Re-using yeast

Northern Brewer General
1

Here are a few pictures concerning my latest adventures in re-using yeast/ yeast washing. I know the top layer is beer and water and that the very bottom is trub. I suppose that means that the middle layer (white creamy layer) is the yeast.

When pitching next week I plan on letting the container come up to room temperature, decanting off top liquid, and then pitching yeast into degree appropriate wort. How many of those containers do I need to use for a modest beer (og = 1.040)? Also, would it be alright if some of the trub from the previous batch made it in?

Thanks,

David

2

Pictures are sitting sideways. I think you all still get the idea.

3

It’ hard to tell by your pics. Let it settle down a little bit.

4

I “right clicked” “view image” and was able to see a good photo.

I would decant, swirl it and pitch the whole thing. Not worrying about the the trub on the bottom.

5

Been settling since Sunday and has been sitting in the fridge since.

6

[quote=“Nighthawk”]I “right clicked” “view image” and was able to see a good photo.

I would decant, swirl it and pitch the whole thing. Not worrying about the the trub on the bottom.[/quote]

+1. No problems.

Is it just me or is there a sudden explosion of “reusing yeast” topics on like every board?

7

Perhaps the topic exploded LOL

Well, it is the only 1 thing that can really be re-used batch to batch for many many batches.
Hops, grain, extract, etc… are all one time use items, but harvesting yeast is where some good savings can be made!

8

[quote=“Dimik”]…
Is it just me or is there a sudden explosion of “reusing yeast” topics on like every board?[/quote]

LOL…I noticed that too!

It’s great to see more folks getting hip to the idea. Ever since I was first prompted to try it years ago, I’ve come to regard the idea of buying new yeast for every batch of beer a bit silly and a totally unnecessary expense (especially for folks that brew frequently).
After all, even the simplest ‘decant and save’ method --with no washing or rinsing–could (should) yield between 5 to 10 brews if good sanitation is in place and each subsequent slurry is re-used in a reasonable amount of time.

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Right. or even just adding wort to freshly racked carboy with a cake in it just 1 time, cuts your yeast expense in half.

10

I had brewed big honkin and bb porter in may. In early june, i racked bbp onto oak while i had a batch of slobber cooling, then dumped the slobber onto the bbp cake. Came out great, although I meant to use the big honkin cake, as it uses the same yeast as slobber. I also screwed up the hop additions for the slobber, so it was a custom batch. We kegged it, and served it on the hush at a resturant to those in the know. We called it Speak Easy Brown…

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Just trying to brew on a budget! Every little bit helps!

12

Little hard to tell from the pics but typically if you rinse the yeast once to remove the majority of the trub you will have more than enough yeast for fermentation of a batch in the .060 to .070 range.

MrMalty says 114 ml or about 4 oz slurry for a gravity of 1.065. I think you have 4 shot glasses worth of slurry in the bottom of one of them containers.

And Yeast washing is one of the greatest ways to save money on brews, i almost always wash and save yeast. Especially when i get a pack of Denny’s Fav 50 because it is not always available locally to me. If you are using the yeast within a week i wouldnt even worry about a starter, but past that it is not a bad idea to mix up 1L starter to wake up the yeast before you pitch it into 5 gal.