Top Cropping Yeasts

[sam]

Hi,

Planning to brew a couple of aussie pale ales next week, and was thinking of brewing about 2/3 days apart, so that I could pitch the yeast into the second brew via top cropping the already fermenting batch.

I will be using recultured Coopers yeast, and wondered if this will have enough cells in the krausen to give a good start.

I'm a little confused due to the difference between true top cropping strains (eg. Wyeast American Ale II) and not so true top cropping ale yeast (of which I think the Coopers yeast is a member).

Thanks,

Sam

 

[tdh]

for an Aussie pale ale I could recommend Wyeast 1007, has a HUGE, read HUGE, head on it. Should be easy enough to catch and ferm and flavour profile should be udeal.
I use it in the micro and it's clean and not too malty.

tdh

 

[chiller]

And another fermenter escape artist is Whitelabs 023 Burton Ale.

or London 3 Wyeast 1318

All very active top croppers

Steve

 

[sam]

Thanks for the info, I'll check out those yeasts. 1007 sounds good.

But, my real question is whether I could pitch the krausen of the first batch using recultured coopers yeast. Will there be enough cells?

Thanks,

Sam

 

[Stratis]

I believe the rule of thumb is about 1 cup of slurry. I got some yeast from the krausen of my 2nd last batch (I used Wyeast 1056) and scooped up some slurry from the bottom of the primary fermenter to get about a cup. I pitched it into my last batch which is fermenting along very nicely.

 

[sam]

So how much was krausen, and how much was sedimented yeast?

I was planning on commensing the second brew before completion of the first, thus the inability to use yeast from the bottom of the fermenter, and just top cropped yeast.

Thanks

Sam

 

[pint of lager]

A couple of desertspoonfuls of freshly cropped yeast will be enough to give your beer a flying start. Think of one sachet of dried yeast weighs 5 gms, your top cropped yeast is fresh and ready to go.

As the cropped yeast gets older and cells die off, more needs to be added to your next brew.

Too much yeast is also bad, the ferments take off wildly and generate heat that must be controlled. Breweries use cooling coils with glycol to control ferment temps, we homebrewers usually don't have control to that level.

 

[sam]

Excellent.

 

[pint of lager]

If the yeast is not a good cropper, you could always gently stir the brew (without splashing so no oxygenation occurs) with a sanitised spoon to resuspend the flocculating yeast, sanitise the spout of the tap, run off 2 litres of wort and use this as a starter on the next batch.

 

[nonicman]

I've topped cropped a Burtons 023 yeast from one fermenter to start another. Worked very well. The first krausen (day 1 of fermentation) was cropped and discarded, alot of muck comes with the first yeast head. On day two the yeast was topped cropped, some into the other fermenter (2 cups of yeast foam and a few tablespoons of beer) and some was stored for later use (already used this).

This article gave the ideas for the above method.

oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/Sanders/YeastSkim.shtml

 

[Mr Bond]

I've topped cropped a Burtons 023 yeast from one fermenter to start another. Worked very well. The first krausen (day 1 of fermentation) was cropped and discarded, alot of muck comes with the first yeast head. On day two the yeast was topped cropped, some into the other fermenter (2 cups of yeast foam and a few tablespoons of beer) and some was stored for later use (already used this).

This article gave the ideas for the above method.

oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/Sanders/YeastSkim.shtml

Just did a search on top cropping,as I'm thinking of cropping some 3068 next time I use it.
Found this thread and excellent link.
Any one cropped this strain b4 ,or got any more advice to add?

 

[Voosher]

Just did a search on top cropping,as I'm thinking of cropping some 3068 next time I use it.
Found this thread and excellent link.
Any one cropped this strain b4 ,or got any more advice to add?

I tried this method with the Wyeast 1318 which is another genuine top-cropper.
I skimmed some off the top at about 2 or 3 days.
Krausen reformed so I also grabbed some yeast by racking the brew from under the krausen and washing it out in my normal fashion by adding cooled boiled water into the fermenter after racking and then proceeding to wash in the usual fashion a la Wyeast site instructions.
Little difference in my opinion. For what I consider additional risk of infection opening the fermenter and skimming I'm happier sticking to my tried and trusted methods even for solid top-croppers.
You may want to try both methods yourself for comparison. I'd be interested to hear if you can discern any difference.
Cheers.

 

[Dr Gonzo]

Just did a search on top cropping,as I'm thinking of cropping some 3068 next time I use it.
Found this thread and excellent link.
Any one cropped this strain b4 ,or got any more advice to add?

Brauluver,
I have done successful cropping of 3068 through 4 consecutive batches. Also done with 3638. The hardest part is having to brew every 2 to 3 days to keep it going. Brews always kick off to a flying start though.
I did the full scrape of the early krausen to remove the hop break, then let the full krausen re-develop before cropping.
I also ferment 20L batches in a 60L fermenter with the lid just resting loosely on top (trying to simulate a proper open fermentation). This seems to help with producing a bigger, better head to harvest.