Re Using Yeast

[levin_ae92]

Hi all,

I had a thought today about re using the yeast cake from my fermenter. Would it possible to, once I've bottled a batch and have about 1L remaining in the bottom, to swirl the fermenter to get all of the cake suspended again, bottle into a sanitised bottle, and re pitch this into another batch?

Cheers, Colby

 

[Sammus]

tis what I used to do, should be sweet. Don't want to wait too long before repitching, and the same rules apply as dropping straight onto the cake (ie using the yeast for stronger darker wort than from where it came is OK, not but not the other way round).

If you're willing to put in the effort you can 'wash' the crap (trub and old beer) from the yeast relatively easily, there's a sticky in the common ground section I think.

 

[manticle]

Absoloutely. It's done all the time.

The way I do it is to add some boiled cooled water, swirl gently, then tap off into some cleaned sanitised bottles, cap and put them in the fridge till you are ready to make a starter.

There are more complicated procedures which involve washing the yeast and I suggest you read up on them so you can make an informed decision as to your own processes. Basically though you need to ensure everything is santitised (and obviously clean beforehand). I fill my bottles about halfway. You may also want to look into schott bottles or other smaller vessels as the bottles take up a bit of room. Small vessels may require earlier starters.

You can also scoop of some of the krausen during high ferment in the primary. This is known as top cropping and the yeast you are grabbing is generally very healthy. I use a similar process to harvesting slurry - I use a sanitised spoon to scoop the yeast into a funnel which flows into a bottle. Boiled, cooled water is used to either mix with the yeast in the bottle or to help the thick slurry flow into the bottle from the funnel. Caution needs to be taken with cleanliness and hygien etc.

When making a starter from any of these methods, makes sure the yeast smells as it should. Familiarise yourself with the expected smell and don't use anything that doesn't meet your expectations.