Yeast Harvesting

[Mike Neilson]

Ok I have just ordered and picked up all the parts I need for my stir plate and 15 test tubes. My thinking is I should start Harvesting Yeast. Is my thinking correct about harvesting yeast? If I have a wyeast smack pack, can I split these up into say 5 equal test tubes and seal them off, when I am ready to make a starter, I just start with a five hundred mls starter, then after 24 hrs increase this by adding an additional 500mls to the flask and then so on untill I hit my desired yeast count as per say Mr Malty? Did I even make sense? what do you guys do to make your Wyeast go alittle further than 1 batch?

[studio1]

it's going in the garage down below at the mo and I can hear it rattling away - just. Door is open

[James P]

I'll stick with my stir-toolbox combo this time, but damn that is a great price!

[MrC]

Hopefully I've added this question is the right place, Ning doesn't seem to want to navigate in accordance with the text on the buttons at the moment.

Anyway, this question has probably already been asked somewhere but...

Is it OK to wash and store yeast from a fermentation that has been dry hopped? Anyone done this successfully?

[Mike Neilson]

I havnt washed nor reused, I couldnt see to much of a problem as long as you get the stuff out, I would be more worried about the hop oils still in the yeast as when you wash you allways collect the thin stuff after settling and the oils would of floated to the top of it, but then again it would of floated to the top of beer as well???. I suppose if you dry hoped with 1 - 1.5g a litre it wouldnt be that bigger major, but imagine a 150g dry hop per 20L imagine hop much oil would be in there still.

Im finding at the moment the best way for me to harvest yeast at the moment is to make a 4L starter or 1.5L more than I need to ferment with, Once attenuated I just scab the 50-80mls of yeast from that and pitch the rest, than do the same with the 50-80mls I have scabed from the last starter. That way its reasonably fresh and has never done a full beer ferment.

[denimglen]

I did this with some 1056. Although it wasn't a massive dry hop, maybe 15 - 30g for 20L.

If you're worried, wash it, split it up into jars and then treat each jar like a smackpack/vial and make a starter with it. That way you're growing up fresh yeast that won't have been effected by the hop oils.

[Dale]

Hey guys, just started listening to the podcasts on the Brew Network and they were talking about yeast storage in the fridge. Jamil said that he would store harvested yeast 3 months max in the fridge before dumping and for wheat yeast after only a couple of weeks. So was just wondering what you guys do.

[denimglen]

Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze.

[warra48]

I'm not sure Jamil is talking about yeast which has been washed. I've just brewed a Hefeweizen today, and pitched a starter built up from a test tube kept from an original starter I used back in December 2009, the same method mentioned by Mike Neilson and denimglen. The fresh starter I made grew just fine.

If he is talking about unwashed trub from the fermenter, then I'd agree with him.

[Dale]

I have got frozen one's too Glen but just started to wonder how long people keep using their fridge version before getting another vial out of the freezer or buying another smack pack. Warra48 to me it sounded like he was talking about rinsed yeast it just sounded way too short a life.

[denimglen]

Oh yup.

In that case, I can't really help, but -

I don't really bother keeping slurry in the fridge for extended amounts of time because probably 80% of my beers use cal ale which I'll repitch from batch to batch. I'll wash it if I'm not using it the same or next day, otherwise I'll direct pitch slurry if it looks clean enough. Max time in the fridge for washed slurry for me is about two weeks before it gets used.

Otherwise, I dump the slurry and make a new starter each time. I get about 7 vials from a smackpack/WLvial so that's usually enough to last me for ages. My frozen yeast usually loose all useable viability before I finish the seven vials so making a new one each time doesn't worry me too much.

I wouldn't dump yeast after 3 months but I'd definitely make a starter before using it.

I tried to keep yeast in the fridge for a while but most of it never got used and I worried about contamination too much so I switched back to making starters from new vials.

[Tilt]

A query for those more experienced yeast harvesters out there. I have a jar of 3 month old washed slurry in the fridge. It looks like it's grown somehing dodgy - check out the photo with those "tumbleweed bubbles" hanging about.

Has anyone seen this sort of thing before? Is this some sort of infection? Its no drama to chuck it out and start again but I'm curious - could this be reused if I build up a starter?

[studio1]

I haven't seen this before - I would get something fresh personally - too many bad batches from dodgy yeast. But, you could grow a starter right out and see what the resulting 'beer' tastes like.