Reusing yeast - experiment.

[Hyper.Intelligent.Fish]

Hi guys. Looking for input.

My first cider batch is pretty much done. I've carefully poured out a litre of cider from the fermenting bottle into a jug, primed and bottled it. I had to leave the remaining litre and a half in the bottle when the sediment started shifting. I'll attempt the siphon the rest into bottles in the next few days.

That'll leave me with the dregs on the bottom of the fermenting bottle. If I start a new batch, could I pour the dregs and sediment left over from this batch on top of the new batch and expect fermentation to start up again?

Thanks,

 

[Bribie G]

Compared to beer brewing cider throws hardly any gunk and what remains is almost pure yeast.

What I do is after kegging I simply pour the next batch of juice, dissolved sugar and some yeast nutrient into the fermenter and off she goes.

I run 3 batches one after the other then clean everything and pitch new yeast out of the packet and start all over.

Edit:what yeast are you using

 

[Hyper.Intelligent.Fish]

I've racked out the cider from the original fermenting bottle, leaving about an inch of cider and sediment. I poured 2 x 2L juice into a 5L demijon, shook up the sediment and cider and poured it in on top. Then sealed the top with a bung and airlock.

It's just an experiment at the moment. The yeast was bakers yeast, so if there's anything drinkable at the end It'll be a bonus. Really I'm just looking to see if fermentation kicks off again, because it may be a way of extending the use of champagne yeast from later batches.

How long would yeast remain viable in a room temp cider?

 

[Bribie G]

As long as it's sealed up and not exposed to oxygen it should last for months. For example the yeast in a Coopers Pale / Sparkling ale from the bottle shop is often months old before you buy the bottle and it invariably cultures up ok for use in home brewing.

 

[iralosavic]

Most of the bakers I know drink a lot of beer, but that's as far as the connection goes as far as I'm aware. I expect it will certainly ferment, but I won't even hazard a guess as to how it will turn out - I'll leave that up to you to post back with!

 

[Hyper.Intelligent.Fish]

Most of the bakers I know drink a lot of beer, but that's as far as the connection goes as far as I'm aware. I expect it will certainly ferment, but I won't even hazard a guess as to how it will turn out - I'll leave that up to you to post back with!

After racking the original batch I had a bit left that wasn't worth bottling, so I swigged it. It was bitter and sour, but I've tasted worse, and it didn't taste overly yeasty. I'm looking forward to comparing this batch with a batch of apple cider/champagne yeast and apple blackcurrent cider/champagne yeast to see if there's a difference.

 

[talco92]

For example the yeast in a Coopers Pale / Sparkling ale from the bottle shop is often months old before you buy the bottle and it invariably cultures up ok for use in home brewing.

how do you use this? I've never seen sediment at the bottom of a coopers. Do you just pour a bottle of it into your brew?