Q: How to use the yeast from a 7 day brew for today's brew?

Yeast & Fermentation
1

I brewed today, knowing I had no yeast on hand, but also knowing I have a beer that I started 7 days ago (US05 dry). Its fermentation has slowed down, so the yeast should be fairly settled, yet still in good shape. I don’t really want to rack it to secondary, I normally leave in primary bucket for ~ 3 weeks, then bottle/keg.

Both beers are mid gravity pale-ale types (040~050), and similar enough that I’m not worried about any flavor carry-through. I was thinking of just sanitizing a long handled ladle, dipping to the bottom and scooping up some dregs and dumping it into the fresh wort. That seems simpler than any kind of tube/siphon/suck that might get clogged. Simpler is better?

FWIW, I no-chilled these beers, and I dump everything from the BK to the fermentor. So there is hot break, cold break, warm break, coffee break, disk brakes, dead birds, etc in the fermentor. I use hop bags, so minimal hop residue. And the new brew is already in the fermentor, chilling on my porch to pitch tonight.

Any ideas on how much to scoop up? I figured a couple cups should do the trick, considering the amount of trub in there?

Any reason I shouldn’t do this, versus making a 40 minute round trip to the brew store?

PS - I normally keep an extra pack or two of US05 on hand, but the LHBS was out, so those two extras were used on my last two brews.

-kenc

2

[quote=“kenc_zymurgy”]I brewed today, knowing I had no yeast on hand, but also knowing I have a beer that I started 7 days ago (US05 dry). Its fermentation has slowed down, so the yeast should be fairly settled, yet still in good shape. I don’t really want to rack it to secondary, I normally leave in primary bucket for ~ 3 weeks, then bottle/keg.

Both beers are mid gravity pale-ale types (040~050), and similar enough that I’m not worried about any flavor carry-through. I was thinking of just sanitizing a long handled ladle, dipping to the bottom and scooping up some dregs and dumping it into the fresh wort. That seems simpler than any kind of tube/siphon/suck that might get clogged. Simpler is better?

FWIW, I no-chilled these beers, and I dump everything from the BK to the fermentor. So there is hot break, cold break, warm break, coffee break, disk brakes, dead birds, etc in the fermentor. I use hop bags, so minimal hop residue. And the new brew is already in the fermentor, chilling on my porch to pitch tonight.

Any ideas on how much to scoop up? I figured a couple cups should do the trick, considering the amount of trub in there?

Any reason I shouldn’t do this, versus making a 40 minute round trip to the brew store?

PS - I normally keep an extra pack or two of US05 on hand, but the LHBS was out, so those two extras were used on my last two brews.

-kenc[/quote]

I had to do this one time with a lager yeast, as I couldn’t top crop. I used a sanitized autosiphon and once I started going, I kind of moved it around on the bottom of the fermenter to grab as much sediment as possible. I would recommend doing a quick rinse on the yeast to separate it out from the trub (google yeast rinsing/washing). I grabbed about 2 cups worth, but I had pre-rinsed so I racking primarily yeast. If I were you I would try to pull about a quart’s worth of sediment, then rinse. If you can, make a quick starter the morning of your next brewday.

I don’t see any reason why a ladle wouldn’t work, other than once you ‘scoop’, it will diffuse out of the ladle cup when you are bringing it back up through the fermenter.

If you don’t have an autosiphon, maybe try just a piece of hosing (again all sanitized) with a turkey baster to start the flow on the other end.

3

[quote=“kenc_zymurgy”] I don’t really want to rack it to secondary, I normally leave in primary bucket for ~ 3 weeks, then bottle/keg.[/quote]It may be a bit more work, but I think this is your best option - rack the beer into a fresh bucket, harvest some yeast, then add the rest of the cake back.

4

Woodlandbrew has some interesting stuff on viability of yeast in various layers of trub which to me seems to indicate that washing yeast is not so necessary. So, I think I would just scoop up a qts. worth of trub and pitch away. Seems like it would be similar to scooping the trub at the end of 3 weeks primary.And fresher besides. Let us know how it works out.

5

Thanks for the feedback - the deed is done!

I ended up using the ladle - boy did that feel un-scientific! Mr Malty would not approve!

The biggest problem was I didn’t account for the fact that you really can’t scoop at much of an angle in a tall bucket, so it was tough to get much. The first few scoops picked up a decent amount, and most of it stayed in while I lifted it slowly, but each scoop picked up less, until I probably dispersed the yeast/trub all throughout the beer.

But I’m figuring this yeast should be quite healthy. I have a good seal on the lid, so hopefully I’ll see some airlock activity in the AM. I think I’ve finally graduated to RDWHAHB with this one!

But the APA I scooped from sure smelled good, and it still has a dry-hop to go. mmmmmmm.

If I do this again, I will transfer and use the cake - the ladling was not a big confidence builder.

I saw that Woodland Brewing info - yes, very interesting. Ahh, here’s the link

http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/1 ... posed.html

[quote]Common brewing wisdom indicates that the top portion is mostly water, the light colored middle section contains viable yeast, and the darker bottom contains dead yeast, hops, and other debris. However, it seems that this in not the case.

The viability throughout the container is roughly the same.[/quote]

I will report back - kenc

6

Woke up this morning to an airlock going ~ 1 bubble per second. So as crude as this was, it appears to have got the job done. I will just transfer or siphon next time, though.

Thanks all - :cheers: -kenc

7

just got to love an experiment that turns out OK :cheers: