using a harvested yeast

[walker111]

Well a bit paranoid but nothing ventured nothing gained...
Brewing a double batch of an IPA this weekend and have 2 yeast starters going. One is a WLP 001 and the other is a harvested 1272. Never tried a harvested yeast yet and a bit worried but have to try.
It was nice and clean and sitting in the fridge in a mason jar with beer on top. Decanted most of the beer and added on stir plate to a 1 liter starter.
Should I go for it? Any unforeseen issues?
I log all my brews so time will tell.

 

[Kent88]

If you're confident in your sanitation process, go for it!

 

[soccerdad]

Process sounds fine. When was it harvested .. how long in the fridge?

 

[walker111]

Thanks guys. Very particular with all sanitizing . In fridge since Jan.20.

 

[flars]

Well a bit paranoid but nothing ventured nothing gained...
Brewing a double batch of an IPA this weekend and have 2 yeast starters going. One is a WLP 001 and the other is a harvested 1272. Never tried a harvested yeast yet and a bit worried but have to try.
It was nice and clean and sitting in the fridge in a mason jar with beer on top. Decanted most of the beer and added on stir plate to a 1 liter starter.
Should I go for it? Any unforeseen issues?
I log all my brews so time will tell.

Harvested yeast is very simple to use. You estimate how many viable cells you have and pitch into the appropriate volume of starter wort to propagate the number of cells you need for the OG of the beer being brewed. Same as opening a recently purchased pack of liquid yeast. I like to use a pitch rate/starter calculator to take some of the guess work out of it. I use this one for consistency. My notes about the brew will tell me if something about the pitch rate was off.
http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

 

[Morrey]

Well a bit paranoid but nothing ventured nothing gained...
Brewing a double batch of an IPA this weekend and have 2 yeast starters going. One is a WLP 001 and the other is a harvested 1272. Never tried a harvested yeast yet and a bit worried but have to try.
It was nice and clean and sitting in the fridge in a mason jar with beer on top. Decanted most of the beer and added on stir plate to a 1 liter starter.
Should I go for it? Any unforeseen issues?
I log all my brews so time will tell.

Couple of signs to look for: Since you are building a new starter from the old slurry, this revitalization process should form a krausen ring or foaming on top. Another way to make sure the starter is working (this is a mini-fermentation) is to check the SG and make sure it is dropping. If you started with 1.040 starter wort, if the yeast is alive and consuming sugars, the SG should be dropping.

 

[walker111]

Couple of signs to look for: Since you are building a new starter from the old slurry, this revitalization process should form a krausen ring or foaming on top. Another way to make sure the starter is working (this is a mini-fermentation) is to check the SG and make sure it is dropping. If you started with 1.040 starter wort, if the yeast is alive and consuming sugars, the SG should be dropping.

Thanks for that info guys. I bet it will turn out fine but time will tell. I split the batch into two carboys and with 2 yeasts and my notes I will have something to compare in about a month.

 

[Morrey]

Like your comment about keeping notes! If you make an awesome beer and want to replicate it in the future, it would be terrible to wonder....how did I do that? Notes are your friend!

 

[walker111]

Both carboys took right off but the harvested yeast started really quick. Blow off tube in both and they are so active.

 

[carloslavin]

For what it's worth, I save all of the slurry (yeast and plenty of trub, my biab bag isn't that great filtering) from previous batches in pint mason jars in the fridge.

Usually they end up compressing to a bit over 60% yeast+trub with the rest being liquid on top. I'm able to save around 6 pint jars per batch, and the decanted yeast/trub of two are more than enough straight-pitching into 6ish gallons of wort (so a bit over a pint of yeast/trub).

This seems to be plenty for very healthy fermentations, most of the times (if not always) I start seeing activity in the first 12 hours or so. No frills, no need for a starter. Only sanitizing the jars before saving the slurry on 'em (sometimes I boil them, sometimes it's just sanitizer).

I do get antsy on using them if they're over 4-5 months old. But the few times I've done it I haven't really seen negative results. And I only save slurry of batches that started under 1.06 and that haven't been dry hopped. Other than that this process has worked for years without any apparent issues.