Advice about finings and reusing yeast

[Shamus O'Sean]

I am asking about reusing yeast after a beer has had finings added to the fermenter.

I have an Aussie Lager going at the moment.  I plan to do three more lagers (Stella Artois, Sam Adams Boston Lager and an Oktoberfest) with it, by just pouring the wort over the yeast cake of the previous batch.  I also usually like to fine my beers with Isinglass and Polyclar.  What are the issues with using these fining products and then reusing the left over yeast?  What other methods could I use to help clear the beer (I will do a 5-7 day cold crash at 1°C)?  I have heard about fining with Gelatine in the keg, but I cannot remember if anybody on the Forum has mentioned it.

Thanks in advance

[RDT2]

23 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I am asking about reusing yeast after a beer has had finings added to the fermenter.

I have an Aussie Lager going at the moment.  I plan to do three more lagers (Stella Artois, Sam Adams Boston Lager and an Oktoberfest) with it, by just pouring the wort over the yeast cake of the previous batch.  I also usually like to fine my beers with Isinglass and Polyclar.  What are the issues with using these fining products and then reusing the left over yeast?  What other methods could I use to help clear the beer (I will do a 5-7 day cold crash at 1°C)?  I have heard about fining with Gelatine in the keg, but I cannot remember if anybody on the Forum has mentioned it.

Thanks in advance

I have fined a couple of times with Gelatine in the fermenter during cold crash and reused the yeast cake without issue. One of the beers was a Baltic Porter so a high gravity beer and it demolished it with a lager yeast 34/70 so it didn’t seem to do any harm and it was a nice beer. I also did it recently with my KB lager and then used the cake for a Munich Dunkel again worked well.

Edited June 9, 2022 by RDT2

[Shamus O'Sean]

13 hours ago, RDT2 said:

I have fined a couple of times with Gelatine in the fermenter during cold crash and reused the yeast cake without issue. One of the beers was a Baltic Porter so a high gravity beer and it demolished it with a lager yeast 34/70 so it didn’t seem to do any harm and it was a nice beer. I also did it recently with my KB lager and then used the cake for a Munich Dunkel again worked well.

Thanks RDT2.  I was thinking that Gelatine would be the least likely to contaminate the yeast.  I am still interested in peoples experience with reusing yeast after being fined with Isingalss and Polyclar.  I know @Otto Von Blotto uses them because it is his regime that I follow when I usually use them.  However, I also think that Otto uses his overbuilt yeast for his next batch rather than a yeast cake.

[Otto Von Blotto]

13 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Thanks RDT2.  I was thinking that Gelatine would be the least likely to contaminate the yeast.  I am still interested in peoples experience with reusing yeast after being fined with Isingalss and Polyclar.  I know @Otto Von Blotto uses them because it is his regime that I follow when I usually use them.  However, I also think that Otto uses his overbuilt yeast for his next batch rather than a yeast cake.

Yeah, I don't pitch onto yeast cakes. I can't see much problem with it though, the isinglass and polyclar would just fall out once the fermenter is filled with wort and put wherever it sits for the fermentation. 

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

On 6/10/2022 at 7:38 AM, Shamus O'Sean said:

I am asking about reusing yeast after a beer has had finings added to the fermenter.

I have an Aussie Lager going at the moment.  I plan to do three more lagers (Stella Artois, Sam Adams Boston Lager and an Oktoberfest) with it, by just pouring the wort over the yeast cake of the previous batch.  I also usually like to fine my beers with Isinglass and Polyclar.  What are the issues with using these fining products and then reusing the left over yeast?  What other methods could I use to help clear the beer (I will do a 5-7 day cold crash at 1°C)?  I have heard about fining with Gelatine in the keg, but I cannot remember if anybody on the Forum has mentioned it.

Thanks in advance

Have fined in the fermenter and reused the yeast. It didn't seem to make a difference to the ferment. Most of time though when I do pitches onto the cake I fine in the keg using gelatine. Pour it in the clean keg. Rack the beer on top and purge. Into the fridge to let it lager. First half schooner is junk but after that it's clean and clear. Just don't move the keg otherwise you will rouse some sediment again.

The other option is to rack to secondary with a few points left to FG. I have done that when I had a need to get more batches out quicker. Make sure you do it while it's still actively fermenting though so the yeast can scrub any oxygen.

Edited June 11, 2022 by Greenyinthewestofsydney

[Shamus O'Sean]

9 hours ago, Greenyinthewestofsydney said:

Have fined in the fermenter and reused the yeast. It didn't seem to make a difference to the ferment. Most of time though when I do pitches onto the cake I fine in the keg using gelatine. Pour it in the clean keg. Rack the beer on top and purge. Into the fridge to let it lager. First half schooner is junk but after that it's clean and clear. Just don't move the keg otherwise you will rouse some sediment again.

The other option is to rack to secondary with a few points left to FG. I have done that when I had a need to get more batches out quicker. Make sure you do it while it's still actively fermenting though so the yeast can scrub any oxygen.

Thanks Greeny.  The second option of racking to secondary sounds promising.  As I am planning a total of 4 lagers, I could just about try all the options to see which works best.  Option 1, with the Aussie Lager, will be gelatine in the keg.