So I have a raging fermenter that collected a great deal of yeast into the pitcher of Star San. I also have some bottles of an imperial stout that never carbonated after nearly a year. Could I use the yeast "slurry" from my blow off pitcher to eyedrop into my uncarbonated bottles. (About six months ago I put a carbonation drop into each bottle in case it needed more sugar or if I fogot the sugar. Being that still still didnt carbonate, it has to be that there wasnt enough yeast in suspension). Being that I am going to add yeast, can I use this slurry? Does the Starsan hurt the yeast? Thoughts?
Using blow off yeast
- Thread starter rrayriver
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How much actual yeast/beer got in there? I imagine that it probably wasn't a huge amount compared to the StarSan. If that's the case the yeast might not be especially happy. If your pitcher was only 1/4th full at start and is now overflowing with yeast you might be ok. Why not get a pack of US-05 or similar to add to the bottles instead? Or try harvesting some of the slurry from the bottom of your current beer after you rack it?
There's a thread on this site by a guy who used the blow-off yeast in another batch successfully. The starsan didn't hurt it. And I just read an article on yeast washing (Chris White, I think) that states that yeast from the top is better than trub, being all alive.
I haven't tried it, and your mileage may vary. I would try it in a few bottles and see. Report how it goes please.
I haven't tried it, and your mileage may vary. I would try it in a few bottles and see. Report how it goes please.
I posed the same question to White Labs support and this was their response:
I would recommend using yeast from the bottom of the primary fermenter rather than yeast that has sat in StarSan for a week. StarSan is designed to kill microorganisms including wild yeast, so it will probably do the same to brewer's yeast, while the yeast at the bottom of your fermenter will be in much better shape. I've often thought of doing what you propose for some of my beers that don't carbonate correctly, so you'll have to let me know how it works.
When harvesting yeast, you should probably do a quick rinse first so you're getting good yeast rather than trub material. There are procedures on the web on how to do that, but it is pretty simple.
Good luck and happy brewing!
I would recommend using yeast from the bottom of the primary fermenter rather than yeast that has sat in StarSan for a week. StarSan is designed to kill microorganisms including wild yeast, so it will probably do the same to brewer's yeast, while the yeast at the bottom of your fermenter will be in much better shape. I've often thought of doing what you propose for some of my beers that don't carbonate correctly, so you'll have to let me know how it works.
When harvesting yeast, you should probably do a quick rinse first so you're getting good yeast rather than trub material. There are procedures on the web on how to do that, but it is pretty simple.
Good luck and happy brewing!
EarlyAmateurZymurgist
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Blow-off yeast can be reused if handled properly; however, I wouldn't use yeast that spent a week in Star San.
Contrary to what you will read on this forum, there is zero benefit from rinsing yeast with boiled water. I wish that amateur brewers would stop promoting this non-science-based practice. No professional brewer rinses his/her cropped yeast with boiled tap water. The only thing that rinsing yeast with boiled water does is invite infection. The best time to separate the yeast from the break and the beer is shortly before pitching the yeast into a new batch of wort. One can perform this step at pitching time by replacement in the liquid fraction (a.k.a. the supernatant) of the crop with fresh wort and swirling the contents into suspension. One can also replace the liquid fraction of the crop with fresh wort twelve to twenty-four hours ahead of time, and the yeast will be in suspension when it comes time to pitch. The later method has the advantage of allowing a brewer to "proof" his/her culture.
Contrary to what you will read on this forum, there is zero benefit from rinsing yeast with boiled water. I wish that amateur brewers would stop promoting this non-science-based practice. No professional brewer rinses his/her cropped yeast with boiled tap water. The only thing that rinsing yeast with boiled water does is invite infection. The best time to separate the yeast from the break and the beer is shortly before pitching the yeast into a new batch of wort. One can perform this step at pitching time by replacement in the liquid fraction (a.k.a. the supernatant) of the crop with fresh wort and swirling the contents into suspension. One can also replace the liquid fraction of the crop with fresh wort twelve to twenty-four hours ahead of time, and the yeast will be in suspension when it comes time to pitch. The later method has the advantage of allowing a brewer to "proof" his/her culture.
houndsbreath
Well-Known Member
EarlyAmateurZymurgist said:
Can you elaborate on this or put in laymens terms for us?
I think you're saying to make some wort (I assume at a low gravity, like a starter, around 1.040), add it to the mixed yeast / trub and let it begin to ferment. Then decant and pitch the liquid into a batch of beer.
I can see the reasoning: This should result in healthy yeast in suspension of the "starter" and thereby separate out healthy yeast from trub.
I don't have any advice on your stout but this is what I came up with so I could capture the blow out yeast in a sanitary way. The foam collects in the empty jar that has been sanitized with starsan. This way the yeast doesn't sit in starsan. I've wanted to try this since I heard that a lot of breweries take the top yeast because it's suppose to be better and there is always a lot of yeast in the bottom of the blow out bucket. This is the first time I've done this so I don't know how it will do.
It looks good. Let us know how it works.
This fermentation has really taken off and is blowing lots of foam. So the first problem I had was the foam was falling into the jar from the top and piled up quickly and began blowing thru the airlock. So I added another tube on the inside of the jar so the foam is pushed thru the now forming layer of beer. This helped for a while but as the beer level rises eventually the foam was building faster then it could dissipate. I switched to a 2-quart jar so it can handle more foam. I also switched the airlock to another blow out tube so I don't have to worry about it overflowing. I ended up with 500ml of beer and yeast in the first jar. It is visibly fermenting so I put an airlock on that lid also. Once the first jar is done fermenting I think I will put in the fridge and treat it like I got it from the slurry of a carboy
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Geeeeez...Here was my afternoon dilemma. Brewed an IIPA and only had a stopper and airlock when I closed up the fermenter. Guess I'm doing an open fermentation for now...
william_shakes_beer
Well-Known Member
Gee... didn't know you could use a sponge as an airlock 
So after I refrigerated all of what I got from the blow off I decanted the remaining beer. Then I added boiled and cooled water so I could get it all into one jar. Mixed it up and returned to the fridge. The picture is 1 day later and it took anther 1or 2 days to completely clear and all drop to the bottom. It was the cleanest and most compact yeast I've ever recovered from my brewing. It looked just like what the white labs yeast vials look like. There was no trub at all. I decanted that water and added to a starter. 2 hours after adding it to the 1.5L starter I checked on it and it was already at high krausen. I've never had anything take off that fast. I probably didn't need a starter since this yeast is so healthy. I'll probably pitch it if I brew on Monday.
Good report, thanks!
