I have only reused yeast for up to three generations in beers between 1.060 and 1.052 SG. However, I have some 1056 which I would like to use to make the AG Dead Ringer IPA. I have taken notes on all of my fermentations and the yeast has not produced any off-flavors which would make me think it is not going bad and it has been attenuating very well.
Would you recommend using the 1056 for a fourth time or buying another smack pack and dumping the yeast?
Cheers!
I too don’t go past 3X but that’s because I don’t wash mine. I’d say go for it.
I’ve gone up to 6 times unwashed with no ill effects. I just collect a thick slurry from the middle layer of the yeast cake. A half pint for 10 gallon ales & a pint for 10 gallon lagers seems to do the trick. I try to plan the brews with the lower OG’s up first (1.050’s) & then finish off with the stronger ones. YMMV. Cheers!!!
same here, or you can save and split the cake along the way, anytime its a stronger beer that yeast gets dumped. I usually only buy yeast a few times a year tops this way.
I usually save the cake, wash, keep it in two pitchable fractions, and make at least one “stock tube”. The pitchable fractions are used as such: use one, collect that cake, use again, take the other fraction and repeat. After that I rarely use the same yeast strain again for a while, but when I want to use it again, I just go to the stock tube, streak out a sample, pick colony and raise another culture. That way you have a bank of the original pure yeast with no mutations etc that you can come back to for years and years. Saves you a ton on buying yeast (which I haven’t done in years unless I want to get a new strain that’s not in my collection).
After 4 generations I figure that I have gotten my money’s worth.
Go for #4…if you brewed the first three cleanly, you should have no problem. These days I play it safe and stop at 7 or 8 repitches before I re-culture but I have no doubt that I could go more (with some strains, in my more adventurous days I’ve taken it well past 12 re-pitches with no negative effects whatsoever).
I practice yeast rinsing not full washing. I usually end up with 6 or so pint jars with a nice slightly less than 1/2 inch cookie (yeast) in the bottom. I equate these to “one yeast starter” when using Mr. Malty and have had no problems running out to the 3rd gen. I am seriosly considering running my current yeast (Denny’s 50) out further just to see if I can see any affect simply due to the complete lack of any problems at gen 3. I am open to dire predictions of disaster though 
Barry
Thanks for all of the responses; I plan to use my rinsed 1056 one last time with the Dead Ringer IPA!
Cheers!
It varies with the strain and style but I’ve pushed wyeast 1272 through 16 batches without noticing much drift. There are some strains that I think don’t even reach their stride until 6 or so life cycles. I remember a reference in brew like a monk to a brewery that reused their yeast +180 times. Now that was an eye opener!
Exactly.
For a while I was routinely taking my house yeast through 20+ generations, and certain commercial yeasts for almost as many gens as well.
Harvested gen 3 of Denny’s 50 last night. Gonna keep on truckin’ till I see some kind of degredation/drift. Although it is time to pick up a new yeast just for variety’s sake.
Barry
Agreed that some yeasts take a couple generations to really hit their “sweet spot”, but some are not likely to be used right away, so I dump some without reuse if I hit a lull in brewing (like when all vessels are full)!
Always sample your first beer before re-pitching that yeast, in case any off favors have arisen.
:cheers:
[quote=“ynotbrusum”]Always sample your first beer before re-pitching that yeast, in case any off favors have arisen.
:cheers: [/quote]
Good point.
A few days before a scheduled brew, I also always take a taste sample of the liquid the stored yeast it sitting on in the flask (whether water or beer). In doing that, I generally know right away if it’s ready for another go-round.
I brewed the Dead Ringer and pitched my fourth generation 1056 but the airlock was hardly bubbling and no krausen was developing. I went and picked up a new pack of 1056, aerated the wort, and pitched the new 1056; now I have a nice fermentation going. Perhaps I should have used a starter with my rinsed yeast but I harvested it only a week prior to using it so I figured it would be fine. I have never experienced such a long lag time between pitching and fermentation, got a little worried. Anyways, all is well know.
I have been thinking of doing a Double IPA OG 1.086 and thinking of using the Dead Ringer yeast cake, would this work? I have never used a yeast cake because I have heard of the issue with flavors carrying over but if I do another IPA I do not foresee any issues. My only worry is I have some fourth generation 1056 and new 1056 in the Dead Ringer now, would the older yeast cause problems? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers!
[quote=“Shenanigans”]I have been thinking of doing a Double IPA OG 1.086 and thinking of using the Dead Ringer yeast cake, would this work?[/quote]Use a 1/3 to a 1/2 of the cake, not the whole thing (you want some yeast growth for flavor contributions).
Awesome, thanks for the reply shadetree! I am looking forward to making it.
What is the procedure for getting out part of the yeast cake from a carboy? I have rinsed yeast before but never used a yeast cake. Do you just pour part of the cake into a sanitized jar?
I still rinse even if I’m using the cake on brewday. I like clean, sanitized equipment…
Harvest the yeast into a large container like normal and then when you’re ready to pitch, only pitch half and pour the other half in a smaller container.
[quote=“ynotbrusum”]Agreed that some yeasts take a couple generations to really hit their “sweet spot”, but some are not likely to be used right away, so I dump some without reuse if I hit a lull in brewing (like when all vessels are full)!
Always sample your first beer before re-pitching that yeast, in case any off favors have arisen.
:cheers: [/quote]
Hear that. I’ve got some wlp833 bock lager in a few jars in the fridge that I harvested a couple months ago now…I need to use it! But I just don’t feel like waiting for lagers right now. I need another chest freezer so I can do lagers in one, ales in the other.
