Fermentasaurus

[Cisk]

Hi i am thinking of buy a 35 Lt conical fermenter what do you think about them ,It says you can colleet the yeast and uses again is still as good or do you need to add new yeast to it ?How do you go on to get the yeast back.
Many thanks from sunny Malta

 

[Matt_W]

Hi Cisk,

I’m using the Fermzilla 27l conical but there are many threads about the two so won’t go into that.

The yeast can either be top cropped or harvested from the collection jar at the bottom. My understanding is some suit different methods.

I’ve done it both methods a few times but only really tend to do it with the kveik yeast or expensive liquid yeasts. If it’s something like US-05 that’s only a couple of quid a packet it’s probably not worth the effort.

If you look on YouTube David Heath has some great videos on yeast harvesting.

M

 

[NPi]

You can crop and save yeast from your normal FV, but it just takes a bit more organisation. To top crop you have to remove some of the Krausen about 24h (or similar depending on yeast used) into active fermentation. To save yeast you will need to decant your yeast cake post fermentation. To aid in this you may want to rack the beer into a secondary and not save yeasts from beers that use fruit, loose hops (use a hop sock), or won't match the style of the beer you are going to reuse them in. To aid in getting your yeast cake nice and compact (as well as making the yeast go into hibernation) you can cold crash your beers, down to about 2 degrees C for 24h before decanting.

I recently saved yeast from an English IPA, to be used in a American IPA, repitching the whole yeast cake and it was bubbling through the airlock in a matter of hours.

Yeast may go on forever if fed correctly (think sourdough mother), but it can take on unwanted characteristics and it may not be as healthy as you may want. So you would be best to only reuse yeast to 3 generations.

If your looking to get biggest bang for your buck, read through @MyQul s threads on building starters and taking yeast from bottle conditioned beers.

Best of luck
Nick

 

[Cisk]

Hi thanks for your replys i think i will give it a miss seems a lot of work

 

[AdeDunn]

With most kveiks, yeast harvesting is fairly easy to do (done it in a normal FV). Other liquid yeasts, easier to overbuild your starter and pitch only part of it, keeping back the rest for later use.

 

[foxy]

Hi thanks for your replys i think i will give it a miss seems a lot of work

Go for the snubby, nothing easier, and you can still harvest yeast whether top crop or from the cone.
Fermentasaurus, a good modification is this, getting rid of the collection bottle.

Need a fermentation fridge pigs arse!

This little 12 volt beauty will ferment and cold crash your beer. Works even better with a thermal jacket.

 

[DCBC]

This little 12 volt beauty will ferment and cold crash your beer. Works even better with a thermal jacket.

What is that, Foxy? I have been looking for something similar myself. Cheers.

 

[AdeDunn]

I'd agree with Foxy. Having used my Gen 1 Fermentasaurus for the first time the other day, the collection bottle and dump valve assembly are just additional faff you can do without. Touch wood mine isn't leaking, but it IS another place you can get a leak from end of the day too, and another place that can harbour infections etc...

As to collecting yeast with a bottle on the bottom, just overbuild your starters, it's less grief I reckon. lol If you are using dried yeasts you don't even need to collect your yeast. I wanted one with a bottle as I was using a lot of kveik at the time, thing is a lot of the ones I like are top croppers, and the saurus is a pita to get into the top of... lol

 

[foxy]

What is that, Foxy? I have been looking for something similar myself. Cheers.

Its called the Thermo King, this pandemic has been stalling the release but is about to be released here, I would imagine B2B will be getting them before long.

 

[DCBC]

Its called the Thermo King, this pandemic has been stalling the release but is about to be released here, I would imagine B2B will be getting them before long.

Ah nice, I'll keep a beady eye out :) cheers