For uk ale yeast it works well, and is very healthy. Also, no trub from the bottom of the fermentor. Half a cup of top cropped yeast pitched fresh is plenty. It "seems" to carry over yeast flavours better too ( esters etc). I can't say for other yeast strains as I usually do it for the uk strains.
Easy Yeast Top Cropping
- Thread starter Wolfy
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Yes kind of. The big thick yeasty foam on top of fermenting beer is super healthy yeast, without a lot of crap that falls to the bottom. You don't need a lot, and if you have a sanitised ladle ( i use ss ), you scoop some out, and you can pitch straight into another beer. I dump into a sanitised jar ( one fermentor ), then when the previous batch is done, take it out of the fridge, dump into the fermentor, and splash the new wort on top. It gets going quickly, and i think that more yeast character goes through to the beer, compared to pitching onto a whole yeast cake. You can also keep in the jar, and if you don't use straight away, make a starter with it next time.
Some strains are more suited to it than others. Some of the UK strains get a really thick, tan coloured creamy mousse like krausen. This is the goods!.
Some strains are more suited to it than others. Some of the UK strains get a really thick, tan coloured creamy mousse like krausen. This is the goods!.
Yeah a nice way of getting your yeast cost down and kicking off a fermentation with not too much effort at all provided your sanitation skills are good. I still get nervous doing it though as the risk/cost of infecting a batch costs a lot more than a smack pack or dry sachet of yeast.
Righto, so could you crop some yeast into sanitised jar with pre- boiled water in it, then put it in the fridge, wait 3 weeks for your primary to be free then create a starter and pitch into another brew a week after that. How long will the cropped yeast last in a sanitised jar? Cheers.
Top cropping without opening the fermenter:
Pic shows fermenter screw on lid with grommets installed, cut down bottling wand tubes inserted into the grommets. Preserving jars come with tough durable snap-lids.
eg. bought mine as single items at Magnet Mart. (I use a larger jar now...)
Cheers
Nick JD
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It's easier just to split the pack of yeast into 3 or 4 lots, store them and make a starter from them when you need. The advantage of top cropping is it's ready to pitch.
Nick, I didn't reply to this one earlier as I didn't really understand it until your last post above.
For me it was really just a chance to have a go at something new with the yeast as I was planning a blow off tube anyway. It didn't really work that first time with all the bungs popping so I'll have to wash and store some slurry from this batch to ensure I keep a sample of the strain. This batch was the last of the 4 way split from my original smack pack.
