I have about 2 cups of yeast cake that I salvaged from my dry stout a few weeks ago. I saved it in 2 sanitized mason jars. Just so happens it was WY1084 Irish Ale yeast which I want to use for the Breakfast stout i hope to brew in the next week or so. When I harvested the yeast cake I just poured it into the mason jars and refrigerated it. There doesn’t appear to be any separation of the yeast and trub, just one thick layer and a bit of stout on top.
I’ve watched BTV episode 47 where Dawson does a quick tutorial of yeast washing. So I have a vague idea of how to do it.
The other ‘lazy man’s’ alternative i have is just putting the breakfast stout on top of a cake of US-05 when I rack my black IPA to secondary for dry hopping.
So as the title implies I’d like opinions on how to proceed with this yeast for the iminent fermentation of my breakfast stout. Any and all opinions welcome!
I wash the yeast to eliminate the beer layer. In my opinion the beer could go stale and introduce off flavors if it is pitched to a new wort. I have a 1084 two step starter going right now. Adding sterilized water will give you better separation of the trub and yeast. You will be able to pour off the yeast solution when you see a layer of trub beginning to settle out.
Here are a couple of interesting articles. Obviously not peer-reviewed scientific research, but it’s enough to get me experimenting. I’ve been saving unwashed yeast since the beginning of the year with good results so far.
[quote=“CliffordBrewing”]Here are a couple of interesting articles. Obviously not peer-reviewed scientific research, but it’s enough to get me experimenting. I’ve been saving unwashed yeast since the beginning of the year with good results so far.
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So if I follow this advice I could just pour off the liquid and build a starter with the remains?
[quote=“Nighthawk”]With no scientific basis I’ve been doing as Woodlandbrew suggests for number of years.
I save the yeast in a 1qt mason jar. Then pull out 3-4 spoonfuls and add to a starter.
Doing this 3-4 time. Then discard the yeast and start with a new cake from the last batch made.
Effectively using 1 pack of yeast for 20 beers.
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I washed it just for the experience. Discarbed a small amount of trub and if this is correct a good bit of yeast as well. I now have a full quart of slurry so we’ll see what i have when it settles.
[quote=“dannyboy58”][quote=“Nighthawk”]With no scientific basis I’ve been doing as Woodlandbrew suggests for number of years.
I save the yeast in a 1qt mason jar. Then pull out 3-4 spoonfuls and add to a starter.
Doing this 3-4 time. Then discard the yeast and start with a new cake from the last batch made.
Effectively using 1 pack of yeast for 20 beers.
1111
2222
3333
4444
5555[/quote]
I washed it just for the experience. Discarbed a small amount of trub and if this is correct a good bit of yeast as well. I now have a full quart of slurry so we’ll see what i have when it settles.
3-4 teaspoons or tablespoons?[/quote]
I don’t brew with that much accuracy. :oops:
Depending on how far into the jar I need to reach, I grab a spoon that will reach the yeast. That might be a a large soup spoon or a small sundae spoon with a long handle.
[quote=“Nighthawk”][quote=“dannyboy58”][quote=“Nighthawk”]With no scientific basis I’ve been doing as Woodlandbrew suggests for number of years.
I save the yeast in a 1qt mason jar. Then pull out 3-4 spoonfuls and add to a starter.
Doing this 3-4 time. Then discard the yeast and start with a new cake from the last batch made.
Effectively using 1 pack of yeast for 20 beers.
1111
2222
3333
4444
5555[/quote]
I washed it just for the experience. Discarbed a small amount of trub and if this is correct a good bit of yeast as well. I now have a full quart of slurry so we’ll see what i have when it settles.
3-4 teaspoons or tablespoons?[/quote]
I don’t brew with that much accuracy. :oops:
Depending on how far into the jar I need to reach, I grab a spoon that will reach the yeast. That might be a a large soup spoon or a small sundae spoon with a long handle.[/quote]
+1. I’ve had good success with just pitching the rest of what was in the jar (250ml?) without building a starter.
Just a terminology thing - “washing” yeast implies a pH reduction step (by adding an acid) to kill off most everything but the yeast while “rinsing” yeast is just adding water to the cake and mechanically separating the yeast from the trub.
I tried rinsing a few times, but it doesn’t add anything to the process except time, so I don’t bother now - just split the cake into three jars and either pitch an entire jar to a fermenter or use it to make a 2-3 gallon batch of “beer” (no hops) and then split that up for immediate pitching.
[quote=“Shadetree”]
I tried rinsing a few times, but it doesn’t add anything to the process except time, so I don’t bother now - just split the cake into three jars and either pitch an entire jar to a fermenter or use it to make a 2-3 gallon batch of “beer” (no hops) and then split that up for immediate pitching.[/quote]
Yar, based on Woodlandbrew’s stuff, I’m going to stop rinsing.
When we are talking “jars” of slurry, are we talking pint-sized (16oz) jars? Or are we talking twice that (1 quart, or 32 ounces)?
My guess is that a “normal” amount of “stuff” on the bottom of a fermenter is around 1.25 to 2 quarts.
If I wanted to split it, I would use 3 quart jars. You can use pint jars if you like. This is another one of the many “no right answer” conundrums in home brewing.
[quote=“Nighthawk”]My guess is that a “normal” amount of “stuff” on the bottom of a fermenter is around 1.25 to 2 quarts.
If I wanted to split it, I would use 3 quart jars. You can use pint jars if you like. This is another one of the many “no right answer” conundrums in home brewing.[/quote]
The last batch I harvested from gave me 2 full quart jars of “stuff”. After settling in the fridge there’s maybe a 1/4 inch of beer on top and what I’d estimate as 1000ml+ of cake each. Probably could have gotten more but I didn’t feel like walking upstairs for another mason jar.
In my vast experience (going on 5th AG batch…lol!), I’ve done both a wash and simple harvest. The “washed” jars obviously have much less trub in them. In looking at the amount of stuff that is clearly hop residue in the harvested jars I’m wondering if pitching that one sometime in the future is going to change the flavor of that next brew.
I suppose on those jars I could scoop the yeast vs dumping into a starter. is that what is generally accepted as the way to use harvested vs washed yeast?
[quote=“Kgetch”]In looking at the amount of stuff that is clearly hop residue in the harvested jars I’m wondering if pitching that one sometime in the future is going to change the flavor of that next brew.
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Hasn’t mattered IME. I’ve pitched yeast slurry from brown ales into blonde ales and hoppy into not-hoppy and couldn’t tell the difference.
