Yeast Culturing and false bottoms...

[cylered16]

2 questions:

1. Culturing yeast...

I'm making a Pils and I bought this yeast:
Czech Pils Lager Activator Wyeast ACT2278 (4.25oz.)

I was wondering if this schedule seems ok...

1. Activated yeast, let sit for 24 hours (swelled)
2. Made a wort: 1/2 cup of Light DME in 1/2 quart of water (boiled 10 minutes)
3. Mixed together, shaked gently without mess and let sit for 24 hours in an old 6 quart juice container with an airlock.
4. Repeated 2 and 3.
5. Placed in refrigerator for 8 hours to settle yeast and poured off wort.
6. Repeated 2 and 3.

I'm up to this point and I was wondering how many times can I safely do this?

2. False bottom...

I just bought a 10 gallon igloo cooler and was wondering if my old 9" false bottom for my 5 gallon igloo will be okay to use. It would save me about $40. Will this work out okay?

 

[brewjunky]

Your only problem might be grain getting behind the false bottom because of the size difference.

If I was you I's go to home depot and for 7 dollars make a stainless braid from a sink faucet hose.

 

[killian]

do you batch or fly sparge?

 

[cylered16]

I'm going to batch sparge.
I would like to fly sparge...any good methods if I don't have the proper equipment, yet?

 

[cylered16]

I'm going to batch sparge.

Also, does my yeast growing cycle work?
Will there be any detriment for doing this?
I am noticing a sufficient level of growth after each cycle with a thicker depth of yeast cake each time. (Up to almost a 1/2 inch of cake)

 

[Tlylebrew]

On my starters I typically use 1/2 cup DME to 1L/1q of water. You may want to check your gravity. Have it between 1.035 and 1.045.. Or so I have read.

 

[cylered16]

That didn't answer my question.
My gravity has averaged around 1.045 for each amount of starter wort.
Again, my question is:
Can I produce a plentiful amount of yeast using the cycle I mentioned above?
Which involved adding a 1/2 quart of starter wort every 24 hours until the container is nearly full.
After nearly filling, the following day place the wort in the fridge and let the yeast settle.
After settling, pour the old wort off and replace with a fresh batch of new wort.
Repeat this cycle.
Is this okay to do???

 

[jkpq45]

Seems like a fine plan. Just like pouring a new batch onto an old yeast cake. You're "overpitching" the beer you're making in your flask, so your beer might not taste very good....

But you're not making beer in your flask, are you? Sounds to me like the goal is making yeast. And you're doing it successfully. Time to ditch the airlock, though--yeast need oxygen to reproduce happily.

 

[cylered16]

Yeah, I'm definitely not making beer in my juice container, haha.
Thanks for answering my question jkpg45, I'll ditch the airlock and see how that goes.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Cover the container with sanitized aluminum foil.

You don't need any special equipment for fly sparging. Just maintain an inch of water above the grain bed and drain slowly into you bk. I think it is way easier than batch sparging.