I Think I May Have A Problem With My Yeast...

[gibbocore]

Ok, i'll go through the process that got me to where i am now...

Using wyeast american ale I

I racked off my ale in to a keg, swirled the yeast cake in the bottom of the fermenter and poured it into a sanitized pyrex jug/bowl. and then poured this into my yeast container, wich is a sanitized 2L Juice bottle. I then fridge this so i can get the beer off it ready to set the cake and pour some starter liquid on top whe i'm ready to brew again.

Now whats happened after about 2-3 weeks in the fridge (brewing hiatus) is that its blown up like a baloon and the beer on top has gone hazy, and after letting some of the gas out, which smells perfectly fine. Little spikes started to shoot up from the yeast cake, like it was still releasing co2. Is it possible that the fridge door was left open long enough (this did happen after putting a pizza box in the fridge that was to big) for some residual fermentation to take place, even at those cold temps and the pressure has kept the yeast in some sort of suspension?

I've let most of the gas out now, so i'll leave it to chill again and report back. It would be a shame to loose this yeast as its about 250Ml of slurry.

 

[gap]

Yeast will still ferment ,very slowly,at low temperatures as long as it has sugars to work on.

 

[gibbocore]

hmmm perhaps my beer wasnt finished :unsure:

 

[Screwtop]

Boil some (not knowing how much yeastcake you have, but about tripple the volume of yeast in the bottom of your bottle) water and let it cool, remove your yeast from the fridge pour off the beer and let it come to room temp. Pour in the cooled boiled water and shake then back in the fridge. It's fine to store it this way for a few months. For longer life and yeast in better nick, wash it, after it has settled out you should be able to see a darker layer of "crud" at the bottom of the yeastcake. Pour off the water then pour the layer of yeast into more cooled boiled water, discard the layer of "crud" left behind. Washing can be repeated if there is still more "crud" this increases storage life. If you want to store it for longer periods use saline solution (cheap as from the chemist).for the final wash and store it under the saline solution.

 

[gibbocore]

Aweosme, if it settles back out, i'll be doing this.

 

[Screwtop]

Aweosme, if it settles back out, i'll be doing this.

Put it to sleep, drop the temp if you can, (1C) it'll drop.

 

[gibbocore]

it seems to be still fermenting, at 4 degrees, after letting the pressure off i have a krausen. Super yeast!!!

i'll put it in the brew fridge and get it to 1 degree.