor with yeast slurry on the bottom from a previous batch. My question is how long does that yeast last? I have it sitting in the garage at 40-55f for the past 5 days now. Is it still good? I have it covered with an airlock as well. Will it be ok 2 weeks from now? I'm just curious on how to handle this method.
 
Does it smell sour? Most likely it's still good but it might be starting to dry out. It would be a good idea to check the yeast washing sticky though. And now, cue up the people that think sanitation is a religion..
 
You only need about a quarter of it for your next batch. In fact it is better to only use a portion. If you have too much yeast, there will be little reproduction and few new yeast cells.

Suggestion: Get some Mason jars (or similar containers), sanitize them, swirl up the cake, and pour into the jars. Cap jars and store in fridge until you use it.

Cooler helps it store better.

As I said, you will only need about a quarter of the cake, so you don't have to store all of it. I usually get as much of the liquid out as I can, and end up with about 4 pints of slurry, so all I need to keep is a pint for the next brew (I usually keep 2 pints to cover 2 beers). In your case, since you left beer in there, your volume may be higher.

When it comes time to use it again, pour out the liquid and pitch the solids. Some people will disagree with me, but if the slurry is less than a month from harvesting, I straight pitch. If older, I make a starter.
 
I have done this to great effect. I would be wary of a fementer that was emptied days ago though. When I did it , I transfered the beer to a secondary and emptied my boil kettle into it within 30 min or so. The air that replaces the beer in the carboy is laden with wild beasties. The more time you give them, the more they reproduce.

I second the advice to check out yeast washing. Even just putting the slurry in a sanitized jar and refridgerating it would be a minimum step toward avoiding contamination.

Maybe a huge healthy yeast cake would take off and overwhelm any beasties you have in there, maybe not. New yeast is cheap, new wort is expensive.
 
Back
Top