[Fire Rooster]

Last batch was top cropped (first-time) from Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire ale yeast.
There is approx 5-6 ounces of compacted light beige yeast stored in fridge.
Yeast will be about 2 1/2 - 3 weeks old before being used.
Next scheduled batch will be approximately 4.75 gallons, and 3.8 ABV.

I'm struggling with exactly what to do with 3 options-

1. Toss top cropped yeast directly into wort.
2. Create a starter with Propper canned wort (which I have).
3. After about 10 min boil with batch planned, scoop out some wort, cool, add yeast for starter.
    ( starter will be 1 1/2 - 2 hours old before wort is ready for yeast)

The goal is to get a rigorous fermentation to top crop again.

Advice Please
Thanks

[pete b]

At only 3 weeks old and a 3.8 abv I would pitch directly

[denny]

At only 3 weeks old and a 3.8 abv I would pitch directly

I agree

[Fire Rooster]

At only 3 weeks old and a 3.8 abv I would pitch directly

I agree

The yays have it, the motion is passed.

Thanks

[Fire Rooster]

First top cropped yeast was a success, plan is to see how many times in a row it can be done.

After pouring out layer of green beer layer on top, yeast was not moving.
It was a hard packed dense yeast cake.  Took 1 quart fresh wort from batch being
brewed, and slowly stirred in with sanitized spoon to break up,  there was still chunks.
It was then put in a empty sanitized distilled water jug, and shook like hell
to mix well, then poured in wort.

Pitched yesterday morning, this morning there is a very large thick foamy
slightly brown top crust krausen head.  Later this morning top brownish
layer will be removed and discarded, then beige/whitish part will be cropped
for second pitch.

Not decided whether to crop right behind brown head, or remove all and wait
for second krausen head to form.  The first time removing all the krausen head
there was barely enough to skim off on second.

Cheers

[pete b]

Somewhere there is a thread where S. Cerevisiae went in depth on this. i tried to find it but the search function crashed.

[Megary]

Somewhere there is a thread where S. Cerevisiae went in depth on this. i tried to find it but the search function crashed.

Is this the one??

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=37475.msg470097#msg470097

[Fire Rooster]

Somewhere there is a thread where S. Cerevisiae went in depth on this. i tried to find it but the search function crashed.

Is this the one??

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=37475.msg470097#msg470097

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.

[Fire Rooster]

I skimmed a lot of krasuen off and saved none, too murky with brownish stuff.
Most happened during the night and gravity is dropping fast.  I'll wait until this
afternoon to see if a good krausen is formed to save.  If not, I'll skim, toss, then double
drop into air locked fermenter.

Cheers

[Fire Rooster]

It didn't take long for beige/whitish krausen to form.
Skimmed off krausen along with some green beer, placed in fridge.

Batch #1 Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire
Batch #2 Bottom cropped yeast from batch #1
Batch #3 Top cropped from batch #2
Batch #4 Top cropped from batch #3 (not yet brewed)

So I guess batch #4 would be 4th generation ?

Cheers

[ynotbrusum]

I tend to think in terms of number of pitches and re-pitches, because any one fermentation could involve a few "generations" in theory.  So, I would call batch #4 a third re-pitch...but it really is just semantics.

[Fire Rooster]

I tend to think in terms of number of pitches and re-pitches, because any one fermentation could involve a few "generations" in theory.  So, I would call batch #4 a third re-pitch...but it really is just semantics.

Agreed it's a play with words.
Have to get the beginning number right so when I hit 100 re-pitches it's legit