Reusing US-05

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

damoninja

Well-Known Member
Joined
9/9/13
Messages
1,380
Reaction score
319
Hi everyone.

I'm planning on brewing an IPA this weekend with a starting gravity around 1.070, I've currently got a finished beer sitting on US-05 that I'm dry hopping and crashing Thursday evening to bottle Sunday.

I'm planning on re-using the US-05 that I've currently got going, but was wondering if I'm OK to:
  • Dump right onto the yeast cake (some say OK, some say dumb)
  • Wash it, pitch it
  • Wash it, make a starter, pitch it
I know a starter is probably technically the best option, but I just want to know what will work and what the impacts of each could be.

I don't care if it's a "waste of time" re-using US-05, it's an exercise and $5 in an all grain brew is enough to want to save the money on it.
 
I often reuse packet yeasts as I have to get most of mine online, so it's a convenience thing rather than a cost saver.

After bottling, if you swish the yeast cake around till it's a cream consistency and fill a bottle with it you will have heaps to pitch. Dumping onto the yeast cake can work - I do this with my ciders, but with ales you can end up overpitching and getting a runaway fermentation, especially with a strong wort. The major characteristics of the beer are formed in the first few days. Also it's nice to start anew with a spotless sanitised fermenter. Personally I don't bother with the washing method if it's a similar style of beer.
 
I've done the exactly the same thing as you mention, now if I'm reusing the whole cake I will dry hop with a hop bag so I don't leave the hop slop on the cake. Once I had a fermentation flavour which I put down to too much yeast, too quick, as I did a 1.050 on the cake.
 
I always re-use my yeast cakes multiple times. I used to wash them etc, but there is minimal difference in the final product. I would keep about almost 2/3 of the yeast cake if pitching a 1.070 beer.
 
Draw off a cup of yeast slurry, keep that in the fridge if need be for a few days max and then just chuck that in, saves overpitching issues, plus you can give the fermenter a fresh clean/sanitise
 
Also US05 is pretty good repitched. For some reason the 2nd pitch always tastes better... maybe it's a bit cleaner due to not as much yeast growth?
 
Awesome. I was thinking of just adding some water and reducing the volume down to maybe 1/2 to 2/3.

Thanks guys.
 
I reuse US05 although it is cheap enough to buy. I agree it seems to get better after the first use. Don't usually go past 6 reuses though as I read somewhere it tends to mutate and is not so good. Don't know how the commercials go on though using the same yeast for years.
 
I thought it was recommended practice to dry hop in secondary and reuse yeast from the primary ferment.

Perhaps that explains why homebrewers are unable to get more than half a dozen reuses from their yeast.
 
I had heard that anything past the 4th Generation of yeast started to be unpredictable.

The Commercials manage their yeast in Labs, and reculture their yeast from Petri Dishes.

On the home side of things, you can get quite a number of uses out of a single, original pitch of yeast.

I have been able to wash four batches of yeast from the one yeast cake. Even if you conservatively say that you get three, You start with 1, then 3, then 9, and finally 27 on your fourth generation.

So theoretically, it is possible to get 40 brews from one pitch of Yeast.

I heard Jamil Zainasheff on Brew Strong say that they like to get 10 batches from the one pitch at Heretic Brewing Co.
 
Yeast mutation after 4th/6th/nth is bullshit. Many great breweries in the world reuse their yeast 100's of times without any 'miracle' lab work happening. I've personally re-used the same cake for over 6 months continuously without any change in the yeast.
 
QldKev said:
Yeast mutation after 4th/6th/nth is bullshit. Many great breweries in the world reuse their yeast 100's of times without any 'miracle' lab work happening. I've personally re-used the same cake for over 6 months continuously without any change in the yeast.
Did you just smash the next beer on the cake every time for 6 Months?

I normally do 3 batchs out of each yeast. I take as much of the yeast cake out with a glass and then pitch straight on top.
 
Drew9242 said:
Did you just smash the next beer on the cake every time for 6 Months?

I normally do 3 batchs out of each yeast. I take as much of the yeast cake out with a glass and then pitch straight on top.

All I do is swirl the fermenter to mix everything up, and tip out approx half if I'm going to pitch a 1.040 to 1.050 on top. (higher gravity I leave 2/3)

My most important rule is always taste the beer before kegging and re-using the yeast cake. If any signs of an infection (even that slightest doubt) dump the yeast cake.
 
QldKev said:
All I do is swirl the fermenter to mix everything up, and tip out approx half if I'm going to pitch a 1.040 to 1.050 on top. (higher gravity I leave 2/3)

My most important rule is always taste the beer before kegging and re-using the yeast cake. If any signs of an infection (even that slightest doubt) dump the yeast cake.
This is what I'll do. Dump half and put it in the fridge, keep half!
 
Breweries have yeast labs full of serious chicks in white coats and black rimmed glasses who are always checking the yeast. I believe that many breweries keep their original strains in a bunker in Copenhagen where they specialise in running an Armageddon Yeast Bank (and have done so since the 19th Century) and can resupply if the worst happens.

I have a white lab coat, anyone got a spare babe they can send round?

Edit: best yeast storage bottle I've found to be a 600ml springwater bottle that's guaranteed sanitised anyway. Keeps for a few months in a cold fridge.
 
If they are hot chicks, I would not let them were you white coat. But I guess without clothes on you run the risk of other yeasts being introduced.
 
@ QldKev, damoninja & others,

What do you do with the yeastcake from heavily dry hopped beers?

I've just dry hopped with 55g each of simcoe & Columbus. So I'm guessing there'll be lots of hop slop on the bottom.
Can I use the yeast as is, or does it need to be rinsed, or is it better to just toss it & shell out for a new pack of yeast for the next brew?
Just wondering the general consensus.
 
technobabble66 said:
@ QldKev, damoninja & others,

What do you do with the yeastcake from heavily dry hopped beers?

I've just dry hopped with 55g each of simcoe & Columbus. So I'm guessing there'll be lots of hop slop on the bottom.
Can I use the yeast as is, or does it need to be rinsed, or is it better to just toss it & shell out for a new pack of yeast for the next brew?
Just wondering the general consensus.
I'd like to know this too.

I've only got 15g of dry hops in the fv now, since I'm doing an IPA next with like 170g of hops, the feeble 15 grams I've got dry hopped shouldn't be noticeable.
 
Back
Top