Yeast cake?

[nevinsp]

I just bottled my first batch of Belgian Ale and wondering what to do with the yeast cake. Surfing this site a few remarks comment on reuse? I would hate to toss it if it can be used. Any suggestions?

 

[JonM]

You can do a yeast wash https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/

Or you can just keep it simple and pour the cake into sanitized beer bottled and cap them, which is what I do.

 

[flars]

For the immediate leave it covered so you don't pick up an infection from wild yeast.
Add a quart of boiled and cooled water, swirl it all up, and pour into a sanitized container for refrigeration.
While it is in the frig look up the stickie on yeast rinsing/washing. Lot of opinions on how to reuse the yeast by rinsing/washing or using the entire yeast/trub mix.

 

[mrphillips]

Just get a sterile funnel and slowly pour your leftover beer into a sterile bell jar. Try to get as little trub as possible in the jar, but it wont hurt anything if you do. After a week, you'll see a thick, darker brown layer of trub on the bottom, and a thin, lighter layer on top of this. This lighter layer is your yeast. Carefully pour the contense of the jar into another sterile jar, being careful not to slosh around the original jar when transfering it. Again, try to keep the darker trub out of the second container. Do this every 7 days until all you have is the light sediment (your yeast) on the bottom.

This is a condensed version, and there is a very nice thread on this site with pictures to show the whole process. Happy Homebrewing!

 

[mrphillips]

Oops, someone beat me to it! That link is how I learned to wash my yeast.

 

[nevinsp]

Thanks for the info!

 

[nevinsp]

Hopefully this works!

 

[mrphillips]

Looks good to me! Post up some new picks after it all settles out.

 

[nevinsp]

Will do!

 

[nevinsp]

After a few hours of separation. 3 distinct layers.

 

[mrphillips]

looks good so far. You'll be really impressed with how clear it gets in another day or so.

 

[adamdillabo]

What you really want is what's still floating around. That's your live yeast.

I add about 1/2 gallon of boiled and cooled water in to my fermenter. Then let it sit to get the heaviest partials out.
The left is a 64 oz jar. That's where my tub went in to. When it starts looking like yours I poor that into the second sterilized jar on the right. That goes into the fridge till it clears. Then poor that off and top off with more clean water. There's still a lot of yeast ontop of the one on the left but its ok to leave some and just transfer the healthiest yeast.