saving & reusing yeast
Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 5:21 am
by polski
I know there is a fancier term for it, but i'm trying to figure out how to save and repitch my yeast. How much of the slurry should i save? What should i save it in?
Any tips would be great. I'm also going to check out Jamil's page now as i'm sure there are detailed instructions there.
Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 6:43 am
by Bugeater
I am sure that what you find on Jamil's page is the "correct" way to do it. I do it one of 2 different ways. If I am going to reuse the yeast the same day, I just leave it in the fermenter and siphon the new batch of wort right onto it. This avoids the job of cleaning and sanitizing. I figure the less I handle the yeast, the less chance for contamination. The fermenter was clean enough for the beer just taken out of it so it should still be clean enough for the next batch.
The second way is to simply pour the slurry into a sanitized jar, cover it and stick it in the fridge making sure there is at least 1" of beer on top. How much I same depends on the size of the jar/flask. I usually save at least a pint. This stays good for at least a month. Haven't tried it older than that. When I get a really old one, I just dump it into the boil pot as nutrient for the next batch.
Some people get really anal about acid washing the yeast and all that. That's too much work for me. If the yeast cake looks like it has too much junk in it, I just dump it and start with a fresh yeast.
Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company
Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:47 pm
by bub
Listen the the archives...
Sunday show, 3rd Jamil apperance, October or november of last year.
I was just listening to that archive and Jamil goes quite in depth about it.
BUB
P.S. Also look at the post titled "yeast washing" in this forum.
Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:04 pm
by rich
[Broke-quote]
The second way is to simply pour the slurry into a sanitized jar, cover it and stick it in the fridge making sure there is at least 1" of beer on top. [/Broke-quote]
That's how I do it. My avatar is time-lapse of a slurry settling. The plastic lid of this jar has a whole cut in it to fit a drill stopper w/ airlock. When I'm ready to use it I decant most of the beer off the top, then pitch the whole thing. I don't bother separating the yeast and trub