how many batches from the slurry?

[robsan77]

Has anybody ever saved all the slurry from a brew to split and repitch? I know you could pitch another brew straight to the cake but if I saved the lot and split it, with the intention of activating each batch before splitting, how many new batches could I get? I heard that about 100ml yeast slurry is enough to repitch a new brew. Is it as simple as splitting it into 100ml samples???

 

[prolix]

Was reading about this last week and it was suggest 5 generations is the max. I presume 1 generation per brew but someone else might be knowledgable

 

[evanvine]

Rob
I do a little bit more to my yeast cake in the way of rinsing and washing, but aleman, and I think quite rightly, frowns on my methods.
If you split your "yeast cake", each portion can be cloned, as prolix says, 5 times.
So if you split your cake into 4 say, you will have, when you split them, 16 2nd clones.
Each one of these can be split again to make 48 3rd clones.................etc.
An awful lot of brews from one primary packet of yeast!

 

[Springer]

An awful lot of brews from one primary packet of yeast!

I won't be needing that many E, but in practice I presume that you keep them in the fridge ? In what? and how long do you tend to store them ?
With Thanks
S

 

[Wendy1971]

We save the yeast cake from brews using liquid yeast only and beer that hes been fermented without the addition of any sugar honey etc. We just pour the slurry into a sterile 2 litre bottle then put it in the fridge. A few hours later the yeast has settled to the bottom you then pour off all the liquid and split the yeast in to 2 smaller sterile bottles then we cover the yeast with cooled boiled water and it keeps roughly for 6 months in the fridge :thumb:

 

[Aleman]

cover the yeast with cooled boiled water and it keeps roughly for 6 months in the fridge :thumb:

by which time the viability of the yeast you have is probably around 1% . . . which might be enough to ferment a batch, but will be a long way from optimum.

Ideally if you are looking at storing yeast slurry in the fridge 4-6 weeks should be considered the maximum in order to have around 75% viability. . . .after this ideally you would make a starter to prove the yeast before pitching it into your beer.