Reclaiming Trub Yeast.

[Fergy1987]

I think I am going to have to get into this reclaiming of yeast - $5.60 for a packet of US-05 is just knocking up the price of a brew. My only problem is I am rarely brewing the same type of brews each time - Ill do am Amber than a Pale Ale or something so not sure on how bad it would be to be "mixing" those yeasts. The other thing I've been doing is chucking in the kit yeast along with the US-05 or Nottingham because I am basically like "wtf am I going to do with this extra packet"......probably not best practice lol and reclaiming two strains seems like it could result in bad news! My only other fear is doing a whole brew only for it to get infected or taste weird from a reclaimed yeast.

[Worthog]

I've got PET bottles of these yeast slurries in the fridge, some 2nd or 3rd generation, but none are more than 6 weeks out of a brew;

• US-05 x 2 Pets
• Nottingham/Kit Int x 2
• W34/70 x 2

I use a lot of the US-05 and rotate them out after about 3 generations and use a new packet. So my yeast cost is under $2 per batch.

I have also saved a lot of kit yeast packs over the time, particularly the International Kit yeast (Ale/Lager mix) which are kept in the fridge in case I want to add one for a high OG batch or a different taste.

Don't worry about a mixed yeast, harvest it anyway. I've said before that one of my best brews had Nottingham/US-05 slurry. I've often used, and like, the Nottingham/Kit Int slurry. Just make sure they're labelled and dated so you know what you are doing.

Cheers.

 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

I keep three strains in the fridge, one lager and two ales, and just alternate between each one each batch. Most of my beers use one of them so they're kept in rotation pretty regularly. If I brew something that requires a different strain then it's usually a one use thing but those brews are pretty few and far between.

[Gus96]

Yesterday I bottled a Coopers Draught can with BE2 and the yeast slurry from the two stubbies I posted earlier, well things were very slow to get started with no activity after 40hrs so I pitched a kit yeast as well. The next day I had activity but no Krausen  at all throughout the ferment, I could see it working through the Coopers FV and a few bubbles on the surface so I knew it was fermenting, it finished at 1005 and bottled clear so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I did it this way because I wasn't confident it would work for me and didn't want to waste money if things went pear shaped.     

I pitched the slurry from the fridge and fermented at 13/15deg in my brew room which stays reasonably stable temp wise (coldest room in the house). My freezer has two other brews fermenting so no room for this one.                                                                                                                   

[Otto Von Blotto]

What yeast did you use originally that didn't appear to be working at 40 hours?

[Gus96]

I used W34/70 stored for a week in the fridge

[Otto Von Blotto]

Cool. Sometimes lager yeast can take a bit to get going. Most of mine don't show visual activity until around 36-48 hours.

[Beer Baron]

I dry hop commando style so would I even be able to reuse my yeast. I went to do it yesterday and all the trub and yeast down the bottom had a heap of hop material in it. 

BB

[Otto Von Blotto]

You could rinse the unwanted stuff out of it. But that's a lot of faffing and most of the reason why I started harvesting from yeast starters.

[Beer Baron]

2 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

You could rinse the unwanted stuff out of it. But that's a lot of faffing and most of the reason why I started harvesting from yeast starters.

Yeah I think that might be the go next time

[Potatoes]

14 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Ok, well assuming a conservative 1 billion cells per mL you'd have about 350 billion cells, should be more than enough. When do you plan to brew the batch?

In about 2 weeks, after the bathroom is fixed.

[Otto Von Blotto]

2 hours ago, Potatoes said:

In about 2 weeks, after the bathroom is fixed.

Ok, in two weeks it's probably gonna drop to about 90% viability, but again being conservative just in case say 85%, you'll still have around 300 billion cells. Even if it dropped further than that say 80% you'd still have enough for that OG and volume (assuming 23 litres?). I'd just pitch the slurry but keep the kit yeast on standby in case it is needed after the initial pitch.

[Worthog]

14 hours ago, Beer Baron said:

I dry hop commando style so would I even be able to reuse my yeast. I went to do it yesterday and all the trub and yeast down the bottom had a heap of hop material in it. 

BB

To stop the dry hop getting into the trub, I dry hop in a new chux cloth, tighed, and dropped into the wort. After 3 days, lift floating chux, squeeze the juice out, then cold crash or bottle later. Then harvest your yeast.

Cheers

[Beer Baron]

I like the commando style. In the past I used a hop sock and I think commando gives me more flavour and aroma so I’ll stick with that. 

I think I’ll harvest from yeast starters from now on.

Thanks Warthog

[Worthog]

Cool, a lot to be said for the "Lusty" squeeze, though. Cheers 

[Hairy]

29 minutes ago, Worthog said:

Cool, a lot to be said for the "Lusty" squeeze, though. Cheers 

I wouldn’t drink any beer that Lusty has squeezed his bags into 

[Beerlust]

2 hours ago, Hairy said:

I wouldn’t drink any beer that Lusty has squeezed his bags into 

...just as a side note to that, Benny has! 

Cheers,

Lusty.

[Beerlust]

15 hours ago, Worthog said:

To stop the dry hop getting into the trub, I dry hop in a new chux cloth, tighed, and dropped into the wort. After 3 days, lift floating chux, squeeze the juice out, then cold crash or bottle later. Then harvest your yeast.

Cheers

I've meant to ask you Worthog, how has the aroma, flavour & clarity of your beers been since you adopted this method? Have you been happy with ALL aspects?

Cheers,

Lusty.

[Potatoes]

On 8/28/2018 at 10:45 PM, Otto Von Blotto said:

Ok, in two weeks it's probably gonna drop to about 90% viability, but again being conservative just in case say 85%, you'll still have around 300 billion cells. Even if it dropped further than that say 80% you'd still have enough for that OG and volume (assuming 23 litres?). I'd just pitch the slurry but keep the kit yeast on standby in case it is needed after the initial pitch.

It’s 21 lite brew length I think, but should still be good. I’ll give it a go. Cheers 

[Otto Von Blotto]

You'll be sweet then mate. The recipe should give you about 1.062 in 21 litres, probably a bit more from the crystal malt steep that is in there too. But even at 1.065 OG, at the 21 litre volume you still only need 250 billion cells so I think you will have plenty to do the job from your harvested PET bottle. Go for it

[ChristinaS1]

On 8/27/2018 at 9:34 PM, Fergy1987 said:

I think I am going to have to get into this reclaiming of yeast - $5.60 for a packet of US-05 is just knocking up the price of a brew. My only problem is I am rarely brewing the same type of brews each time - Ill do am Amber than a Pale Ale or something so not sure on how bad it would be to be "mixing" those yeasts. The other thing I've been doing is chucking in the kit yeast along with the US-05 or Nottingham because I am basically like "wtf am I going to do with this extra packet"......probably not best practice lol and reclaiming two strains seems like it could result in bad news! My only other fear is doing a whole brew only for it to get infected or taste weird from a reclaimed yeast.

Sorry, I am a little late to this discussion. You can save kit yeast in the fridge until you have two of the same kind.

The yeasts that come with the Thomas Cooper kits are unknown. If you don't have a second pack of the same kind, and you want to avoid mixing yeasts, it is easy to make a starter with a single 7gm kit yeast. I do this on a semi-regular basis using the Shaken Not Stirred starter method (see thread). 

The only thing to be mindful of when throwing in a spare kit yeast along with another yeast is the attenuation level. It is best if they have similar attenuations levels. The ale/lager blend that comes with the APA kit is quite attenuative. That is okay if you are throwing it in with US-05 or Nottingham, but if you are aiming for something with a higher final gravity, best to stick to the 100% Coopers Ale yeast in the OS kits.

Cheers,

Christina.

[Worthog]

Today I put down an Amercan IPA. I  may have gone astray throwing in this 350ml slurry;

50% US-05,  25% Nottingham,  25% Kit International. I understand all are rated 75% attenuation.

I needed to use them up as they were getting to 4-6wks harvested. 

I  have to say the mixed yeasts I have used in the past have resulted in satisfactory tastes for me, especially US-05/Nott.

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

There's nothing wrong with mixed yeasts, however if they are re-used enough times over then you may find that one of them begins to dominate over the other.

[porschemad911]

Yes, it can be interesting. I pitched a 50/50 S-04/BRY-97 blend into my American Brown last night. Just hoping to get a little more character than with a West Coast Ale yeast alone. See how it goes. 

Cheers,

John

[ChristinaS1]

On 9/4/2018 at 9:53 AM, Worthog said:

Today I put down an Amercan IPA. I  may have gone astray throwing in this 350ml slurry;

50% US-05,  25% Nottingham,  25% Kit International. I understand all are rated 75% attenuation.

I needed to use them up as they were getting to 4-6wks harvested. 

I  have to say the mixed yeasts I have used in the past have resulted in satisfactory tastes for me, especially US-05/Nott.

 

Not sure where you are getting your attenuations numbers from Worthog, but as far as I know US-05 has 81% attenuation (according to Fermentis), and Nottingham 77%. Not sure about the attenuation rate of the Coopers ale/lager blend, but I am guessing it is in the high 70s, due to the lager portion.  Those blends would all do well in an IPA or APA if fermented around 18C. Get Notty too warm though and it really starts to throw some fruity esters. 

Cheers,

Christina.