Harvesting yeast - where's the yeast?

Tal Orbach

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I've been harvesting yeast for a while, but I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing.
Yesterday, I kegged a batch and harvested everything from the bottom of the fermenter.
Now, I look at the jars, after they'd set there for a while, and it seems like there's just beer and trub, and no clear yeast layer.
Is this OK? Is there anything I'm supposed to do now?
54VFNrqFB8IWRChtUBsJ7bUQZPbAgNloYYvK9GvyUg1DS5lfMAsMfoOLz3bySCxaxEA-R7UizYHiOZO-Lu-Gtput7Fn-fy4bNIgCj1V3RAlVeEmatwhpt3oYONHqT_-jIrN-dApl1-5VKFpYyBphp_SM_POAuyWET-FMv6ppJTFhSw8VlXgjZijBhjDByWvbuBGAvhvp9jqO4RhCU7UtlkMtWoD_iu3czzWOakOWdOnDiO2mDmAP-INI-MwY_jaJzKiGA6nCY175xMdXFh0wioZ7MyHE83nJ0c8WuMleStFcHhLUdIxLWlgKcmuMCqkOtyVkmwIgKX5wz2xm-sw5mrcVQed7cjv43pW3XaS7z_sNK9NtVBjQiOQy6gbIUb9eRLRyiE21gDmdra7XoyJjrmcHm7ilaz6YJ_KCAa2NGgk3QIwAB4vcNMyZZw9PVJlmIuq6cDcryQ0tc0h5vwC7Eo79GuA89kUo61vz2Rnkg4Nhw8J1Q4UulwnwODCza7Ww6kOjEF_Uwc7kSfqI4-0_Np69UD4UwWhQq_N-SmAhdtSQ4Y6xKXopU0NcJDRm3IfO4N6fTEOIgjDPxGVVAYe-d61TLLTTXAw3SQWMIMETXNkmb2R4uKFxSzfSO4mT0D9rYnNq_Yo9BxKi3YCqfIMkvd6r0ZeyXB_O=w944-h708-no
 
Can rinsing be done later on?
What I mean is - can I collect the slurry, keep it in the fridge, and perform the rinsing process at a later date (maybe after a couple of weeks or so)?
 
Can rinsing be done later on?
What I mean is - can I collect the slurry, keep it in the fridge, and perform the rinsing process at a later date (maybe after a couple of weeks or so)?
Easier just to split your initial yeast, that way you don’t have to deal with yeast that’s been through a brew and has a ton of trub with it.
 
Easier just to split your initial yeast, that way you don’t have to deal with yeast that’s been through a brew and has a ton of trub with it.
Do you mean to split the first generation, before pitching (i.e. pitch just half of the store-bought yeast)?
 
Do you mean to split the first generation, before pitching (i.e. pitch just half of the store-bought yeast)?

Yep! Just make a double size starter, pitch half to your wort, and keep the rest to do the exact same thing with your next brew.
 
Yep! Just make a double size starter, pitch half to your wort, and keep the rest to do the exact same thing with your next brew.
So that's a fine piece of advice, and I thank you for it, but it does not answer my question about rinsing the yeast from the slurry that I already collected.
 
So that's a fine piece of advice, and I thank you for it, but it does not answer my question about rinsing the yeast from the slurry that I already collected.
Well we kind of tangented (if that’s a word), off subject with my alternative proposal. Unfortunately, I have not harvested yeast post a brew fermentation session, so others will have to chime in on their comments/suggestions. Fear not, someone will be by soon to pick up where I left off.

Cheers!
 
You know you can also collect the yeast off the top of fermentation with a cleaned spoon at high krausen its called "top cropping". Try googling yeast washing too it will yeild some good results for you to check out Tal. You know you dont even need tp "wash" your yeast just dump the slurry into your next batch a beer.
Now remember cleanliness and sanitation is king with helping culturing clean yeast. I've gone a few generations just fine and actually was watching a YouTube video the other day where this Scandinavian dude repitched 34/70 for over 20 generations and used same fermentation vessel for over a year without cleaning it out :eek::D! Cool eh
If using your slurry then use the yeast pitch calculator in the recipie editor to find the right amount of slurry to pitch. Cheers.
 
I've been harvesting yeast for a while, but I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing.
Yesterday, I kegged a batch and harvested everything from the bottom of the fermenter.
Now, I look at the jars, after they'd set there for a while, and it seems like there's just beer and trub, and no clear yeast layer.
Is this OK? Is there anything I'm supposed to do now?
54VFNrqFB8IWRChtUBsJ7bUQZPbAgNloYYvK9GvyUg1DS5lfMAsMfoOLz3bySCxaxEA-R7UizYHiOZO-Lu-Gtput7Fn-fy4bNIgCj1V3RAlVeEmatwhpt3oYONHqT_-jIrN-dApl1-5VKFpYyBphp_SM_POAuyWET-FMv6ppJTFhSw8VlXgjZijBhjDByWvbuBGAvhvp9jqO4RhCU7UtlkMtWoD_iu3czzWOakOWdOnDiO2mDmAP-INI-MwY_jaJzKiGA6nCY175xMdXFh0wioZ7MyHE83nJ0c8WuMleStFcHhLUdIxLWlgKcmuMCqkOtyVkmwIgKX5wz2xm-sw5mrcVQed7cjv43pW3XaS7z_sNK9NtVBjQiOQy6gbIUb9eRLRyiE21gDmdra7XoyJjrmcHm7ilaz6YJ_KCAa2NGgk3QIwAB4vcNMyZZw9PVJlmIuq6cDcryQ0tc0h5vwC7Eo79GuA89kUo61vz2Rnkg4Nhw8J1Q4UulwnwODCza7Ww6kOjEF_Uwc7kSfqI4-0_Np69UD4UwWhQq_N-SmAhdtSQ4Y6xKXopU0NcJDRm3IfO4N6fTEOIgjDPxGVVAYe-d61TLLTTXAw3SQWMIMETXNkmb2R4uKFxSzfSO4mT0D9rYnNq_Yo9BxKi3YCqfIMkvd6r0ZeyXB_O=w944-h708-no
I also haven't done that many batches, so this isn't based on a lot of thinking or observing, but to me the contribution of the original harvested beer and solids is so small that I can't detect it. I don't harvest from the bigger ABV or dry hop beers though.

And I can't see the image in the original post. But I don't see the obvious layers of beer, yeast and trub in the yeast I harvest either.
 
There are many ways to harvest yeast for future use. I am no expert, I have only made one attempt so far. What I can tell you is that if you google harvesting yeast, there are numerous videos to view. Everyone has there own unique process. I attempted harvesting yeast last weekend, not sure how it went yet.
 
I use the method shown in this video.
I find that I can get very clean yeast using this method, and because I can let the yeast settle while I bottle, it doesn't really add any time to my bottling day. You generally want to do the rinsing when you transfer your beer out of the fermenter, not really something to be done at a later date.
 
Here are some pictures of how I harvested yeast recently. I have no idea really what to do with it mind you. I first boiled the mason jars for about 10 or 15 minutes then filled them all with the boiled sterilized water and let it cool. Once cooled I added the water from the three large jars to the carboy. I swirled and mixed it all up until nothing was sticking to the bottom of the carboy. I then set it on its side and let the trub settle for about 15-20 minutes. I then poured off the liquid from the top of the trub (as best I could) back into the three large jars. After letting them settle out for about 1.5 hours, I decanted them off into the three smaller jars. I have no idea how you know, or how I could figure out how many yeast cells I collected. I suspect that when I decide to use this yeast that I would decant most of the liquid off, swirl up real good and add the contents to a starter...
The last two pictures are after 1 week refrigerated, I have three jars like this.
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IMG_20190317_1525280~(1)~(1).jpg

IMG_20190317_1704317~(1).jpg

IMG_20190317_1948157~(1)~(1).jpg

IMG_20190324_1114036~(1).jpg

IMG_20190324_1114478~(1).jpg
 
Oh, so I missed it all together then, in the next photo down I decanted and left that behind. I thought that was trub, and the goal was to leave it behind.
 
Oh, so I missed it all together then, in the next photo down I decanted and left that behind. I thought that was trub, and the goal was to leave it behind.
Nope that creamy white layer is your yeast well it sure looks like it in the photo. I'd expect more like what you got in them first jars than in the last. As is you'll need a good starter with what you've collected their still good to go though Craig you'll just have to propogated them.

See I think this defeats the purpose of this yeast collection method you don't want to go to all that effort to wash yeast and still have to propogated again.

Next time just collect slurry Into one of them jars and just pitch that into your wort it may look messy but it's just that simple.
 
Harvesting off the starter is a good google search. IMO
 
Yeast Cake.jpg
My first time harvesting. 5 minutes after pouring the yeast cake into my old 1G fermenter. Bottled my Hobgoblin today. First time with it, so dunno if it's even close to what Hobgoblin is supposed to taste like. 28 IBU, so right at my upper limit for bitterness, but since Bitter/Sweet taste buds are right next to each other, I'm thinking some of the sweet malt may be tricking me about how bitter it really is. Conditioning/carbonating will take some of that edge off, perhaps.

This is English Ale yeast. My next recipe calls for Belgian Ale Yeast. I have one smack pack but I'm going to run two batches of Rapier Wit on that one batch. Gotta figure how much of this I'm gonna store until I can get another recipe that calls for English Ale Yeast.

Reading is helping me understand a lot of things. (Imagine that, I can practice what I preach) One thing is the statements I've seen that the liquid smack-packs are barely enough yeast to do the trick. This was VERY evident on this batch of Hobgoblin, and I've noticed it the first time I used liquid in my Rapier Wit. The FG only came down to 1.025 in the Hobgoblin, according to my magic little Hydrometer. That's a lotta malt still in that ale. It started at 1.068, so maybe I can't complain. Sure got a buttload of yeast cake. What's in the 1G Carboy is all the cake from a 5 gallon batch, with about 2 pints of beer left over. I added about another pint of tap water to loosen up the cake some in the bucket by swirling, then shook the crap out of it once I got it transferred to the carboy.

Now, do I pick up some spare DME, make a clean wort, and draw off as much of this sludge as I can and put it in that wort to clean it up, or do I just leave it as is and pick up another English Ale Yeast recipe ASAP. It ain't like I don't have bottles o' plenty. Started out with 60 bottles this morning, washed, rinsed, and then spritzed with fairly concentrated Star-San solution, then turned up to drain. I soak a cloth in a Star-San solution to wipe the necks before capping. Knock on wood, so far, not a single popped cap in 23 batches of beer, and if any was off, I couldn't taste it. Got 52 bottles outta this batch, which is about normal. I always try to bring the total liquid up to about 5.5 Gallons before I cap it off for ferment, which gives me a fairly consistent number of bottles, depending on how fine the trub is and how much I stir it up racking the beer off. Pretty careful with my sanitizing, so can't think of a single sanitation issue I've had yet. The latest, "Leffe Abbey Blonde" may be my nemesis, though. That's been a VERY active beer in the fermenter. STILL bubbling pretty hard after a week in the bucket. It's slowed a lot, but shows no signs of stopping soon.

I've noticed that every time I use a dry yeast (pitch it right outta the pack), I always get well below 1.020, mostly down around 1.010. That lines up with other comments that I've read that the dry packs are typically plenty for a batch. So, perhaps this is a good lesson in pitching. Now let's see what happens when I pitch a slurry. How much of this should I pitch into the next batch of English Ale?
 

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