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Author Topic: Using harvested yeast  (Read 7018 times)

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #15 on: March 14, 2018, 06:29:28 pm »
Thanks, Denny!  You're right, I'll know what makes me uncomfortable risk-wise.  Just for kicks, next time I think I'll skip the rinse and relax, don't worry, pitch the yeast.

EDIT Great time to try a new approach, as I've got 1st gen in the fermenter now!
If you're in the mood to experiment, have you tried a vitality pitch?

Offline Robert

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #16 on: March 14, 2018, 06:52:17 pm »
Thanks, Denny!  You're right, I'll know what makes me uncomfortable risk-wise.  Just for kicks, next time I think I'll skip the rinse and relax, don't worry, pitch the yeast.

EDIT Great time to try a new approach, as I've got 1st gen in the fermenter now!
If you're in the mood to experiment, have you tried a vitality pitch?

I'm not opposed, but it hasn't come up.  I generally repitch 3-5 days after harvesting so I don't worry about vitality. That's darn fresh yeast. If a have a hiatus and go longer than I'm comfortable with, I make a new starter from a smack pack.  But a contingency plan I do want to try is, instead of a new starter, just pitch  some of the longer-stored slurry into a quart or so of chilled wort at the end of the brew and oxygenate; my fermenter spends 4-5 hours in the fridge cooling the last few degrees to pitch temp, so pitching the jar then should essentially be what you call a vitality starter, right?
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

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Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #17 on: March 14, 2018, 07:01:24 pm »
By vitality starter I mean active. 100ml of thin slurry in 1000-1500ml of about 10%, 1.040, oxygenated no stirl plate. Do that morning of brew day and pitch the whole thing that evening.

Offline Robert

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #18 on: March 14, 2018, 07:19:35 pm »
I figure I'd have a handy supply of wort once I've brewed, and if 5 hours doesn't get it to high kräusen (that's usually the timing for my starters, though) I could wait a bit longer.  12°-13°P instead of 10°P would hardly matter, and no "foreign" wort.  It's just a plan I've had in mind as an alternative to a brand new starter, I think in principle we're on the same page.  I will probably try it whenever I let my yeast sit a while.  But darn it, I just keep brewing all the time!

EDIT I have 1st gen in fermenter now but not because of a hiatus.  The yeast in the jar (only a few generations in) had packed down, and a day later started releasing CO2 and rising up like a sponge.  Having never witnessed this behavior in my old friend 34/70, I didnt take my chances that something might be abnormal. (The beer I harvested it from seems fine, abundance of caution.) I almost used the method above with a smackpack, but realized I had just enough time to make a regular starter (O2, not stir) and settle it out before brewday. Old habit, good yeast, in kräusen in ~14 hours at 52°F.  Vital enough.
« Last Edit: March 14, 2018, 07:39:09 pm by Robert »
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

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Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #19 on: March 14, 2018, 07:47:08 pm »
Just admit it. You don't want to try it. It's ok. What works for you, works for you. That's cool

Edit: usually people try method X but with 9 different twists not suggested in method X, and then claim method X doesn't work. I rather someone just say "no, I'm not doing it" than change it up 6 ways from Sunday and claim it's BS
« Last Edit: March 14, 2018, 07:51:34 pm by klickitat jim »

Offline Robert

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #20 on: March 14, 2018, 07:56:53 pm »
Just admit it. You don't want to try it. It's ok. What works for you, works for you. That's cool
It's not that I don't want to try, I just haven't seen the need for an extra step.  I should try and see if it makes any difference.  So:  One question, when you say 100ml slurry, do you mean vol of the thick slurry at the bottom, or the total volume when it's swirled up into, say, 50/50 thick slurry and liquid?  And second, do you see any real problem if I use my wort instead of a separate dme wort?  I'm really open to the idea.  Everything else I thought I knew seems to be wrong these days!
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

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Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #21 on: March 14, 2018, 08:01:32 pm »
Well, just think of how thick the 100ml slurry is in a smack pack.

No magic about 1.040, it's just what I do. I imagine anything up to 1.100 might work.

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #22 on: March 14, 2018, 08:07:04 pm »
Maybe splurge and grab a fresh pitch from the store and try it out.

Offline Robert

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #23 on: March 14, 2018, 08:29:36 pm »
What I really like is options.  So I can say, what I usually do works, but isn't necessary, and on any given day, circumstances might favor one of a number of approaches.  Whatever gets the result.  As of tonight, I have a new quick and dirty default -- don't rinse, just pitch the slurry -- and this  vitality method, still simpler than either rinsing or a make-ahead starter. Great thing is I don't have to try either just to prove it to myself. I know you and Denny have done that.  I'll see what looks like the best option next brew (10 days.)  If there's a lot of trub in the slurry, like you said, that won't grow in a vitality starter!  But I doubt I'll keep doing the same old.

I've learned something today, my goal every day.
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #24 on: March 14, 2018, 08:49:10 pm »
What I really like is options.  So I can say, what I usually do works, but isn't necessary, and on any given day, circumstances might favor one of a number of approaches.  Whatever gets the result.  As of tonight, I have a new quick and dirty default -- don't rinse, just pitch the slurry -- and this  vitality method, still simpler than either rinsing or a make-ahead starter. Great thing is I don't have to try either just to prove it to myself. I know you and Denny have done that.  I'll see what looks like the best option next brew (10 days.)  If there's a lot of trub in the slurry, like you said, that won't grow in a vitality starter!  But I doubt I'll keep doing the same old.

I've learned something today, my goal every day.
Sweet! For me, seeing others get "success" from an SNS or oxygenated or vitality starter is kind of validation that I'm not an outlier. But if it only worked for me, I'd keep doing it.

Offline jimmykx250

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #25 on: March 15, 2018, 03:25:51 am »
What I really like is options.  So I can say, what I usually do works, but isn't necessary, and on any given day, circumstances might favor one of a number of approaches.  Whatever gets the result.  As of tonight, I have a new quick and dirty default -- don't rinse, just pitch the slurry -- and this  vitality method, still simpler than either rinsing or a make-ahead starter. Great thing is I don't have to try either just to prove it to myself. I know you and Denny have done that.  I'll see what looks like the best option next brew (10 days.)  If there's a lot of trub in the slurry, like you said, that won't grow in a vitality starter!  But I doubt I'll keep doing the same old.

I've learned something today, my goal every day.
Sweet! For me, seeing others get "success" from an SNS or oxygenated or vitality starter is kind of validation that I'm not an outlier. But if it only worked for me, I'd keep doing it.

I have several mason jars of slurry in the fridge. If they are older then a month then i do a vitality just to make sure.
Jimmykx250

Offline Robert

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #26 on: March 16, 2018, 01:50:08 pm »
What I really like is options.  So I can say, what I usually do works, but isn't necessary, and on any given day, circumstances might favor one of a number of approaches.  Whatever gets the result.  As of tonight, I have a new quick and dirty default -- don't rinse, just pitch the slurry -- and this  vitality method, still simpler than either rinsing or a make-ahead starter. Great thing is I don't have to try either just to prove it to myself. I know you and Denny have done that.  I'll see what looks like the best option next brew (10 days.)  If there's a lot of trub in the slurry, like you said, that won't grow in a vitality starter!  But I doubt I'll keep doing the same old.

I've learned something today, my goal every day.
Sweet! For me, seeing others get "success" from an SNS or oxygenated or vitality starter is kind of validation that I'm not an outlier. But if it only worked for me, I'd keep doing it.
Hey, Jim!  You've probably addressed this before, but do you use more slurry/smackers in your 1-1.5L vitality starter for lagers?  I'm guessing by the results in your big ales it wouldn't be necessary?
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #27 on: March 16, 2018, 02:18:26 pm »
What I really like is options.  So I can say, what I usually do works, but isn't necessary, and on any given day, circumstances might favor one of a number of approaches.  Whatever gets the result.  As of tonight, I have a new quick and dirty default -- don't rinse, just pitch the slurry -- and this  vitality method, still simpler than either rinsing or a make-ahead starter. Great thing is I don't have to try either just to prove it to myself. I know you and Denny have done that.  I'll see what looks like the best option next brew (10 days.)  If there's a lot of trub in the slurry, like you said, that won't grow in a vitality starter!  But I doubt I'll keep doing the same old.

I've learned something today, my goal every day.
Sweet! For me, seeing others get "success" from an SNS or oxygenated or vitality starter is kind of validation that I'm not an outlier. But if it only worked for me, I'd keep doing it.
Hey, Jim!  You've probably addressed this before, but do you use more slurry/smackers in your 1-1.5L vitality starter for lagers?  I'm guessing by the results in your big ales it wouldn't be necessary?
Nope, 1 smack pack

Offline blatz

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #28 on: March 16, 2018, 02:25:15 pm »
By vitality starter I mean active. 100ml of thin slurry in 1000-1500ml of about 10%, 1.040, oxygenated no stirl plate. Do that morning of brew day and pitch the whole thing that evening.

why not just make it even easier and use the native wort, i.e. the wort you're brewing. I've been doing similar to what you do, just with the actual wort.  during the runoff, divert 1-1.5l into a sanitized flask along with the measured yeast slurry, cover with foil, set in the fridge next to the main wort, swirl whenever i think of it.  usually within 2-4 hours, its reaching krausen (usually when i swirl and it starts to erupt lol), so i then dump that into the main wort, aerate per usual.  voila.
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Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Using harvested yeast
« Reply #29 on: March 16, 2018, 02:27:46 pm »
Cool. It's not been boiled?

It's not much trouble for me to make starters because once a year I can up enough 1.040 to last me a year.
« Last Edit: March 16, 2018, 02:29:52 pm by klickitat jim »