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How to Rinse Yeast for Reuse Collect yeast solids from fermentation. Place yeast in sanitized (or better yet, sterile) container with water. The water volume should be around 4-5X that of the yeast. A cylindrical, tall container with a screw-on cap works well. Leave some headspace for air for shaking. Seal the container. Shake vigorously. Really ...

I started cropping and repitching from my third batch ever. It is not hard at all, actually results in better beer, saves money, and is kinda fun. You get to use flasks and pour stuff back and forth and rub your chin and look wise. This article from the Wyeast people is geared toward commercial breweries, but I learned a lot about cropping from it. I ...

I have tried both methods repeatedly and don't really see any difference. I have stored yeast with trub up to 5 months and have gotten great results reusing it once I made a starter. I recently made back to back batches of rye IPA, one with yeast mixed with trub, the other from the same yeast slurry that had been rinsed. There was no difference in either ...

I used to pitch on cake but then started repitching less of the yeast. I'd say its better to grab a sanitize quart jar and pitch a small slug of the cake. Aerate your wort as usual and pitch the slug of yeast. This is the easiest way to reuse if you brew at the same time as racking something else over. You'll get some cell growth which is important for ...

In short, depending on the age of the cake there should be no need to re-aerate the wort for growth purposes. Using the full on yeast cake will make fine beer without the need of extra O2 for yeast growth. The downside to this practice is that without some active reproduction going on you don't always get the true flavor profile of the yeast in the beer. ...

I'd not heard of yeast scarring before, so I researched a bit. From Replicative ageing and senescence in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the impact on brewing fermentations Ageing is the predetermined progressive transition of an individual cell from youth to old age that finally culminates in death. Yeast replicative ageing is a function of the ...

Keep in mind that what applies to a commercial operation often has no applicability to homebrewing. Most homebrewers I know who have tried acid washing their yeast end up deciding that it's a PITA for little to no payback. In addition, unless you have a lab, the more you mess with your yeast the greater the chance of contamination. While the theory you ...

If you're concerned about using good practice, you really shouldn't rack fresh wort onto a used yeast cake. The trub contains a lot more than just healthy yeast, and doing this doesn't allow you to control your pitch rate. I know that doesn't really answer the question, but it seems that your general procedure leaves more room for error than the oxygen ...

The pitch rate for lagers is generally twice that of an ale. However, pitching onto a used yeast cake generally results in overpitching by a factor of around 100. Overpitching by this amount is never recommended. In any case, it does make beer, and works for both ales and lagers with the same effects.

Yes, I have saved tons of money by growing my own yeast. It just takes a little planning and time. Slants or glycol storage are going to be your best bet. Get a pressure cooker to acts as a makeshift auto-clave for sterilization. With some yeasts coming in at $6-$9 a vial, this will help you get the most out of that money. In fact I have pulled proprietary ...

From White Labs Yeast Storage and Maintenance: As yeast sit in storage, they consume their glycogen reserves. Glycogen deprivation weakens their cell walls, and makes them more susceptible to rupture. Cold temperatures retard this process, but you want to avoid freezing yeast, as ice crystals will also rupture cells. The ideal storage ...

I've been listening to Basic Brewing Radio. Here are some episodes about reusing yeast. November 1st, 2007 Reusing yeast February 7th, 2008 Advanced yeast handling February 26th, 2009 Carboy top-cropping September 3rd, 2009 Yeast Ranching October 27th, November 3rd, November 10th, 2005 Interviews with Dave Logsdon of WYeast

Storing yeast in the fridge (i.e. above 0C/32F) is great if you can use the yeast within a few weeks, or a couple of months at the most. Any longer than that, and cells will die and the yeast becomes less viable, Then, a starter is required to step up the cell count to ensure you pitch enough viable cells. An alternative is storing the yeast in a 25-30% ...

Dry yeast will be fine at room temperature for a short period. However, I'd be concerned about pitching rates and contamination. Did you weigh out the yeast before, so that you pitched 5-6g? If you only eyeballed it, then it might we way off, since pouring a quantity from the sachet is difficult - the sachet isn't full to begin with. If you weighed it, or ...

These gravities are pretty close together so it doesn't really matter much which you brew first. As long as the yeast is sitting in the base of the fermentor as a tight cake you can pull more than enough beer out without it effecting the next one too much. And you don't need to pitch the whole cake, just half a pint or so. I have done this with good ...

A krausen is created mostly from coagulating proteins and high yeast activity. You may still get a krausen at ale temps with the lager yeast due to the level of activity, but in general it's hit and miss how much yeast you get from top cropping, even more so with a bottom fermenting strain. In your shoes, I would divide the smack pack yeast between two ...

You don't necessarily need to make a starter if you are re-pitching within a few weeks because the viability of the yeast will still be pretty high. But, if you store the yeast for much time you should always make a starter. This ensures that the yeast is still viable and it will help ensure the yeast are active so you don't have a long lag time during ...

The bottom layer contains more trub, but does also contain yeast. The top layer is formed after the majority of the trub has already settled, so it's more or less pure yeast on top. You don't have too much - actually the opposite. It's best to make a starter - even though it looks like a lot of yeast, it will be vastly underpitched in a 5 gallon brew. I'd ...

I don't think the process of commercially drying yeast is straightforward - it involves a partial vacuum or a stream of filtered air to make the liquid suspending the yeast evaporate faster - and it's probably difficult to reach the levels of hygiene required in a homebrew setting. If you want to preserve yeast for a long period, 1 year or more, you can ...

Store the yeast at normal fridge temps, but keep it away from the top shelf where the coldest air comes out of the vents (although its not the coldest part of the fridge). The bottom of the fridge is the coldest spot and stuff is less likely to freezer there. Secondly, the optimum storage medium in the fridge is water. After you take a sample of yeast ...

Well, the easiest way to re-use yeast is to brew a new batch on the same day that you're transferring another batch into kegs/bottles and then rack the new wort onto the leftover yeast cake. Bam. You've re-used yeast. At home, I have a handful of Erlenmeyer flasks and extra stoppers. Basically what I do is make a mini-starter with the yeast that's ...

No, there is no danger in leaving it longer and getting more separation. If anything, it means you get even more yeast, although the amount is only a few percent. If there is a lot of trub, then you may want to pour off the yeast into a different vessel to separate it from the trub. The trub falls quickest, so this will be at the bottom of your jar. Store ...

What is a "good" amount of yeast? Did you use a starter/re-pitch? Regardless I've scores of batches with White Labs WLP810 (which should be pretty much the same strain) and conclude it may take patience... When I lost one of my lagering units, I decided to re-visit this yeast. I like the temperature flexibility/tolerance and often fermented at 59-60F. I ...

Just a comment. The intense privacy of brewers has faded over time as legitimate strains of mosts yeasts have been made public. Typically, the brewers who sought intense privacy would need to pasturize then bottle condition with another strain prior to distribution. Look for ales specifically, that bottle condition and are organic, made in the US. ...

A friend of mine does this all the time. I've only done it once because I usually don't brew similar beers that close together. But now that my brew-partner and I are trying to perfect a single recipe, we're considering reusing brewing a new batch on bottling day, so we can re-use the yeast. Just chill your wort and pour it right over the yeast, that should ...

I don't have definitive evidence one way or another, but here's my thoughts on the matter. The two or three times I have pitched onto an existing yeast cake, I have always followed my standard aeration procedure and things have been fine. Good fermentation, etc. My thought is this: If you are going to pitch on an existing yeast cake (setting arguments ...

In theory, baring any outside influence in a completely 100% sterile environment, a yeast strain would be good to use over and over again. The issue arises with sterility and outside contamination. I personally don't feel that there is an exact number as to how many times it can be done simply due to the fact that every situation is different and every time ...

Once again, I wholeheartedly disagree with Denny. Usually when homebrewers are talking about reusing yeast and trub, they're referring to the practice of fermenting new wort on an old yeast cake. This topic has come up several times before - you can search for "yeast cake" to see a few examples, but I think the general consensus here is that reusing the ...

It is generally recommended to brew low-gravity beers before higher-gravity ones when re-pitching yeast. It is often said that you should also pitch light before dark beers. I asked a question about this recently. Color transfer isn't usually a problem, but you should pitch low- to high-gravity. With this in mind, I would brew the Scottish Export first, ...

I've used rehydrated US-05 for my last 4 batches. The typical room ambient is ~61-63 degrees. I typically pitch when my fermometer reads are 63-65, and the yeast take off within 6-8 hours. For the active portion of fermentation, the fermometer typically reads between 67-69. Being that this yeast is spec'd on the low end at 59 you should be okay. You ...