[Fire Rooster]

It's my current belief that the middle of the yeast cake is the most viable,
not top or bottom.

Is this true ?

Thanks

Who knows? Certainly not me. I just use it all and there's no problem.

The articles I've read online about stored yeast in fridge is all over the place.
Anywhere from six days to six months.

Thoughts ?
Thanks

[denny]

It's my current belief that the middle of the yeast cake is the most viable,
not top or bottom.

Is this true ?

Thanks

Who knows? Certainly not me. I just use it all and there's no problem.

The articles I've read online about stored yeast in fridge is all over the place.
Anywhere from six days to six months.

Thoughts ?
Thanks

I've gone as long as 5 months, but there's no set time.  You simply have to assess by color, smell, and performance. If it's more than about 3 weeks, I use a portion of it to make a new starter.

[Fire Rooster]

It's my current belief that the middle of the yeast cake is the most viable,
not top or bottom.

Is this true ?

Thanks

Who knows? Certainly not me. I just use it all and there's no problem.

The articles I've read online about stored yeast in fridge is all over the place.
Anywhere from six days to six months.

Thoughts ?
Thanks

I've gone as long as 5 months, but there's no set time.  You simply have to assess by color, smell, and performance. If it's more than about 3 weeks, I use a portion of it to make a new starter.

Thank you.

Cheers

[Fire Rooster]

"Bending like a reed in the wind"

Saved yeast now measures approx 18 fl oz.
Pour out beer in a sanitized container, scoop out
1/2 of yeast (9 fl oz) to use, return beer to
remaining yeast, place in fridge.

Cheers

[Fire Rooster]

FYI
What I stumbled on searching for how to top crop.
https://www.southernfriedfermenters.com/2016/01/30/harvesting-your-crops-top-cropping-yeast-for-homebrewers/
(you may have to click link several times to load)

Mark Van Dittta
October 3, 2020 at 11:08 am   

I appreciate the effort you made to post this information, but the way you are cropping can be improved. With a true top-cropper, the entire brown head is traditionally skimmed and discarded (the Germans refer to it as the braun hefe). The brown head contains compounds that have been scrubbed from the wort and early flocculating yeast cells, neither of which one wants in one’s crop. A second completely cream-colored yeast head should replace the skimmed brown head. The clean second head is the one from which yeast is traditionally harvested. I would recommend against storing yeast in water. It is better to store cropped yeast with some of the fermenting wort (one needs to leave the lid loose to allow CO2 to escape). Water tends to have a pH of around 7. Yeast cells protect themselves from competitors by consuming all of the dissolved oxygen in wort before lowering the pH down to around 4 and producing ethanol, which is toxic to all living things at different levels. Storing a yeast crop under green beer protects the cells from competitors.

(the Germans refer to it as the braun hefe)
Translation to English, brown yeast.

[Fire Rooster]

Next brew morning will be Wed, bottom cropped yeast will be 2 weeks old,
and using the SNS method.

Under conditions noted above, how long for starter ? hours ? days ?

Thanks

[denny]

Next brew morning will be Wed, bottom cropped yeast will be 2 weeks old,
and using the SNS method.

Under conditions noted above, how long for starter ? hours ? days ?

Thanks

A day seems like more than enough

[Fire Rooster]

Next brew morning will be Wed, bottom cropped yeast will be 2 weeks old,
and using the SNS method.

Under conditions noted above, how long for starter ? hours ? days ?

Thanks

A day seems like more than enough

That's what I was thinking, but wasn't certain.

Cheers

[denny]

Next brew morning will be Wed, bottom cropped yeast will be 2 weeks old,
and using the SNS method.

Under conditions noted above, how long for starter ? hours ? days ?

Thanks

Actually, at 2 weeks, I don't think I'd bother with a starter
A day seems like more than enough

That's what I was thinking, but wasn't certain.

Cheers

[Fire Rooster]

Next brew morning will be Wed, bottom cropped yeast will be 2 weeks old,
and using the SNS method.

Under conditions noted above, how long for starter ? hours ? days ?

Thanks

Actually, at 2 weeks, I don't think I'd bother with a starter
A day seems like more than enough

That's what I was thinking, but wasn't certain.

Cheers

Reread message and noticed "Actually, at 2 weeks, I don't think I'd bother with a starter "
was in shaded part. Thought it was odd re-posting same message and noticed addition.
Too late, used about 7 oz for starter to be pitched tomorrow morning.  A little exciting,
I feel like a mad scientist.

Thanks
Cheers

[Fire Rooster]

Oh man, I think you were right no starter needed.
One quart starter in a one gallon jug is spewing light beige foam out of the top like a volcano.

If I had a way to capture all the light beige foam wouldn't that be top cropping ?

Cheers

[Fire Rooster]

This was the biggest krausen I've seen.
Lots of yeast to top crop, which I did for next batch.
Skimmed off complete first brownish layer and tossed.
Skimmed off and kept light beige/whitish layer.

Cheers