I had another post this week and I mentioned washing yeast, but had never tried it. Well, racked my AIPA to secondary and dry hopped it, and thought… What the heck? GrBbed a couple mason jars, watched a YouTube video, boiled some water, and I harvested a considerable amount of US-05 slurry.
It was easy, and is gonna save me a couple bucks. If you haven’t done it and have been considering it, give it go!
Why not just save the yeast without rinsing? I’ve done it with and without rinsing and I didn’t see any difference.
Highly considered that, but then got freaked out by the amount of trub/hop matter.
The beer had a massive amount of hops. So much, that my boil kettle clogged and I hade to siphon into fermenter. That said, I brought like 90% of the hop matter into the fermenter too. I wanted my first harvested yeast project to go well and I’ve read the debates RE: whether or not hop matter in harvested yeast affects flavor, so I decided to play it safe.
Had it been a beer without a boatload of hops, probably would’ve just taken the whole shebang. Next time…
Highly considered that, but then got freaked out by the amount of trub/hop matter.
The beer had a massive amount of hops. So much, that my boil kettle clogged and I hade to siphon into fermenter. That said, I brought like 90% of the hop matter into the fermenter too. I wanted my first harvested yeast project to go well and I’ve read the debates RE: whether or not hop matter in harvested yeast affects flavor, so I decided to play it safe.
Had it been a beer without a boatload of hops, probably would’ve just taken the whole shebang. Next time…[/quote]
Your choice. When I use pellets, almost all of them go into the fermenter. I’ve never had an issue reusing the yeast from a fermentation like that.
I do it all the time without washing with excellent results. I’d go one step further and say that quite often, I don’t even remove the yeast cake from the primary. I just dump the new beer directly into the freshly siphoned primary from the previous batch.
I’ve found that I prefer the beer I make when I use only 1/3-1/2 of the previous slurry. Allowing for some cell growth reduces ester production.
I’ve found that I prefer the beer I make when I use only 1/3-1/2 of the previous slurry. Allowing for some cell growth reduces ester production.[/quote]
That’s how I’ve always done it too… 1/3 of the slurry for most beers, and 1/2 for the stronger ones or if the slurry has been stored for more than 4 weeks or so. The remainder gets dumped into the boil to serve as food for the fermentation (a trick I learned from Fuller’s).
Also, Denny is right (as per usual 
)…rinsing/washing the yeast is an unnecessary step, even through multiple generations (assuming that sanitation is correctly practiced).
I’ve found that I prefer the beer I make when I use only 1/3-1/2 of the previous slurry. Allowing for some cell growth reduces ester production.[/quote]
That’s how I’ve always done it too… 1/3 of the slurry for most beers, and 1/2 for the stronger ones or if the slurry has been stored for more than 4 weeks or so. The remainder gets dumped into the boil to serve as food for the fermentation (a trick I learned from Fuller’s).
Also, Denny is right (as per usual )…rinsing/washing the yeast is an unnecessary step, even through multiple generations (assuming that sanitation is correctly practiced).[/quote]
+1. I’ve had rinsed yeast go bad in a mason jar. Smells HORRIBLE! I’ve since done a lot of reading and switched to not rinsing. I just swirl the carboy with a little of the left over beer and pour it into a few large mason jars. So far, I haven’t had any issues with this method.
I’ve found that I prefer the beer I make when I use only 1/3-1/2 of the previous slurry. Allowing for some cell growth reduces ester production.[/quote]True but I did not say that. I usually work my way up to bigger beers so I use the appropriate amount.
I’ve found that I prefer the beer I make when I use only 1/3-1/2 of the previous slurry. Allowing for some cell growth reduces ester production.[/quote]True but I did not say that. I usually work my way up to bigger beers so I use the appropriate amount.[/quote]
Yeah, knowing your beers, that’s what I kinda assumed. I was just making a more general comment.
