Storing & Re-using Yeast Slurry

[Hutch]

could i split this slurry into 2 equal amounts to add to 2 differant batches (1 tomorrow and 1 on saturday) or should i use the whole lot seeing as tho this is the first reuse of the slurry. And then wait till next time round before splitting it up and storing and making starters.

this is an area of brewing i need to brush up on as ive been forking out to many $$ on yeast lately

cheers kingy

Kinky,
You will be fine splitting the slurry into 2 halves - in fact I would recommend against pitching the whole yeast cake into the next brew, unless you want to see what yeast looks like sprayed all over your ceiling (yes, this happened to me with 1 cup of Wyeast 1056 slurry).

I've read numerous times that a half cup of slurry is plenty to repitch, provided it is not stored for ages before repitching.

Hutch.

 

[Stuster]

Slurry from one batch should be fine for two more batches if they are fairly similar in gravity and volume. Yeast's far too expensive to buy fresh each time, with liquid yeast anyway. As long as you are careful with sanitation, you should be fine and then you can repitch good quantities of yeast. It's really easier than making up starters all the time IMO.

Edit: Mr Malty is a great calculator for how much yeast to pitch.

 

[Kingy]

cheers guys
i thought i worked it out, i just needed some reassurance incase i ruined my third AG tomorrow. All that hard work and time to have a batch ruined would piss me off.

To have any batch ruined would piss me off

cheers kingy

 

[Cortez The Killer]

How long does the slurry keep in the fridge?

Or better still how long do people keep the slurry in the fridge before use / discarding?

Cheers

 

[Jye]

Some brewers say they have reused a slurry after months. A couple of days ago I discarded a slurry because it wasnt quite right and it had only been in the fridge for 5 days, but the beer it cam from is fine.

In the end this is something your going to have to decide.

 

[therook]

Some brewers say they have reused a slurry after months. A couple of days ago I discarded a slurry because it wasnt quite right and it had only been in the fridge for 5 days, but the beer it cam from is fine.

In the end this is something your going to have to decide.

Jye, was you slurry under some sterile water?

After a couple of months i have been told you can use the slurry but should make a starter....is this correct?

Rook

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I've re-used slurry after storing in stubbies for 1.5 months and while it smelt a little bit like veginite - but fired up fine in the starter

So my question is - what does the vegimite smell actually mean - is it yeast autolosis or something else? And is it a basis for discarding refrigerated slurry?

Cheers

 

[Jye]

Jye, was you slurry under some sterile water?

After a couple of months i have been told you can use the slurry but should make a starter....is this correct?

Rook

This one wasnt under any water since I had planned to use it so quickly. If a slurry had been in the fridge for over a month I would make a start to make sure it is still viable and to give the yeast a bit of a wake up call.

Cortez, did any of the vegimite come through in the final beer? If not you might be ok. But I wouldnt be using a slurry that has changed taste while sitting in the fridge.

Cheers
Jye

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Nah

I made a starter and tasted that - no vegimite smell or taste

Beer was fine

Cheers

 

[Stuster]

I've also smelled vegemite in yeast that was stored in the fridge. I was a bit dubious about it, but went ahead and made a starter, which didn't smell or taste of my breakfast topping. I used it in a beer and it appeared to come out fine, so I think as long as you don't pitch a whole slurry of vegemite yeast, you are probably ok.

 

[Duff]

Just curious, I've got some spare 1L schott bottles like that, do you boil them in a pot (like a double boiler), or do you place them directly on a stove top? Or are you doing something completely different ie microwave or pressure cooker?

Are the blue lids able to take high temps?

Hi kook,

I autoclave my agar media in the blue lid Schott bottles at Uni, so they handle the high temperature fine.

Cheers.

 

[razz]

That's very interesting. I always thought it meant autolysis, so I've thrown a few out.

 

[TidalPete]

Hi kook,

I autoclave my agar media in the blue lid Schott bottles at Uni, so they handle the high temperature fine.

Cheers.

Lucky you Duff! Great to have access to a free autoclave. :super:

Queensland Rocks in State of O! ---- off-topic but true. :super:

:beer:

 

[Stuster]

That's very interesting. I always thought it meant autolysis, so I've thrown a few out.

It might be autolysis, but I've done this from small quantities of yeast in a vial and those have gone on to make a starter which has smelled and tasted fine. That amount of autolysis in a whole batch will be almost nothing I guess. It's certainly better to throw it out though, than ruin a batch with off yeast. I've thrown out a few vials that didn't look too good.

 

[matti]

I have been assured time after time that do not trust your nose with yeast.
GIVE IT A TASTE
I don't know about vegemite though.
spread it on the brew

 

[Brewtus]

How long does the slurry keep in the fridge?

Or better still how long do people keep the slurry in the fridge before use / discarding?

Cheers

I keep my slury in the fridge. I tried one after two or three weeks (2 batches) and it was fine. I tried one the other week that was about 4 months old with no luck, had to pitch dry yeast. I did another that was 6 months by pouring it into a 2lt bottle with 1 lt of wort. it took off so after 2 weeks I drained the wort, rinsed it in clean water and it is now a happy Belgian specialty yeast in a Cascade porter kit with a tin of coopers amber malt, 300g of BH1 and 400g of golden syrup (OG 1055) bubbling away.

 

[Kingy]

ok so ive got a brew thats been fermenting for about 2-3 days and therez krausin and i want some yeast for todays brew that im doing.
Do i just scoop the kruasin off and into a sanitized jar - say about 1 cups worth and seal the jar at about 12 degress untill ive finished brewing and pitch this this arvo?

cheers kingy

 

[Stuster]

I've never top cropped a yeast, but that is how you do it. You could just wait till you need to use it before harvesting it of course. If it's not a top cropper (or even if it is) you could just drain off a litre of the fermenting beer and transfer that to the new beer. Which yeast are you using though?

 

[Kingy]

the fermenting batch has a white labs mex lager yeast that was slow to start so i dropped a craftbrewer swiss lager in as well s189 cheers. And im planning on reusing it on a low alcohol beer. Of 1030-1036 gravity est.

 

[Stuster]

If it's a lager, you probably don't want to top crop. I'd say you need to transfer at least a litre of wort if it's a low gravity lager.