Washing and reusing WLP099

[Imperial1]

I have read that it is not a good idea to wash and reuse yeast from high OG beers. I brewed and Englishbarley wine using a combination of Safbrew Abbaye, WLP002 and WLP 099. I expect that the Safbrew and WLP002 were killed off by the high alcohol levels (16%) but as the WLP099 can handle up to 25% I'm wondering if it is possible/advisable to wash the yeast cake and reuse? Anybody have any experience/advice on this?

 

[daksin]

It is indeed a bad idea to reuse yeast from high gravity beers- they've been exposed to high alcohol and low pH for a long time and are not particularly healthy. They may have also mutated a bit to produce less than happy flavors. I'd skip it. Yeast don't die in your beer (unless you get cell lysis, which tastes like meat, soy sauce, or burnt rubber), they just go dormant when the alcohol is too high or the pH is too low, or if there aren't any nutrients left in your beer.

 

[Snicklefritz]

I use WLP099 but what i do is overbuild my starter by 100 billion. Then, I'll pour off some of that starter to use next time. Has worked well for me. I would think that since this yeast can handle higher ABV it might be safer to re-use than some others but I still don't know that I'd recommend it.

 

[Imperial1]

Thanks - good advice.

 

[Hujo]

A lot of breweries reuse yeast from their high gravity beers. The only problem is if it's been in contact with the high ABV for a long time, then you'll have lower viability. I think user Woodlandbrew or similar has a chart on his blog with stats, look it up!

 

[Hujo]

And the pH-value of a non-sour beer is rarely an issue, as far as I know.