Question on re-using yeast from my last batch

[Hawks]

Hi

I am looking to keg my latest batch of 1.044 OG best which has fermented, cleared and is sat on a cake of recovered Bengal Lancer yeast - I want to use this again ideally the same day / following day for a higher OG IPA - which is something I have never done... and started researching it late ( its ready to keg any time from now ) :whistle:

After having a good search of the site and reading a number of posts I have ruled out pitching onto the cake as it seems the risks of contamination / over-pitching / dead yeasties is greater than I like the sound of..

SO - I have read more about recovering the yeast and some basic 'washing', I am pretty comfortable with this BUT - can I do this and turn it around quickly, or is it better practice to settle it etc in the fridge and build another starter and put back my new brew a few days? :hmm:

If you made it this far, cheers for reading my slightly long winded question..
Paul

 

[phettebs]

I have repitched a higher gravity onto the yeast cake many times with great success. Never had a problem with contamination or over pitching. If I'm starting with a low gravity and want to reuse for another low gravity or slightly higher gravity, I just scoop out some of the yeast and save it off, leaving the rest in the FV. Then I dump my wort right into the FV. It works a treat. Fermentation takes off quite rapidly.

You can certainly wash yeast. Some do it with great success. Some, like myself, don't bother at all. Hopefully a yeast washer will chime in on this thread and give you his take on it. Then you can decide what works best for you.

Baz

 

[Hawks]

I have repitched a higher gravity onto the yeast cake many times with great success. Never had a problem with contamination or over pitching. If I'm starting with a low gravity and want to reuse for another low gravity or slightly higher gravity, I just scoop out some of the yeast and save it off, leaving the rest in the FV. Then I dump my wort right into the FV. It works a treat. Fermentation takes off quite rapidly.

Cheers Baz - this was my initial plan - I am going around 6-10 points higher I think ( still planning it ), was thinking about saving some in a sterile jar to put in the fridge and maybe attempt some washing, and just pitch the new one onto the cake. It was reading the other posts I found that put me off, but you are tempting me back to plan A :hmm:

 

[pittsy]

Hi , best to delay it , you should pour all the **** into a demi or bottle then with boiled then cooled water pour around a 4 pints onto yeast and **** now wait 30 mins and you will see a sediment line (everything will be milky) pour the liquid into 4 ish bottles leaving the bottom bit to be thrown away , now you have 4 yeasts ready to make a starter from each . Then put in fridge and when the yeast settles pour off liquid in sink and now with fresh boiled water with around 200g of dried malt extract then cooled pour onto yeast now you have a starter and this will need around 3 days to be ready to pitch into brew store the others in fridge to make starters for other brews , hope that helps

 

[graysalchemy]

Just put it in a clean sterilized container in the fridge over night. Discard the liquid and repitch. Yes you will end up with some crud from the previous brew but it shouldn't be a problem. I do it all the time.

Thinking it a bit further if you double drop your brew after 72 hrs and discard the first yeast cake then continue it through to clearing then drop again and use that second yeast cake that one will be mainly yeast and not break material. :thumb:

 

[Hawks]

Just put it in a clean sterilized container in the fridge over night. Discard the liquid and repitch. Yes you will end up with some crud from the previous brew but it shouldn't be a problem. I do it all the time.

Thinking it a bit further if you double drop your brew after 72 hrs and discard the first yeast cake then continue it through to clearing then drop again and use that second yeast cake that one will be mainly yeast and not break material. :thumb:

The double drop idea is good - but I am a large FV short of being able to do it... knew there was something I needed to buy :whistle:

I like the in the fridge overnight idea as I didn't fancy kegging and brewing at the same time down to lack of space in the part of the garage I use..

Pittsy - I like your way of doing it which allays all my concerns - if I wasn't a bit pushed for time on when I want the next beer on by.. my backup plan was to use S05 which I have hanging around, but I like the BL yeast too much and want to re-use.

Thanks everyone for the useful comments :thumb:

 

[phettebs]

I just pitched some lager yeast I harvested 3 weeks ago. I added some fresh wort to it to "wake" it up. Within an hour, it had overflowed from the glass jar. Still quite active! So I pitched the whole lot directly into my 19L batch.

 

[Hawks]

I ended running out of time, so kegged up in the morning, collected a load of the yeast into a sanitised jug which went into the fridge covered for a few hours, then pitched the whole thing into the wort having cleaned and sanitised the FV. Took off very quickly and is fermenting away - all looks good so far... :thumb: