Yeast Harvesting

[TimG]

So, going to rack my Green Warrior IPA into the secondary tonight and plan to attempt to harvest my US-04 yeast from the primary.

I am going to follow the directions here:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/yeast- ... ted-41768/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Would appreciate any changes and/or suggestions to the procedure you all might have. Or if there is a totally different way of doing this, I'd love to hear that too.

Thanks

Tim

[sleepyjamie]

I followed the same steps except my mason jars were 1 litre in size. I also used Wyeast forbidden fruit. Ended up with about 8 1 litre mason jars. I'll post some pics later.

[jeffsmith]

I use the 250ml mason jars for my harvesting—nice and small so they take up a lot less space in the fridge. I tend to get 4 to 5 jars of yeast usually from a 5 gallon batch.

[mr x]

I've used that method many times, and it works fine. I've managed to use yeast over two years old.

[GillettBreweryCnslt]

That's what I do as well, if you read further they get into rinsing the yeast to clean them. I've done that when I took the yeast from a dark beer and wanted to have a jar available for a light beer. Other then that I just keep many jars of yeast in the fridge and it works well.

I also like using a growler for my starter, the airlock fits nicely into the mouth of it. I just brewed an IPA last night and pitched a starter I made from yeast that's about a month old.

Dave

[mr x]

Yeah, the growlers work great if you don't have a flask. If I want to be sure they are sterile, I put the whole thing in a big pot and bring it up to boiling, then take it out and let it cool slowly on the stovetop.

I've even laid them on their side and filled with just enough water not to spill out, and microwaved until boiling...

[derek]

I use the 250ml mason jars for my harvesting—nice and small so they take up a lot less space in the fridge. I tend to get 4 to 5 jars of yeast usually from a 5 gallon batch.

I notice the author said "pint" jars, but appears to have used small jam jars

[BBrianBoogie]

That's what I do as well, if you read further they get into rinsing the yeast to clean them. I've done that when I took the yeast from a dark beer and wanted to have a jar available for a light beer. Other then that I just keep many jars of yeast in the fridge and it works well.

I also like using a growler for my starter, the airlock fits nicely into the mouth of it. I just brewed an IPA last night and pitched a starter I made from yeast that's about a month old.

Dave

No need for an airlock on a starter. More oxygen is better when it comes to starters. I use saran wrap and and a rubber band, and shake the hell out of it whenever I walk by. It allows for better O2, and healthier cell walls on the yeast.

[Jayme]

Stir plates are very helpful for yeast starters too. If anyone ever need some 12V fans to build one... I have some to get rid of.

[JEH]

Hey guys,
I made a yeast starter yesterday at 1pm or so. Do you think im fine to brew this afternoon and use it, or should I wait til tomorrow?
thanks
Jon

[akr71]

Hey guys,
I made a yeast starter yesterday at 1pm or so. Do you think im fine to brew this afternoon and use it, or should I wait til tomorrow?
thanks
Jon

Get your brew on! You'll be fine - more than fine if the starter is at high krausen. Besides, if you are brewing this afternoon, you likely won't be pitching until late afternoon/early evening.

[KMcK]

I tend to treat it like a beer and give it a week so that the yeast can digest a lot of malt and multiply greatly.

[jeffsmith]

I'm with Andy on this one. 24 hours should be more than enough time. If you can see a nice thick white sludge of yeast at the bottom of your growler (or whatever you're using for your starter), pitch away! I usually make my starters about 36 hours in advance, unless I'm planning to step it up for a really big beer.

[JEH]

Sweet, thanks guys!
Yeah your right Andy, by the time I pitch it will be close to 30 hours. I'm sure it can't be any worse than just pitching the smack pack without making a starter.
Thanks again,
-Jon

[TimG]

So I've had good luck harvesting some US-04 I used on a batch in June:



What I'm wondering is, do you think I can decant off most of the liquid, shake it up, but then only use 'half' of the slurry for my starter? There looks to be a good amount of yeast to start with..

The reason I ask is that I'd like to start skipping a transfer to the secondary, but I also like pounding the dry hops to my IPA's.. so it'll make it tough to harvest the yeast for next time. If I only use half the jar, I can then keep the other half for the next starter.

Thoughts?

[mr x]

I think you are better off to start splitting the yeast into two jars. Once that jar is opened, I would be nervous to try and save that yeast, unless I was going to give it a wash with CLO2 first.

[jeffsmith]

I'm not sure on this one. I usually end up using the whole jar (though I usually have about half the amount of yeast). I wonder if there would be any implications of having the yeast in the fridge with a ¾ or more empty jar. Would the trapped oxygen have any adverse effect?

I've started skipping a secondary for the most part too, though when I dry hop, I still do the transfer. I like to try and harvest at least the first 3 or 4 generations of yeast and as you mentioned, dry hopping on the yeast cake makes that pretty difficult.

[TimG]

Ya.. I did get a few jars of yeast from the initial harvesting. I guess I'll just use up my harvest and not bother harvesting when I dry hop.. and then just do a secondary transfer (or a non dry hopped beer) so I can harvest again.