Just now making a second batch with the original packet of WY2206. First pitched it into an Oktoberfest in May, harvested it, stored it, and repitched into a Helles last week (fermenting great). Can I get another beer out of it if I harvest again off the helles? At what point does it go bad or pick up too many off flavors? Was going to immediately harvest into a bock if I can safely do it.
You will likely get answers ranging from 3x to 30x before the yeast cannot be reused. Using it this third time should be no problem although the common wisdom is to gradually move towards higher gravity beers as you reuse the same yeast.
I’ve been using reharvested yeast from the same package of 2206 for two years and about 5-6 generations of pitching. I have not yet noticed any problems with flavor or viability, and in fact each pitch seems to give stronger results.
I’ve gone to five generations so far. I plan to save enough of the 6th gen yeast to continue reusing in smaller batches to determine when to stop reusing. All my reused yeast have done amazing! I would tend to stop reusing after five generations. That’ll yield 121 batches of ale with 1 yeast pack.
