Question On Yeast Starters

[teodeh]

so, done a few AG's and so far, so good.

Last weekend I tried the "Montheiths Origional Ale Clone" from the recipeDB and used the burton yeast as directed.

When I did the brew, I used a yeast starter in a flask (mmm, glassware...) in order to get better yeast.

Since I only used half the grains I bought, I pitched almost all the yeast from the starter but put a little of it back into the test tube shaped thingy that the yeasties came in.

My question is: If I am doing another batch next weekend (this batch is coming out of primary in an hour or so) should I make a new starter from the little bit of left-over starter which has been stored in the house fridge at 2-4C, or should I culture a yeast batch from the yeast cake at the bottom of the primary fermenter? Or does it really not matter either which way?

Thanks in advance,
-t

 

[manticle]

You can do either.

The small amount will be generation 0 with no mutations and pretty much the same as the other stuff you've already used (depending on how you treat it).

You will need to build it up, preferably in small steps.

The slurry/yeast cake post ferment will contain protein and other debris from fermentation like hop sludge. You can wash this, gather some and let it separate and use only the yeast layer or use as is, knowing that the third is less than perfect practice. You can also pitch directly onto the cake but for various reasons I wouldn't recommend this. If it's a super high gravity beer you are harvesting from, the yeast may not be in the best shape. It's often recommended not to pitch from a darker beer into a lighter one. See for yourself if that is true for your beer (and by dark to light I mean significantly so, so from stout into pils for example, not pils into helles).

Both have recommended processes to follow, both have risks and both have pros and cons. You can ignore all processes (or some) and still ferment beer but better beer will most likely come from following recommended practice as closely as possible.

Look up stepping up from slants, acid washing, pitching on yeast cake and pitching slurry.

In both instances, you will need to calculate approximately how much yeast to use or build.

 

[mwd]

I would grab about 500ml of yeastcake from your Primary and go with that. I suspect the small amount you have in the test tube would need considerable steping up in starters to get a decent amount of active yeast. No point wasting good yeast harvest the primary.

 

[teodeh]

Thanks... Looks like I have (more) reading to do

 

[Wolfy]

You could do both - as manticle explained.
However, since you already have a nice supply of what should be fairly healthy yeast, I'd rinse the yeast-cake from your current batch as per the info here:
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=55409