Splitting liquid yeast

[discgolfin]

Ok I searched a bit and was curious if anyone has done this. This is what I am planning. I was going to make a DFH 60 IPA, and than a very big RIS. As I read up a lot I see that the yeast would be very stressed from the high gravity DFH and that it would not be wise to go on top of the cake for the RIS at 1.1+ OG. I plan on using california ale yeast and was thinking of making 2 starters out of it and using them both for each beer, not that I am cheap but it only makes sense if I was planning on using the same strain for both beers. Any suggestions on this?? I probably would have the RIS starter for over a week until I brewed with it.

Any thoughts or ways to make the RIS starter redy to go for the large amount of work they will have to eat through 1.1111 plus big beer. I have not gotten into washing yeast yet but plan to in the near future but though if I could get 2 nice starters out of one smack pack I would be happy for now.

Thanks, Jay

 

[Drunkensatyr]

Easy to do! Make low grav starters first (1.040 or so) then after a few days, throw it in the fridge for about an hour then pour off most of the clear liquid and pour in a higher gravity wort (1.070 or so). This will help the yeast stay in tip top shape for the big job. You can do this a few times if you wish to get as high on gravity as you want.

 

[imasickboy]

You can easily accomplish that. Just be sure to make both your starters early so you can step them both up. Remember that you're starting with half the yeast, so you'll at the minimum, want to double both of them.

 

[RedSun]

I'm doing the very same thing on a wee heavy. Your second step-up will be more than a quart so make sure your vessel is the right size. I use 2qt milk jugs and they work great for the step-ups. Start with 2 basic starters, then nearly double that on the second step. Yeasties need to train up to the man-sized brews.

 

[discgolfin]

I have 3 growlers(1/2 gallon jugs) these should work nice. Can I put the low gravity batch into the fridge for a week and step it up a few days before I do the RIS? I plan on doing the DFH and than after a week or so doing the RIS. I only have 1 primary and 3 secondarys so I should be fine once I transfer my DFH IPA.

Thanks for the advice.

Jay

 

[FlyGuy]

For a RIS with a gravity greater than 1.100, I don't think you want to mess with starters -- you are going to need a huge amount of yeast. The easiest thing to do would be to make one starter, then brew up your IPA, wait for it to finish fermenting, then rack/keg/bottle it and save the yeast from that batch. Wash it well and re-use that yeast as soon as possible in your RIS brew.

 

[discgolfin]

Thats what I thought,, but I read a lot about high gravity beers will stress the yeast out and this IPA has around 1.075 OG. I'm afraid of this problem?? what do you think?

AS far as washing if I do go that route..any good links online about this?

Thanks, Jay

 

[Drunkensatyr]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Yeast_washing

 

[discgolfin]

I saw that for harvesting..What do u think about using bottle water and than transfer to large jar before I add to my RIS. than clean the primary carboy, add the wort and than pitch the large jar of the yeast? Instead of doing the second step, and going through all the cleaning of multiple jars. I was thinking; add 1 gallon of bottle water, let it sit 2o minutes, transfer to a half gallon jug, than pitch..this should be a huge starter and should handle a RIS no prob.

thoughts?

Jay

 

[Drunkensatyr]

Easiest way in your case would be to grab some distilled water, pour it into the carboy and stir the yeast up a bit. Pour this into a large container that has been sterilized and stick it in the fridge. After an hour or so, decant off the liquid. If you have the patience to do this a few more times you will have much cleaner yeast.

 

[FlyGuy]

Thats what I thought,, but I read a lot about high gravity beers will stress the yeast out and this IPA has around 1.075 OG. I'm afraid of this problem?? what do you think?

Yeah, a gravity of 1.075 is really pushing it for re-using yeast. You will get fermentation with it, but it may stall before that big RIS ferments out completely.

You can still go the starter route, but it is going to have to be BIG. And you are going to have to step it up multiple times. Just make sure when you add new wort that it is in the 1.030 to 1.050 range, regardless of how big the brew will be.

If you had the time, I would seriously consider brewing a lower-gravity beer (say around 1.045) to build up a yeast cake large enough for your RIS. You might even get enough yeast from this brew to pitch into both your IPA and your RIS if you are lucky.

AS far as washing if I do go that route..any good links online about this?

Thanks, Jay

It is also posted as a sticky in this forum (check the link at the top).
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=41768

 

[discgolfin]

I think thats the route I want to go because I really wanted to make 2 big beers back to back that both use California ale yeast. I could get the starter going in a flask and up it to a 1/2 gallon starter..I think this would be good with enough airation and yeast nutrient for this sucker to take off and chew through the RIS. I will let u know how it goes..I think if I have the ability than starters would be the better way to go..

Jay

 

[sloppy]

If you had the time, I would seriously consider brewing a lower-gravity beer (say around 1.045) to build up a yeast cake large enough for your RIS.

I just did something like that. I had a yeast starter that I was going to use on a high-grav stout, and it just felt wasteful to only use it for one batch. But I didn't want to deal with washing. So I made a low-grav english bitter first. It got me a carboy of cheap beer that I know will get drunk, and a nice big cake that was able to ferment my stout with a lag time of less than 8 hours and finished in less than 2 days.

Cake reuse is awesome. Just think of your low-grav beers as really big starters that you get to drink.

 

[discgolfin]

I think I will take my chance with the DFH IPA at OG 1.075 and hope the yeast are not too stressed for my RIS. Worse case scenerio is that they do the same as a big starter. I have all the ingrediantes for these to and plan on washing the yeast cake and pitching..it should do fine hopefully..

Jay