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Yeast Thread 2021


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1 hour ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Definitely.  Until I got a second-hand stir-plate and a glass flask, I just harvested from the trub as described above.  Swirl up the left overs in the fermenter and decant through the tap.  Probably only reused up to two, maybe three generations doing that though.  Worked a treat back then.

so when doing this is it guess work like only pitch half the trub in next brew or split into 4 and re use all?

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Back in 2011 I attended the Brisbane Home Brewing Conference which had a heap of experts and professionals attending, including a guy from Whitelabs (U.S. liquid yeast labs) where we had a video hook up with Chris White himself in America. 

One surprising thing, from White himself, was that they encouraged home brewers getting a few generations out of their products because, when exposed to the correct wort, pH etc, a yeast will show more desirable effects after the first brew. For example brew #1 with a hefe yeast will be just fine, but #2 and #3 should be bang on.

You particularly see this with their Aussie Ale yeast that tastes rather bland at first, but after a couple of re-pitches you are starting to get the full Coopers Pale Ale experience.

However eventually yeasts do drift so time to start again.

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13 hours ago, jamiek86 said:

so when doing this is it guess work like only pitch half the trub in next brew or split into 4 and re use all?

Not really guess-work.  I basically followed some of the advice on this forum.  I ended up pouring about 600ml of trub into 2 1L sanitised mason jars.  Then put them in the fridge.  I tried to use them within 3 months.  Sometimes I had to tip one because I did not get around to using it in a new brew by then.  I did not try to get more than 3 brews from the one packet of yeast.

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11 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Not really guess-work.  I basically followed some of the advice on this forum.  I ended up pouring about 600ml of trub into 2 1L sanitised mason jars.  Then put them in the fridge.  I tried to use them within 3 months.  Sometimes I had to tip one because I did not get around to using it in a new brew by then.  I did not try to get more than 3 brews from the one packet of yeast.

so then you just warmed up and pitched one of them or made a starter from it?

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32 minutes ago, jamiek86 said:

so then you just warmed up and pitched one of them or made a starter from it?

By the time the next brew comes around, the yeast has sunk to the bottom of the jar.  I would just take the jar out of the fridge, decant off most of the beer left in the jar, leaving enough to swirl up the yeast, then pitch it cold straight into the wort.

Others might recommend letting it warm up closer to the wort temperature*.  That is supposed to reduce any shock to the yeast.  I have not noticed any issues pitching it cold though.  Again, it is what @Otto Von Blotto has done for years.

*See Bribie G's comment above.  The one time I did that I had a yeast volcano in the jar, probably because I did not decant off the liquid first.

Edited by Shamus O'Sean
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As I understand it the shock is only a problem the other way, pitching warm yeast into cold wort. From some reading I did a few years back it's better to pitch it cold than let it warm up first, or at least let it warm up for hours first. Probably a non issue if it's pitched quickly once it warms. 

Certainly I noticed that fermentation kicked off faster when pitching cold, without any negative impact on the beer itself. 

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I do most of my ales at around 20 and let the bottle warm up first ... in the sink! Even in the fridge, a lot of UK type ale yeasts keep quietly plodding along. This is what they are supposed to do in the cask, and I've sprayed a couple of walls in the past.

With lager yeasts I fridge my cubes of wort down to pitching temp, say 9 degrees and pitch the bottle while cold. Wherever possible I try to have wort ready for kegging day so I can immediately pitch slurry as soon as I have kegged the previous lot, but it's not always possible so the slurry goes into a sanitised bottle.

 

Edited by Bribie G
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Ok good news. I have harvested my first yeast slurry. Followed the advice here pretty much. After bottling I swirled the yeast cake (with a little bit of cold water from the kettle) and poured it through the tap into 2 sanitized containers. One jar and one capped stubby. Got about 400ml all up. It’s now in the fridge. 
When I brew my next ale, I’m guessing I’ll pitch both containers into the wort? Or would one be enough? I was thinking both to ensure a good amount of healthy yeast...

Also do I need to “burp” these containers? (FG on that brew was 1.005 and had been stable for 3 days). If so I might transfer to screw top plastic bottles...

Cheers and thanks for all the advice!

CC26DD33-FFCE-41E7-BD8D-86DE1D078D12.jpeg

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Great thanks @Shamus O'Sean @Lettucegrove for the advice. I might just gently prise the stubby cap so that it doesn’t build up pressure, or maybe seal it with some sanitised glad wrap and a rubber band. 
BTW my phone wants to autocorrect “glad wrap” to “glam” wrap! Which i guess is a type of very fashionable high end wrap? 😂

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if i'm rehydrating packet yeast is this something i can do the night before and if so, should i fridge it or leave it at ambient temps?

(for example i'm mostly using lallemand yeasts and their instructions say sprinkle, wait 15 mins, stir and let sit for 5 mins before pitching)

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36 minutes ago, Stickers said:

if i'm rehydrating packet yeast is this something i can do the night before and if so, should i fridge it or leave it at ambient temps?

(for example i'm mostly using lallemand yeasts and their instructions say sprinkle, wait 15 mins, stir and let sit for 5 mins before pitching)

as far as I know rehydrating is done without nutrients so its not a starter which is why its done for no longer than 30 min before pitching. I dont know alot about it but was looking into.it a while ago difference between starter and rehydrated and found if no nutrients use as soon as possible. 

mainly because all rehydrating in warm water is doing is getting the yeast active before pitch it in head start not multiplying cells as far as I know.

Edited by jamiek86
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43 minutes ago, Stickers said:

if i'm rehydrating packet yeast is this something i can do the night before and if so, should i fridge it or leave it at ambient temps?

(for example i'm mostly using lallemand yeasts and their instructions say sprinkle, wait 15 mins, stir and let sit for 5 mins before pitching)

Best to pitch soon after rehydrating.  A Lallemand YouTube, just recently, said within 45 minutes.  They also said rehydrating compared to dry pitching makes very little if any difference.  See if you can find the video.  Its only about 3 minutes long.  Actually, I found it:

 

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23 hours ago, Stickers said:

cheers.. so the best time saving yeast technique is to sanitise and sprinkle. lesson learned

I reckon that is a great way to put it @Stickers Stickers mate... unless you are trying to manipulate the population size or growth stage which is a bit more high tech... like in making starters and trying to achieve a specific population size and or point of the population growth cycle to achieve a specific goal... reckon leave that till ron (lateron) ; )

But I reckon a lot of the time if everything is clean and sanitary a sprinkle is good... and certainly would not be good to leave a hydrated yeast sit around... as @Shamus O'Sean notes above and have read it - and makes good sense... otherwise the poor ol' yeasties you paid good money for are all dressed up with nowhere to go haha !?!

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Didn’t get to posting yesterday, but kegged a Pale Ale after CC, mixed up a new Pale Ale of sorts in a seperate fermenter, then siphoned in straight over the top of my re-used yeast & mixed, temp was 22 degrees when I introduced brew over the slurry, 2 hrs later was going off like a frog in a sock.

‘I have been brewing/kegging for 2yrs now but have never re-used yeast, well I tried it once late last yr but the yeast was 3months old from the fridge & did nothing, so had to use a packet yeast to get that brew going which is now on tap and tasting fine.

So 2nd time having a crack at re-using yeast & I am impressed so far, special shout out to @Graubart for coaching me through this process, and to all the other yeast kings for reading their great posts on this process, thanks to all & happy brewing.

‘I shall post pics when she’s on tap.

‘Oh one question to the yeast kings, on a time frame when ready, I usually ferment 2 weeks, would it be quicker with re-used yeast, not sure, or just take gravity readings I guess ??

CheersRD44 🍻🍻

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