Re Used Trub

[buttersd70]

The last packet of US05 I bought was October last year if I'm not mistaken. I'm almost at the end of the generation cycle now with two pitches left to bring it up to the sixth generation.. Now that's economy. Each whole yeast cake gets split into two, then two again after next brew and so on until I hit 6. So that's 12 or more brews from one packet of US05.

If you top crop as well, you can get 2 from the top and 2 from the bottom. Now thats economy. 1>4>16>64>256>1024=1365 batches. A bit of a ridiculous example, in a way. By the time you got around to using anywhere near that much yeast, the viability would be seriously compromised due to the length of the storage. But yes, reusing yeast is definately economical. Personally, I repitch probably 3 to 4 times...I normally reserve only enough from each batch for 2 new ones, but you can get more. so thats still 1>2>4>8=15 batches. Which is cheap, even for a liquid yeast. Now that I slant, I wouldn't even bother with that...just the first pitch (after reslanting from it), reserve enough for 2 more, then toss the lot, and start again. The possibilities are endless.

 

[big78sam]

OK so I have ANOTHER noob question. Butters, fergi etc are probably getting sick of answering my questions by now...

I recently did a pale ale with recultured coopers yeast and will rack off to a second fermenter today. I want to reuse the yeast cake and wanted to make sure the following is correct.

• Sterilize a pet bottle
• swirl the yeast cake (I dry hopped without a bag so just threw 5-10 grams of hops straight into the fermenter so I guess I'll have hops mized in with the yeast cake) and remaining litre or so of liquid around so I have a "slurry" (I guess this is what "slurry" means")
• Pick up 300ml of the slurry with the PET bottle, seal and put into the fridge
• Pitch this straight into the fermenter, after allowing to come back up to room temp, when my next batch is ready to go

Do I have to reculture with a LDME/water mixture before pitching next time? How long will this last in the fridge? Does the fermentation have to have completely finished before I bottle the yeast cake?

 

[Alby]

any answers for big Sam?..im interested in this too as having just got myself a fermentation fridge Im keen to take the next step and move beyond the kit yeasts (which get savaged on this forum) and see if I can notice a marked improvement...but I have never re-used a yeast before...always sprinkled a fresh packet. Whats the EASIEST way to do this...KISS, baby steps for me!

 

[flattop]

Thats the guts of it Sam, I usually use a 2 litre pet, stick the slurry in it (around a litre) and bang it in the fridge overnight, drain off the lighter liquid (around 500-600mls). Occasionally i downsize to a 1 litre pet as a medium step and add sterile water band in the fridge overnight, drain again then swill the rest of the yeast into a couple of stubbies top with sterile water and cap.
Brew day, bring to room temp and open (beware, if you bottle with too much beer they can gush).
I usually drain excess liquid before i pitch but i have pitched the whole thing sometimes.
Must you add ldme before pitching? No.
Can you? yes, some say it is too much culture shock (sic), i don't bother, the yeasty beasties are already awake at room temp and there is plenty of sugar in the fermenter.

How long will a culture last? months. Obviously the older they are the more they die off but up to 3 months is ok, personally mine rarely stay in the fridge that long.

Look at the end of the day if you want simple then pitch the yeast straight on the next brew.
Harvest the trub in a PET, wash and sterilize your fermenter and gear, prepare your new wort and throw the yeast in.
1) go from dark to light with trub, not vice versa
2) if you are pitching in the next few days i wouldn't bother transferring to stubbies just use pets and pour off the excess liquid.

 

[clarkey7]

I regularly use some of the yeast cake to start the next brew, but don't pitch directly onto the old cake. I much prefer to clean and sanitise the fermenter and tap first. As I often dry hop, the fermenter is an ugly looking crime scene after the primary fermentation.

Hi All,

I'm was planning on dumping my whole batch straight onto the previous one's yeast cake.....
I have done this before with success (had to fit a blow-off tube and turn fridge down a bit....and clean a bit of a mess up)......but the beer was great.

I have searched previous yeasty threads for the pearls of wisdom (there are plenty), but I have an unanswered question in my head.

Problem: this time the 1st beer is a violent fermentation....There is a large krausen ring around the top of the fermentor.

I'm worried that all this crud will end in the second beer........creating an off flavour.

Question: Has anyone had issues with this is the past?

I probably need most of the yeast cake as the 2nd beer is a 8% Dark Strong Belgian (Wyeast 1762 Belgain Abbey II)

I'm now thinking of doing what you describe Bribie..

Does this sound anout right? :unsure:

Sanitise new fermenter, rack off 1st beer to keg, tip cake from 1st beer into bottom of sanitised fermenter - while attempting to leave behind trub, vigorously pour 2nd beer on top of transfered cake to oxygenate and then seal her up.
All the usual precautions (blow off tube, set fridge to lower end of yeasts happy zone, keep a watchful eye etc..)

Cheers for any suggestions,

PB :icon_cheers:

 

[Bribie G]

I will be doing just that tomorrow. I have a Pale Ale made on Coopers bottle yeast that I'm going to keg and an Aussie Old in the cube ready to go.
When you get the beer off the yeast, check and see whether the sediment is sloppy or 'curdled' into a stiff cake. If the latter then have a kettle of boiled then cooled water handy to pour in and stir cake with a sterilized spoon into a liquid slurry and pitch that.
I don't know if I'd go the whole cake, about a third will do me. Also if you pour from fermenter 1 into fermenter 2 you probably only get about half of it anyway.

 

[clarkey7]

I will be doing just that tomorrow. I have a Pale Ale made on Coopers bottle yeast that I'm going to keg and an Aussie Old in the cube ready to go.
When you get the beer off the yeast, check and see whether the sediment is sloppy or 'curdled' into a stiff cake. If the latter then have a kettle of boiled then cooled water handy to pour in and stir cake with a sterilized spoon into a liquid slurry and pitch that.
I don't know if I'd go the whole cake, about a third will do me. Also if you pour from fermenter 1 into fermenter 2 you probably only get about half of it anyway.

Thanks Bribie,

Yeah, I know I'm not supposed to overpitch......but the yeast is going to have a hard time chewing through the next wort. I want it to get the job done.

Half is probably about right to allow some growth before the explosion...so I'll go for that.

PB :beer:

 

[Bribie G]

.................I want it to get the job done.

...........................

PB :beer:

Same here, like before the fourth week in July

 

[clarkey7]

Same here, like before the fourth week in July

Yep Bribie. The comp is good motivation, but I meant to complete attenuation of such a big beer. At least that's the story I'm sticking too.

Update - I just checked on the first beer and yeast was leaping out of the airlock...

Just fitted a blow-off tube into a jug of santiser.....

One is attempting to imagine what would happen if I just pitched the next beer straight on top........

Kaboom......View attachment kaboom.bmp

PB

 

[raven19]

PB, In your case definately clean the fermentor, and I think you will find a small amount (a few tablespoons to half a cup) of trub will be more than enough to get it going in time. You want the yeast to grow and multiply before going into full on fermentation mode.

You can always go to a darker style wort/beer with your reused yeast.

Go for it and post results and your thoughts when ready to drink! :icon_cheers:

 

[DR.RELAX]

hi all,

wow i think ive been doing things a bit wrong cos i always pitch onto the full yeastcake,no cleaning ,just one old out, new one in and i have noticed on a couple of my bigger beers(usually pitched on the 3rd cake) a bit of a funny taste.i dont think its an infection,no bitter or sour flavours but theres something going on .. possibly autolysis??

can anyone describe the off flavours autolysis gives?

rob

 

[felten]

doesn't exactly describe them, but it sounds nasty

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-3.html

 

[db73]

PB, In your case definately clean the fermentor, and I think you will find a small amount (a few tablespoons to half a cup) of trub will be more than enough to get it going in time. You want the yeast to grow and multiply before going into full on fermentation mode.

Interesting. I have also just put a coopers pale ale made with recultured yeast from coopers stubbies, to keg. I have saved the slurry (probably about a stubbie full) from the bottom and put it into a pet bottle into the fridge two days ago. Now there is about an inch of wort/beer on top of the slurry. Would it be ok to tip the wort/beer from the top out and use about half the slurry to pitch into my next CPA, saving the other half for my next brew or should I be doing something else?

Thanks

Dave

 

[pmolou]

iv just skim read the whole thread but i kinda like the idea of re-pitching onto the whole yeast cake multiple times and seeing if my yeast gets a 'house character' going to try it for at least 6 times

 

[clarkey7]

PB, In your case definately clean the fermentor, and I think you will find a small amount (a few tablespoons to half a cup) of trub will be more than enough to get it going in time. You want the yeast to grow and multiply before going into full on fermentation mode.

You can always go to a darker style wort/beer with your reused yeast.

Go for it and post results and your thoughts when ready to drink! :icon_cheers:

Drinking the 1st beer now (crash chilled a bottle outta fermeter and force carbonated)...very happy with how it tastes and smells.

Used half the cake in the sanitised fermenter with the next beer.

Will let you know in 10 days or so how that one tastes...Hopefully I won't be posting a picture of my fermentation fridge missing a door tomorrow

PB

 

[clarkey7]

Results:

In this instance with a healthy #1 fermentation, half the yeast cake was too much (cleaning up wise anyway) - even for a 1071 OG beer.

I awoke one morning to a yeasty smell coming from the garage......there was a pool of yeast outside the fridge door. The blow-off tube had blown out of the jug and was squirting yeast everywhere.

Quite a mess.

I had to empty yeast out of the jug of sanitiser 4 times over the next 3 days.....

Long story, but final #2 Beer was bloody fantastic........conditioned and tasting good now.

PB :beerbang: