Am a relatively new all grain brewer and typically scale my recipes to 14~15 gallons while targeting 11~12 gallons into the fermenter and ultimately 10 gallons into my cornies.
I use a hop spider in my boil kettle and the boil kettle also has a tangential port plumbed to a counter flow chiller whereby I can simultaneously batch chill and whirlpool before transferring the wort to my fermenter. A typical time to chill 12 gallons is approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Once its chilled in the BK I let it rest for about 30 minutes before transferring to my 60L Speidel fermenter.
My typical ale ferm profile is to ferment in the primary for 5 -7 days (or until gravity is 1 or 2 points from FG) and then rack to a secondary.
I then begin the yeast washing process by adding about 2.5L of cooled sterilized water to the primary to begin the yeast washing process.
Given the above I can typically fill two mason jars with 10 to 12 ounces of what appears to be nice tannish color creamy layer of yeast with the rest of the jar having a layer of beer on top as well as a very very small layer of trub/cold break on the bottom.
Thanks for staying with me my question is that it seems as if I am harvesting a rather large amount of yeast compared to all the videos and articles Ive seen on the net i.e. most of the videos and articles make it appear as if the brewer is only able to harvest 1 2 ounces at best so Im wondering if I can realistically expect to harvest 20 to 24 ounces (in total) yeast from a typical 12 gallon ale ferment?
Thanks in advance for all replies
I use a hop spider in my boil kettle and the boil kettle also has a tangential port plumbed to a counter flow chiller whereby I can simultaneously batch chill and whirlpool before transferring the wort to my fermenter. A typical time to chill 12 gallons is approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Once its chilled in the BK I let it rest for about 30 minutes before transferring to my 60L Speidel fermenter.
My typical ale ferm profile is to ferment in the primary for 5 -7 days (or until gravity is 1 or 2 points from FG) and then rack to a secondary.
I then begin the yeast washing process by adding about 2.5L of cooled sterilized water to the primary to begin the yeast washing process.
Given the above I can typically fill two mason jars with 10 to 12 ounces of what appears to be nice tannish color creamy layer of yeast with the rest of the jar having a layer of beer on top as well as a very very small layer of trub/cold break on the bottom.
Thanks for staying with me my question is that it seems as if I am harvesting a rather large amount of yeast compared to all the videos and articles Ive seen on the net i.e. most of the videos and articles make it appear as if the brewer is only able to harvest 1 2 ounces at best so Im wondering if I can realistically expect to harvest 20 to 24 ounces (in total) yeast from a typical 12 gallon ale ferment?
Thanks in advance for all replies
