Hi guys, hope I'm not being stupid here but, am I right in saying that with a similar type of beer you can just pitch the new wort straight onto the trub that was left over at the bottom of the demi john, give it a swirl around and it will ferment out as normal ?
Pitching on to trub
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IainM
Landlord.
You can do that, and some people swear by this method, but from what I've read it isn't generally recommended. There is all sorts of waste material in the trub, dead cells cells, hop debris, and so on. These can impart undesirable flavour. Plus, there is usually so much yeast there you end up over-pitching and the fermentation is over too soon. I've never done it, but apparently the lag phase, in which the yeast population grows, is important in determining how the yeast imparts flavour.
Thats a bit of a downer as i was hoping to stick my Cooper's Real Ale with Wheat malt,100g of Cascade and some dextrose on top of my Beerworks Gold Digger Lager remains as i think the yeast supplied with this kit would be better.
Not sure now though
( sorry for jumping in on this thread)
Cheers
Not sure now though
( sorry for jumping in on this thread)
Cheers
I have previously made starters from a jar of trub from a previous brew and it works a treat. A slight faff compared to just chucking the next batch in but not that bad and avoids the sort of issues mentioned above. That said I haven't tried just chucking it in so it might be fine
GlentoranMark
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I've done it twice for 2 separate brews. It works just fine and the only downside is it creates more trub.
GlentoranMark
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To add, I've to bottle 5L of Ginger beer this weekend but I'm going to make a 20L batch and just chuck the trub of the demijohn onto my FV.
LarryF
Brew Numpty
I take a sanitised bottle and fill it 1/3 with trub and put it to one side with a lid on it. When I've cleaned th FV and the new wort is ready I fill the bottle with the new wort give it a gentle shake and tip it into the FV and it goes off like a rocket. I've done this loads of times and never had a problem. I will use a yeast and the re-pitch from it twice using this method before opening a new yeast.
StrangeBrew
Senior Member
I have done this on occasion too, just take a good scoop of the old trub set it to one side. Clean out the fermenter etc, get the brew in and then re pitch the old trub.
Works well :thumb:
I think I read somewhere that you can only recycle the trub like this for about half a dozen brews as the yeast can start to get odd mutations after that. Time for a fresh start and new yeast then. Don't quote me on this as gospel though it's just something I recall having read. I'm no yeast Scientist !
Cwrw666
Landlord.
Like others above I remove a few spoonfuls of trub and use this in the next brew. I only do it once though - so I get 2 brews out of a packet of yeast. Results are always good - the brew gets off to a flying start compared to pitching dry or rehydrated yeast. Also, because you're not adding all the trub you're only using yeast plus a bit of the protein gunge, rather than all of it.
In the past though I have just tipped the next brew directly onto the whole trub of the previous brew. I found the first time you do this the beer was fine. If you do it a third time then the beer is still not too bad but it's not quite as good tasting as the first 2 brews. It's a good way to build up your stocks really quickly. I suppose you could reduce the chances of off flavours by bottling/barrelling the instant fermentation is completed. You could probably get 3 x 5 gallon brews done in a month, and plenty of forum users would think nothing of leaving a single brew in the primary FV for a month (done it myself).
In the past though I have just tipped the next brew directly onto the whole trub of the previous brew. I found the first time you do this the beer was fine. If you do it a third time then the beer is still not too bad but it's not quite as good tasting as the first 2 brews. It's a good way to build up your stocks really quickly. I suppose you could reduce the chances of off flavours by bottling/barrelling the instant fermentation is completed. You could probably get 3 x 5 gallon brews done in a month, and plenty of forum users would think nothing of leaving a single brew in the primary FV for a month (done it myself).
I would endorse this. It even works quite well if you leave some beer in the bottom of the FV, swirl it around a bit and fill 5 or 6 250ml PET bottles. They keep fine in the fridge under green beer for a few months.
HebridesRob
Landlord.
Look up articles on washing yeast. Pretty easy and a nice money saver.
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