[davidgzach]

Sean has pointed out that he uses 25% viability drop per month in harvested slurry.  Just another way to get to the proper pitching amount.  I've reused several month old slurry with good results, but I'm going to try and move to selected "house" yeasts to use more often and get more out of them...

Dave

[blatz]

Sean has pointed out that he uses 25% viability drop per month in harvested slurry.  Just another way to get to the proper pitching amount.  I've reused several month old slurry with good results, but I'm going to try and move to selected "house" yeasts to use more often and get more out of them...

Dave

that is more reasonable to me.

[davidgzach]

Sean has pointed out that he uses 25% viability drop per month in harvested slurry.  Just another way to get to the proper pitching amount.  I've reused several month old slurry with good results, but I'm going to try and move to selected "house" yeasts to use more often and get more out of them...

Dave

that is more reasonable to me.

Same here.  I'm tired of looking at a container of slurry and wondering when I'll be able to use it again only to toss it because it's been several months.  I've got my lager yeasts down to 2-3 and I'm going to rotate in ale yeasts to use for several batches.  I also hope to start slanting so I can use what I want, when I want.  Got the tools and equipment, just have to do the research.....

Dave
 

[gmac]

Thanks again all.
I too am trying to get to a couple key strains that I use most of the time but I'm still so intrigued by new strains.  Plus I'm really trying to get better at making lagers but I just don't make enough of them to really master them.  I think I do a pretty good ale but I only make 4 or 5 lagers a year at most.  That's one of the reasons I wanted to start re-pitching lager yeast, to get more of a rotation going for summer (plus I made some back in the winter that were supposed to lager until summer and they "evaporated").

[davidgzach]

Another process I've incorporated for reusing slurry has been skimming at high Krausen.  You can see the difference in the amount of "gunk" on the top and sides from a fresh pitch to a slurry.  Just took a bunch of sludge from a 3x reused 1056.  It's definitely noticeable and I'm hoping it will prolong the number of times I can reuse it.

Dave

[gmac]

Another process I've incorporated for reusing slurry has been skimming at high Krausen.  You can see the difference in the amount of "gunk" on the top and sides from a fresh pitch to a slurry.  Just took a bunch of sludge from a 3x reused 1056.  It's definitely noticeable and I'm hoping it will prolong the number of times I can reuse it.

Dave

Sorry, not sure i follow.  You're skimming and discarding what you skim (braun hefe etc) or are you pitching what you skim?  I thought that skimming the top at high krausen was the same as top cropping and thus would be some of the better yeast (or at least the most "top" fermenting).  I've been top cropping WLP002 with good results when I want to brew a few days apart and don't have any yeast in a starter. 

[davidgzach]

I've been skimming the brown gunk on top of the Krausen.  The hop material and dead yeast.  Not top cropping and grabbing live yeast.....

Dave