Using Yeast Cake (trub) from Stout

[Shema2000]

A couple of questions, While brewing a chocolate stout, using Safale 04 dry yeast, I stored 1 mason jar (about 12 oz) of the trub to use in a later batch of beer, in the refrig. I didn't clean the yeast but just pour the trub from the bucket to the mason jar (sanitized of course) and stuck it in the frig. Can I use this as a viable source of yeast? Can I use this yeast for a porter (instead of another stout)?

 

[Sammy86]

I don't see why not...I would decant some of the trub and make a starter that way you wake up the yeast and get them going again.

 

[JonM]

Sure can. In fact, I have direct pitched dark black stout slurry from a freshly kegged stout into an IPA.

If it's more than a week or so old, I'll second using a starter to wake the yeast up.

And FWIW, I'm about to use a similar strain in a porter. It makes a darn fine porter.

 

[joshesmusica]

what was the OG of the stout? if it was very high, the yeast were likely under a lot of stress, and could potentially under-attenuate on the next batch. if it was pretty normal, like in the 1.050s or 1.060s, then it should be just fine to reuse.
i would highly recommend doing what they're calling a vitality starter though. it's basically a starter that you make in the morning on brew day. it's not enough time for yeast growth, but plenty of time for them to uptake lots of nutrients, which makes them ready to churn away at the new wort.

 

[Shema2000]

Awesome. Thanks all for the info.

 

[christyle]

I just did this in a stout I made wednesday, and I heartily second the starter. I direct pitched my 2-3 month old 400mL or so slurry and didn't get any activity for about 24 hours so I pitched some Notty instead. It probably would have taken off if given a few more days or a small starter first, but I figured I'd just get it going with Notty.

 

[Shema2000]

Thanks again! So, I want to be clear when I try to reuse this yeast. I have a mason jar of yeast, and will try to make a starter. But how do I start? I'm thinking I should not boil this trub, since it would kill the yeast. How do I get things going? As you can tell, this is my first time reusing the yeast from the trub.

 

[christyle]

Rough idea is 1000Ml water, boiled with 1 cup of DME for 5-15 minutes, then cool the mixture and add yeast as you would a small beer.

 

[Calder]

You don't have to make a starter. I usually don't. You can just pour off the liquid and pitch the solud part.

 

[joshesmusica]

you don't have to make a starter, but it's always good practice to do so. it ensures that the yeast is healthy and vital and ready to go. anybody who suggests otherwise is likely making mediocre beer on the norm.

 

[christyle]

I recently direct pitched slurry of London ale into my 1.08 stout with no real activity. I pitched the same amount of nearly 4 month old US-05 directly into an acidic, 1.04 berliner weisse yesterday afternoon and had decent krausen the next morning. It can take off fine, it might not. If you have DME and a day or so, I don't see a reason NOT to make a starter. It's up to you, i direct pitched because I was too lazy to make the starter and was unsure of my start date. I also wanted to see if it would work as an experiment of sorts.

 

[Calder]

you don't have to make a starter, but it's always good practice to do so. it ensures that the yeast is healthy and vital and ready to go. anybody who suggests otherwise is likely making mediocre beer on the norm.

There is no reason to make a starter if you are using recent well stored slurry. A number of well respected brewers on here do just that. I suspect many commercial breweries do the same.

 

[joshesmusica]

There is no reason to make a starter if you are using recent well stored slurry. A number of well respected brewers on here do just that. I suspect many commercial breweries do the same.

"recent"
"well-stored"

words that were not in your first post. all you said was you don't have to make a starter. there's no "as long as" attached to it.

many commercial breweries don't do it. many commercial breweries harvest at high krausen. even if they did do it, many commercial breweries have far better lab equipment than homebrewers. to compare the two is not even fair on most things at the homebrew scale.

either way, both of your posts are misleading any newer homebrewers reading this thread into poor yeast handling practices.

 

[brew703]

When in doubt make a starter. As someone mentioned, make at least a vitality starter.
I direct pitched US-05 slurry and it took about 8 hrs to start but at 24 hrs it was kicking and had to switch to a blow off tube.

 

[ol-hazza]

Dont do it, buy a new pack of yeast.

Or do it but use a starter.

Or just pitch it cold.

Safest option to highest risk, top to bottom right there.

I used to use the third option, messed up 2 batches, one not so bad, one full blown infection. Now I use the first option. Plenty of good batches besides those two though.