[Carson B]

Hi all -

I got such great help and insight after asking my first question on here that I thought I'd give it another go. (PICTURES ATTACHED)

I am harvesting yeast for the first time, and it's from a stout. I racked the beer off, poured in a gallon of boiled and cooled water, let the trub settle, then poured the "milky part" off the trub into this flask. At first, there was a tiny sliver of beer, or at least darker colored liquid from the dark beer, on top as expected. In the last few hours, the dark sliver has grown significantly - from about 1 mm to about 2 inches of a 7ish inch volume height in the flask. Is this just the yeast gradually falling out of suspension (as the yeast falls out, the underlying dark beer/dark liquid color becomes less clouded and therefore dark?)? You can see the yeast cake forming on the bottom as well. (First picture was a few hours in, and now the second picture is 12 hours later)

In the future, I plan to harvest yeast from the starter (which seems way easier and just makes more sense to me), but I thought I'd give this method a try this time.

[ynotbrusum]

Yes, that is diluted beer on top and yeast in the sediment.  You basically rinsed the yeast.  Most brewers here simply save the slurry, then repitch or use a bit of it to create a starter.  Storing under beer is preferred and the slurry separates over time, similar to your result, except the beer is undiluted and a better storage medium for the health of the yeast than water or diluted beer.

Search posting photos in the search bar to learn how to post photos.  You need to use an outside service, such as photobucket or similar then upload from there.

Cheers!

[Carson B]

Thanks! It has now completely separated with yeast on bottom and the rest beer. I'll probably pour off a bit and dilute some, as I don't want to pitch anything remotely that dark into the next beer, a pale ale. Hopefully that doesn't upset the yeast too much.

[Kevin]

Another very easy way to re-use yeast is to transfer wort from a new beer directly on top of the yeast from a beer that has just finished fermenting. It works like gangbusters and works especially well when the second beer is a big gravity barleywine, imperial stout and the like. Your first beer is basically a 5 gallon starter for those monsters in this case.

[Carson B]

Thanks Kevin. I've heard about that, and it just so happens the next beer (after the pale) will be a big ol stout.

Wanted to ask a second question in relation to harvesting. I make a lot of NEIPAs that get heavily dry-hopped in primary, often on day 2 or 3 of fermentation. I do not secondary. Will this cause an issue with harvesting? I've read some theories, though they are just theories, that those biotransformation hops can impact yeast health.

[ynotbrusum]

I would not want the hop sludge in the re-pitch and I don’t like yeast rinsing or acid washing, so I would not reuse yeast from an extreme hopped fermenter.  Just my take. YMMV.