The Yeast Cake

[MVZOOM]

HI All,

Read some stuff under a search about re-using the yeast cake to brew multiple batches from one batch of yeast. Looks good to me, as it doesn't seem like you have to go to the trouble of farming (which looks quite complicated).

So, my plan is to get a good liquid ale yeast (suggestions please?) for the Coopers Pale Ale can or an ESB PA can and brewing 5 or 6 batches of the one type.

If I'm correct, all I do is take 4 tablespoons of the finished yeastcake, from the primary fermentor once I rack the wort to the secondry. I store this in a sanitised cup )(for up to an hour) while I clean and sanitise the primary again, prep the next batch of goop and then pitch.

I can do this 5 or 6 times yeah? If I wanted to store the yeast cake in the fridge, I'd sanitise a cup, glean a bunch of the yeast cake, place in the cup with some malt (or some wort) and boiled water, place gladwrap over the top and pop in the fridge. Is this correct?

Basically I want to use a good liquid yeast and try to ammortise the cost over a number of different batches, without farming it.

Have I got this right?

Cheers - Mike

 

[Steve]

Zoom
I did a search on "re using trub" :

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...%20using%20trub

Basically there are endless possibilities.

Cheers
Steve

P.S. There is another thread somewhere about splitting your starters. Also very useful.

 

[Steve]

ere it is:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/Star...east-t1434.html

Cheers - have fun zoom :beer:
Steve

 

[Airgead]

HI All,

Read some stuff under a search about re-using the yeast cake to brew multiple batches from one batch of yeast. Looks good to me, as it doesn't seem like you have to go to the trouble of farming (which looks quite complicated).

So, my plan is to get a good liquid ale yeast (suggestions please?) for the Coopers Pale Ale can or an ESB PA can and brewing 5 or 6 batches of the one type.

If I'm correct, all I do is take 4 tablespoons of the finished yeastcake, from the primary fermentor once I rack the wort to the secondry. I store this in a sanitised cup )(for up to an hour) while I clean and sanitise the primary again, prep the next batch of goop and then pitch.

I can do this 5 or 6 times yeah? If I wanted to store the yeast cake in the fridge, I'd sanitise a cup, glean a bunch of the yeast cake, place in the cup with some malt (or some wort) and boiled water, place gladwrap over the top and pop in the fridge. Is this correct?

Basically I want to use a good liquid yeast and try to ammortise the cost over a number of different batches, without farming it.

Have I got this right?

Cheers - Mike

[post="119663"][/post]​

Hi Mike

A yeast slurry should store covered in the fridge for a good few days. They will go dormant in the cold but will wake up pretty fast when you pitch into fresh wort. You can store for longer if you make sure they go properly dormant - no food left & cold temps. They basically shut down and go to sleep. If you feed them they will not go dormant and may mutate under the stress of the cold. The usual method for keeping them for a long period is to wash by adding some sterile water and shaking it up. The dead stuff will settle to the bottom as a grey layer. Pour the creamy live stuff off the top. Then store under sterile water. The lack of anything edible will force them into dormancy and they will keep for months. I know people who just keep a tube full of slurry unwashed straight from the fermenter in the fridge and it seems to keep well for ages.

The reason for using a slurry very fresh is that it doesn't give the yeast time to go dormant so it will start very fast which is useful for a high gravity beer where you want them to attack it as hard as possible. For a normal beer, a slurry that has been stored for a while should be fine.

Your main problem will be selecting one yeast strain that will match all your brews. You could go with a neutral ale like a white labs Califirnian Ale (WLP001) but you may be better off selecting a range of strains to match all the beers you do. You can store the slurry in the original white labs tubes so they don't take much space (or go the yeast farming route which isn't as complicated as it sounds). The Coopers yeast (from the bottles not the kits) might be OK for you. Its pretty easy to make up a culture of your own (just add dregs of bottle to 100ml of wort and shake) or I could let you heve one of my slants.

Cheers
Dave

 

[MVZOOM]

Brilliant Dave / Steve - thanks. It seems so much easier to store the yeast that way than farming it.

I'll grab a couple of different kinds this week and give them a shot.

Thanks for your help!

Cheers - Mike