Yeast Slurry

[big d]

right im still not sure about this one yet.
i take a cup or so from the secondary of yeast slurry after racking store it in a sterile container in the fridge and when ready within reason pitch this slurry into my new brew instead of a yeast starter .i believe you can really maximise your original liquid yeast this way.
trouble is ive also read of many ways to get the good yeast seperated from the bad /dead yeast cells.

thanks for the earlier advice jayse.

ive got a small beaker of wyeast american ale 2 sitting in the fridge from 2 days ago so would appreciated any extra advice or what not to do.
im in no hurry to pitch this yeast i reckon it will be my experimental version first so doesnt matter if i just stuff around with it some what.

cheers
big d

 

[jayse]

i use the slurry almost as you would a dry yeast.
just make a well airated starter with it when you start you brewing.
for me thats 5 hours before pitching.
iam sure it would work alright pitching it straight in. but for a little extra work making a starter you can 'prove' it and be more confident of getting the attenuation your after and a quick start to fermention.
also the yeast would be actively in the growth stage due to the air and gravity of the starter which matches the conditions of your airated wort.

So basically make a starter the morning your gunna brew.
this is my favourite way to do my starters. No need to prepare a starter a few days ahead.

 

[johnno]

jayse and big d,

I was just wondering how long you can keep the slurry for? I have kept some before in the fridge for about 5 weeks. It smelt ok but I didnt use it at that time as I wasn't sure what the results would be.
I used one last week that was only 4 days old (abot 500 ml) and that worked out ok.
Has anyone kept and used slurry for longer periods of time??

cheers
B)

 

[Doc]

I was going through my stubbies of yeast cultures last night as I was making up starters for next weeks brewing.
At the back of the fridge I found two stubbies of WLP001 Calif Ale Yeast dated Nov 02.
I thought they would be a bit old and hard to get going so I grabbed both and let them warm up to room temp.
I then made my stater solution, opened the stubbies and much to my surprise and my wifes amusement there was life in those starters.
I must have split them into stubbies while there was still some activity. When I say there was life, they were almost volcanoes.
So those starters are away and running 12 months later.
They looked smelled and tasted fine, so as long as they are in 4 days as well I'll be using them.

Beers,
Doc

 

[Batz]

OK
So if I use say a wyeast , rack into secondary and then, I could bottle several stubbies of slurry ?
You would have to be very careful of infection

 

[JasonY]

I read somewhere if you are going to collect slurry the primary is a better spot as you will be getting the more flocculent yeast in your starters. That said I grab some slurry from the primary in small plastic coke bottles and bung it in the fridge. I don't bother trying to seperate the gunk.

Also with this latest 1272 batch I am using, I have just been saving two small coke bottle starters from my starters each time also so I haven't actually had to collect from the primary yet (up to my 4th & 5th starters now).

As to time in the fridge I have used from up to 3 months old with no probs. I always taste a bit of the starter before pitching to prevent disasters. If your propagating your yeast like this I would always make a starter and taste it in case you have an infection.

 

[Trough Lolly]

Dumb Question time:

Am I correct in assuming that you guys strain out the hop matter when you pour the wort out of the boiler into the fermenter so that the bulk of the slurry is yeast?

When I rack to secondary, the yeast cake sometimes has a fair bit of hops sitting on top (using pellets and plugs here) - ie, I don't strain the hops off the wort when I put my brews down and use an inline filter (as per GMK's specs) when I move the wort into secondary fermentation/conditioning. Obviously I don't want to have hops in with the yeast in the slurry bottles. :huh:

So do you strain out the hops when you initially ferment your wort in primary and thus have relatively easy access to the yeast cake?

Cheers,

TL

 

[JasonY]

TL, very little hops make it to my primary. My tap is a couple of inches from the bottom of the boiler so getting 90% of the wort without trub is easy, if I really want as much as I can I put a tea towel in a strainer and pass what more I can get through it. I'm sure some stuff makes it but its not very visible so it can't be enough to worry about.

 

[wedge]

guys i thought you had to be very careful with the slurry. If your not you can accidently cultivate a mutated yeast cell. I think the dave palmer book talks about this. :unsure:

i think this is the same reason you can only cultivate your wyeast so many times. Is this true.

Wedge :chug:

 

[Batz]

That's what I was getting at wedge , sounds good idea if it's safe

 

[jayse]

Johnno
like doc's post it should be good for sometime. Keep it in the fridge though.

Batz and wedge
The big mega breweries ussually are happy with keeping the yeast going from batch to batch for up to five times without any mutations.
If your where to study a brewing degree, i think the best method is to take some from the top of the primary.
Most breweries with big conicals just take from the bottom.
Ussually after five you go back to some of the original slurry you have kept.

also Wedge, palmer also says rinsing with tap water is the biggest problem in brewing.
WHAT are you kidding you must be using a very bad water supply.
I think he must be talkng in extreme cases like high brew temps and poor airation and nutrients.
all of which you will taste in the brew.

troughlolly
i only whirlpool so some hop matter may get in. i have to filter with whole hops or they clog the cfc line etc.
when i have used the primary i have left it as it is, no washing etc.
although this would not be the best method at all. it works great.
it depends what sort of beer in the primary and the next beer. iam just doing the same beer.

Jasony
I don't find the less floculation to be a problem. with 1272 it is properly even better.
i have kept 1272 going for 6 batches from one to the next with awesome results. The last batch still cleared up the same and didn't show any signs of the yeast changing.




Do the slurry method it rocks.
it should be possible to get a whole year out of one yeast pack.
with my method i can easily get 20 brews from one pack. but generally don't worry about getting that many. Just to be safe if i have got my moneys worth out of a pack then i get another.
iam happy with only getting 5 brews out of one pack.
thats not to say i couldn't get 20.
you could do 20 stubbies with the first slurry and easily get 20 brews with out growing from one to the next.

 

[wedge]

no offence tended Batz

Wedge h34r:

 

[Batz]

None taken h34r: h34r:
:blink: :blink:

 

[GMK]

Yeast slurry

i know of a micro brewery that uses the yeast slurry upto 16 times.

Lately, due to time constraints - i have been using the following.

Brewed an IPA with coopers and liquid 1048 Irish Ale Yeast.
Racked to secondary with hops - lots of.
Made a Dark Ale - .pitch yeast cake from secondary straight into primary and aerated. Bubbling in 35mins

Racked and dry hoppped. Made up a Pilsner - pitch yeast cake from secondary straight into primary and aerated. Bubbling in 35mins.

Note:
Hops left in from secondary.
Both brews kegged and taste nice.
Cant wait to see what happens to the pilsner.
Will Rack and dry hop friday.

Will then use yeast slurry for the stout.

Who wants to come over and try?

 

[Gout]

Do you find going from light beer to dark works best or it doesn't matter.

eg would stout to pilsner work? or impart a dark flavour in you light pilsner

might have to put down another ale on this America ale yeast.... idea's guys

I dont want to do pale ale over and over or i will get sick of it. (and have the same beer on all 3 taps )

jasye where is your A1 grain porter nice and choch like James S porter.

 

[GMK]

Ben,

Try doing an APA or a steam beer or an American Brown Ale.

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Would just like to reinforce this method as long as your sterilization methods are good.

I pitched 1/3rd of a cup of slurry into a 25 litre brew yesterday. This was at 3 pm.
At 6 am this morning the beer had a 2 inch krausen on it.

I always wash my slurry several times in cool boiled water. I am going to start acid washing soon.

Cheers and bollocks
TDA

 

[Murray]

I crop from the top and keep the yeast slurry. I use the top yeast for making cultures and storing, I use the slurry for the next brew. I like to use the top yeast for culturing as I'm more confident they are clean and relatively pure.

 

[Goat]

TDA - could you flesh out your comment "...wash my slurry several times in cool boiled water". What does this entail? thanks.

 

[johnno]

Keep in mind I am still a very young brewer still. But I have been keen to experiment. At the chance of losing a brew. But so far none lost.I' ve reused yeast a few times now and its worked fine.
I tend to save whataever is left over in the secondary,fridge it and make a starter when needed. One day I intend washing it.
I was going to get some Liquid yeast for the next brew but time ran out so i had to use some of the yeast I used in the Coopers SParkling Ale.
Actually this one i started last Sturday week and stepped it up about Wednesday.
I had to use it yesterday and was thinking that it might be off or need wort to activate it as it had stopped working. Thats 8 days in a coke bottle. I was taking a chance I suppose but it smelt and tasted fine so i just went for it.
Well it had a top krausen this morning and its bubbling like mad now.
Getting some liquid yeast tommorow and i'll make afew sarters out of that. I'll probably get the AMerican Ale 1056 and lots of cascade hops as I will make a few of those styles.

cheers