Saving/Harvesting/Washing Yeast

[Morrey]

I have read about harvesting yeast, but the results seem mixed. As a novice home beer maker, I feel positive results with each batch is necessary to keep me from feeling defeated. If I do each brewing step exact including proper sanitation, it all seems to work out. Balancing the scales, I am deciding if its more important to save dollars and harvest yeast potentially risking a bad brew, or figure exactly how foolproof harvesting actually is. Again, the results seem mixed....unless you have lots more experience than I have at this point.

I'll call a novice a brewer with 10 batches or less under their belt. Has any novice (like me) out there tried to harvest yeast with the results being the same in the beer as yeast that was bought fresh?

 

[Yooper]

Sure, anybody can save and reuse yeast.

"Washing" yeast is an advanced technique, so I'm not sure you mean that. Washing yeast involves an acid wash and things.

"Rinsing" yeast is done, but that can cause some issues as well due to the water being used.

Instead, I just do this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519995

 

[Morrey]

Sure, anybody can save and reuse yeast.

"Washing" yeast is an advanced technique, so I'm not sure you mean that. Washing yeast involves an acid wash and things.

"Rinsing" yeast is done, but that can cause some issues as well due to the water being used.

Instead, I just do this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519995[/QUOTE

Awesome...Thank you!

Just to make sure I am on track please check what I'll do to simply "save" my existing yeast. Rack off beer into secondary leaving behind the sediment. Swirl that sediment gently with the small amount of beer left behind on top of the sediment. Pour that slurry into sterilized pint jars, capped loosely, in the fridge until next batch of beer.

That slurry now is pitched as my yeast for the next brewing. So, do I only pour the top layer into my next batch, or do I stir lightly with a sanitized spoon and use the entire jar contents, trub and all??

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

Sure, anybody can save and reuse yeast.

"Washing" yeast is an advanced technique, so I'm not sure you mean that. Washing yeast involves an acid wash and things.

"Rinsing" yeast is done, but that can cause some issues as well due to the water being used.

Instead, I just do this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519995[/QUOTE

Awesome...Thank you!

Just to make sure I am on track please check what I'll do to simply "save" my existing yeast. Rack off beer into secondary leaving behind the sediment. Swirl that sediment gently with the small amount of beer left behind on top of the sediment. Pour that slurry into sterilized pint jars, capped loosely, in the fridge until next batch of beer.

That slurry now is pitched as my yeast for the next brewing. So, do I only pour the top layer into my next batch, or do I stir lightly with a sanitized spoon and use the entire jar contents, trub and all??

I use the method Yooper linked for over a year now.

You want to decant off the beer that has settled to the top and use the slurry of yeast that has accumulated at the bottom. Mr. malty has a 'repitch from slurry' calculator that I use, most of the time I just estimate 1.5 Billion cells/ml of slurry. Unless the slurry is under 2 weeks old I usually put the volume of slurry called for in my batch in a 1-2 liter starter before the brew to wake the yeast up and get it rocking. I have pitched slurry that is 2 months old directly but then have a lag time of 24 hours before fermentation starts, with the starter things are usually rocking 8-12 hours post-pitch. Hope this helps.

 

[TurnipGreen]

I'm a pretty novice brewer and I've used the technique twice and geared up to do my third this weekend. I'm not saving yeast to save money I think of it more as a fun side project. I just think it cool to serve two beers that came from the same yeast.

In my vast experience of saving yeast twice I think I can fairly say, it's like most things brewing related. You can make it a simple or as complicated as you want and in the end your results are beer. And good beer.

It pretty easy and fun. Try it out.

 

[Morrey]

I'm a pretty novice brewer and I've used the technique twice and geared up to do my third this weekend. I'm not saving yeast to save money I think of it more as a fun side project. I just think it cool to serve two beers that came from the same yeast.

In my vast experience of saving yeast twice I think I can fairly say, it's like most things brewing related. You can make it a simple or as complicated as you want and in the end your results are beer. And good beer.

It pretty easy and fun. Try it out.

I note that you are from the Asheville area of NC. Just that fact alone tells me that you have tons of craft brews available to whet your thirst for good beers. I am in SC (Darlington) and my wife and I go to WNC twice or more a year. There are so many cool places to go there focused on brewing craft beers and great food. Sierra Nevada overshadows most of the small ones, but Asheville and WNC rocks in the beer world!

Thanks for your feedback. I'll save yeast from my next brew.

 

[m00ps]

I overbuild my starters so the yeast I harvest is fresh, unhopped, and cleaner than harvesting from the trub in the fermentor. I havent noticed any appreciable differences on +10 generations on some of mine. You only need to save a tiny bit in order to build it back up, so I just have a small vial/jar of many different strains

 

[alagenchev]

I overbuild my starters so the yeast I harvest is fresh, unhopped, and cleaner than harvesting from the trub in the fermentor. I havent noticed any appreciable differences on +10 generations on some of mine. You only need to save a tiny bit in order to build it back up, so I just have a small vial/jar of many different strains

I see you have a lot of jars and tubes. Do you brew often enough to keep these fresh and in rotation?

My problem with liquid yeast is that I brew about once a month and always a different variety which doesn't really lend itself to using the same strain of yeast. One month it might be a hefe, next a stout, then lager and bitter.
If I store yeast in a mason jar, I think it's recommended to be refreshed within the 6 month mark which makes storage in mason jars infeasible with my brew schedule and preference.

This is the primary reason that I'm starting to looking into making a frozen yeast bank from the very beginning to even begin to consider using liquid yeast. Otherwise I feel it doesn't make sense financially - I don't want to spend close to $10 just on yeast per brew.

What do others that don't brew the same beers do?

 

[BeardedBrews]

What do others that don't brew the same beers do?

I look at it like this:

Save a Pint of Slurry - $0.00 - Brew again in 2 months or less
Build a Starter and Save - $2 - Brew again in 8 months or less
Buy Yeast for the Batch - $10 - Yeast + Starter if it's a once a year deal


If you're doing 10-12 batches a year I'd think $10/batch in fresh yeast might be worth the peace of mind.

If the cost is a deal breaker, consider finding a single house yeast. Many "lagers" have pulled down medals in BJCP competitions using ale yeast, and vice versa. It may not match the commercial example you're aiming for, but nothing is better than having someone say "Oh my god, this is way better than Guinness!"

 

[TurnipGreen]

I note that you are from the Asheville area of NC. Just that fact alone tells me that you have tons of craft brews available to whet your thirst for good beers. I am in SC (Darlington) and my wife and I go to WNC twice or more a year. There are so many cool places to go there focused on brewing craft beers and great food. Sierra Nevada overshadows most of the small ones, but Asheville and WNC rocks in the beer world!



Thanks for your feedback. I'll save yeast from my next brew.

Asheville has a lot going on in the beer scene. We've only been here about three years and with the little ones we're only now getting a handle on the beer scene down town. It's a blast but you almost need a guide to say "drink this style at this pub and that style that pub." I'm supper excited to go to Sierra Nevada! Wifey and I are saving that visit for a special occasion.

Good luck with saving yeast. It's pretty fun and an other cool layer to add to he hobby. I'll be saving from a Kolsch this weekend to use on an alt next week!

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

I see you have a lot of jars and tubes. Do you brew often enough to keep these fresh and in rotation?

My problem with liquid yeast is that I brew about once a month and always a different variety which doesn't really lend itself to using the same strain of yeast. One month it might be a hefe, next a stout, then lager and bitter.
If I store yeast in a mason jar, I think it's recommended to be refreshed within the 6 month mark which makes storage in mason jars infeasible with my brew schedule and preference.

This is the primary reason that I'm starting to looking into making a frozen yeast bank from the very beginning to even begin to consider using liquid yeast. Otherwise I feel it doesn't make sense financially - I don't want to spend close to $10 just on yeast per brew.

What do others that don't brew the same beers do?

Try to keep only about 4 strains going at any time the rest I put in the freezer. I have a saison strain, WLP 001, a british strain (WLP007), and a lager strain. I have had success reviving slurry that is 10 months old, just pitch a little of your slurry and slowly build it up with step-starters. This works for me and I have only bought one vial of yeast in the last 1.5 years, when I decided to add in the British strain.

For me it's not solely a cost issue but the freedom from having to run to the store, I have all my grains and mill on-hand so if i want to brew i only need to build up a starter in time, not run to the store which with 2 kids under 3 is always a challenge.

 

[m00ps]

I see you have a lot of jars and tubes. Do you brew often enough to keep these fresh and in rotation?

My problem with liquid yeast is that I brew about once a month and always a different variety which doesn't really lend itself to using the same strain of yeast. One month it might be a hefe, next a stout, then lager and bitter.
If I store yeast in a mason jar, I think it's recommended to be refreshed within the 6 month mark which makes storage in mason jars infeasible with my brew schedule and preference.

This is the primary reason that I'm starting to looking into making a frozen yeast bank from the very beginning to even begin to consider using liquid yeast. Otherwise I feel it doesn't make sense financially - I don't want to spend close to $10 just on yeast per brew.

What do others that don't brew the same beers do?

Ive used some of my harvested slurry that 12 months old and its worked fine. I start with a smaller starter, but by harvesting from the starter, I think I am getting yeast that is a bit healthier than the cells that have been exposed to hop compounds and fermented a whole beer. A number of times, my fridge has gone overboard and frozen solid all my yeast. I havent had any issues with that affecting health either tho