What do you do with your used/spent yeast?

[Stevol]

I hate to waste anything and I like brewing my own because I think it's an environmentally friendly way of consuming alcohol, tasty too
I always feel guilty tipping my yeast friends down the drain, I'm hoping they will find some nice stuff to feast on down there.
Do you think they would survive in the drains or should I put them in the garden, maybe make some food for my animal friends. Any suggestions would be cool.
Just a bloke trying to do good

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

Many many moons ago, before yeast nutrients and high quality malts, I would harvest yeast post fermentation, cold crash for a week, then decant. The next brew day I would add my yeast slurry to the boil pot. It gave the (sketchy) kit yeast some nutrients for the fermentation.

I have not done this in 15 years or so.

I no longer even harvest yeast post fermentation. I just over build starters, then transfer a 1/2 liter to a sanitized mason jar prior to cold crash.

I now empty my spent grains in to garden, until there gets to be too many, or make dog treats. Yeast slurry always gets dumped in to garden now, unless I plan on using yeast cake for a high ABV brew.

 

[Hammy71]

I have a septic system....so the yeasties go down the drain. Rumor is they help, and if they don't....oh well.

 

[kh54s10]

If I don't reuse the yeast, it just goes down the drain. Until I moved recently I had a septic system. I hoped that it helped break down the waste.. Now it goes into the cities waste system. Never worried too much about the yeasties.

 

[GPP33]

Mine goes down the drain too. I know it’s valuable but haven’t tried harvesting yet.

I’d love to know why you think Home brewing is more environmentally friendly. I’d actually argue to opposite.

 

[PADave]

Mine get dumped in the tree line at the edge of the yard, along with the spent grains.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

<if lang=en-gb>
You can make your own Marmite....
</>

(sometimes I keep some yeast back for the next brew, mostly it enters the septic tank. I keep meaning to save some for boiling up in starters and agar plates, and I do like Marmite but haven't made it yet.....)

 

[JimRausch]

I use yeast for usually 3 batches, each successive one a higher gravity than before (ex. Vienna->Marzen->Bock). Then I toss them. Usually onto my hop plants, sometimes onto the compost pile where all the spent grain goes. Add a little lime to the compost pile, and it sure keeps the worms happy! And the garden eventually.

 

[seatazzz]

If the brew was a good one, I'll save the slurry for the next brew. If it's not spectacular or something I don't want to use again I dump it in the toilet before washing the fermenter in the bathtub. I have some wooden bins in the yard that I'm planning on using for compost in the spring, once those are set up the yeast and the spent grains will go there.

 

[Smellyglove]

I do the same as JimRausch. I start with a fresh pack of yeast, overbuild it so I get two parallel stems going, then I usually do three batches from each of them, then toss it. For my simpler/not so serious ales I use dry yeast and just drain it after that batch is done.

 

[brewcat]

Compost.