#granted+brew Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Took a leaf out of @Titan 's book and began this thread, will kick it off with my current situation. I bottled a lager on Thursday and have left the yeast cake in my F.V intending on saving it for my next batch tomorrow (Monday). Unfortunately while cold crashing my Ale I've got going, I've managed to freeze my slurry. Like rock hard freeze... I've defrosted it since and transferred to a jar, now it is back to 4°C. My questions are will it still be viable? Will I need to pitch more slurry than I normally would*? Would i need to build it back up with a starter? Or should I donate it to the compost bin??? The strain was w-34/70 and also the kit yeast from the 86days pilsner can. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Lee * I was planning on pitching 240-300mls on a 1.045 wort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris! Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 I would make a starter and see if it is viable and smells alright as check before using but it should be fine. Some people have done this before, a little more controlled then what you have done but honestly I think it will be fine. Read this for some reassurance. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/freezing-yeast.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 I'd make a starter and see if it ferments it, or how long it takes. That will give you a pretty good idea of its health. If it's sluggish then it's probably not in great health and you'd be better off getting some fresh stuff. At least being frozen it probably won't be infected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_G Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 quick question: Is it OK to harvest yeast that has had fining in the brew or is it best just to cold crash and harvest ... I am going to harvest the 34/70 that is currently in the FV and I am at the stage where I would normally fine it ... so started the cold crash and held off fining until I get clarification ... thanks in advance ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 My guess would be that it's not really an issue. If you pick some of the finings up it'll just drop out when it's pitched into the next batch. It's not something I've done though because I harvest from yeast starters rather than the fermenter trub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_G Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 58 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said: My guess would be that it's not really an issue. If you pick some of the finings up it'll just drop out when it's pitched into the next batch. It's not something I've done though because I harvest from yeast starters rather than the fermenter trub. Thanks i thought as much .... just wanted some clarification ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 11 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said: At least being frozen it probably won't be infected. But it may now be addicted to ice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonPolo Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Thanks for the general yeast post guys. So I have harvested some of the yeast cake from my brew bottled 2 days ago. I've posted a photo of the jar next to a 1 cup measure just to give you an idea of the size of the jar. My intention was to use the same yeast as the last brew (the kit yeast from half a can of APA pitched into a 11L brew). The idea being to change a few hop variables to see what different the final product ends up like. My question is, how much of the harvested yeast should I use? Also you can see that now a fair bit of beer is on top of the yeast now that it has settled down. Should I tip the whole lot in or what? What temperature should I get the yeast to before pitching? I seem to remember some advice that said that so long as the yeast was cooler than the wort then that should be OK or was I imagining that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Being only 11 litres I'd probably pitch about half what you have there in that jar. You can pitch it cold from the fridge straight into the wort. Just tip most of the beer off it leaving a little behind to aid in swirling it up to pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonPolo Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 1 hour ago, Otto Von Blotto said: Being only 11 litres I'd probably pitch about half what you have there in that jar. You can pitch it cold from the fridge straight into the wort. Just tip most of the beer off it leaving a little behind to aid in swirling it up to pitch. Great thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worthog Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Since I started to use Polyclar clarfyer, and also restarted commando hopping, I have decided to make an ongoing yeast starter, rather than harvest a more and more "polluted" yeast cake. I will place my process for an ongoing yeast starter on here very soon, for critical analysis of my process. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worthog Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Ongoing yeast starter; Boil 1L water with 100g DME Cool to 25c Rehydrate 11g dry yeast in 150ml of boiled and cooled water, 25-30c Add all to sanitised 2L jar and mix well. Place in fermenting fridge, swirl occasionally, for 2-3 days Cold Crash until ready for use Shake up jar and add 750ml of starter to next batch of wort in FV, leaving 350ml in Jar. Stand jar in fermenter fridge to raise to 20c Regenerate Starter; Boil 800ml water with 80g DME Allow to cool to 20-25c Mix into yeast jar, swirl occasionally while back in fermenter fridge for 2-3 days at 20c. Place Jar back in cold crash until next batch to inoculate with 750ml. Repeat regeneration process All comments and suggestions welcome. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 I don't think the starter is big enough. Usually I make a 2L starter and take off 500ml for the next one. It also depends on your OG. the number i quoted are for a OG of 1050. good calculator here https://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 It wouldn't work the same because the subsequent starters are only 750mL instead of a litre. Remember the bit you leave behind is already fermented so it won't contribute to any yeast growth, so the 750mL you take from those will contain less yeast than the first one. There is no need to warm yeast back up before pitching it or ferment starters in a brew fridge. It sounds like more work than necessary as well. When I do it I just make one starter when required, harvest the excess, crash the main portion then decant and pitch into the batch. I also concur with Titan that it's not really big enough depending on the OG and batch volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worthog Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Thanks guys. I take both of your points regarding volume. The beers I will be brewing are 22L volume at OG 1.032-1.035. I will definitely increase the new generation volume water/malt volume to at least 1L and take off the 500ml of original starter to mix with it. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olemate Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Really like your bullet point procedure warthog. So what will be your revised procedures? I'm very interested in nailing a best practice procedure. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worthog Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 1 hour ago, Olemate said: Really like your bullet point procedure warthog. So what will be your revised procedures? I'm very interested in nailing a best practice procedure. Cheers Olemate, I will update the procedure once I get a successful outcome, otherwise I can PM you what I intend to do if you like. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 Hi All, quick update on the frozen yeast cake I had. I ended up using the slurry in a batch of Pilsner, I ended up pitching 360mls (over half the yeast cake) into 21 litres of wort O.G of 1.055 at 12°C. Brewing at 10°C now 72 hours in and krausen has settled out to about an inch and a half thick. Slight skim of foam at 24 hours, then reaching 3 inches at 48 hours. I'll check the S.G on Saturday night and make sure all is well. In previous lager batches I've overpitched I've found they have been down to between 1.020 - 1.014 by day six. So far so good... Just hoping I don't get too many weird flavours from my poor yeast handling Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristinaS1 Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 I have not done it myself, but lots of people freeze yeast....I believe a little glycerine may be added (when it is planned ) but I am not 100% sure. As I understand it, you loose about 50% of the yeast by freezing. Cheers, Christina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Got this little beauty in the fridge. Wondering what brew to use it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Captain!! Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 59 minutes ago, Titan said: Got this little beauty in the fridge. Wondering what brew to use it in. Literally anything ha ha ha. ive been trying to get my hands on some of this to no avail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonPolo Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Have I been over pitching and what are the symptoms? I normal halve a can of APA and add 500g of LDM plus some other sugars in 11 L in my craft fermenter. In my last brew, the predicted OG was 1045 from the Ian H spreadsheet. I have then been adding the sachet of yeast that comes with the kit. Is this too much yeast? For my current brew I added the last half the can (pasteurized) with a similar amount of sugars and used some of the yeast cake to start the brew. I suppose that it might have been about half a cup or maybe a little more, I didn't measure it, just poured in about half of the jar as suggested by Kelsey. I started getting a krausen right away but it was not particularly vigorous. It has died down now and is sitting at about 1012 after four days. I will probably leave it for a bit more expecting it to drop further. The previous brew dropped to 1005 after Ian H's spreadsheet predicted 1010. That started me thinking about over pitching and what effects that might have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Over pitching usually results in the beer being blander than it would otherwise but it shouldn't make it ferment out further. There is only so much fermentable sugar in the wort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 On 3/8/2019 at 12:02 AM, The Captain1525230099 said: ive been trying to get my hands on some of this to no avail @captain1525230099 , i just picked up the last one they had in stock at my lhbs. Pm me and i will send it over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonPolo Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 35 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said: Over pitching usually results in the beer being blander than it would otherwise but it shouldn't make it ferment out further. There is only so much fermentable sugar in the wort. Ta! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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