"New" Yeast Harvesting Method

[MyQul]

I say new but I've never come across this yeast harvesting method other than here

http://forum.craftbrewing.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=9710 14th post by INDIAPALEALE

So I decided to have a go. The basic methods is; 36hrs after pitching clear a space in the krausen and harvest 500ml of wort from just below the krausen. Put it in a bottle and allow to ferment out then cap. You'll then have about 1ch-2cm of yeast in the bottm of the bottle. When it comes to using the yeast just decant of the beer (and drink) swirl the yeast into suspension with a little bit of remaining beer then pitch into a 2L starter.

Being paraniod about opening my FV too much I bought one of these 500ml oil pump/syringe thingies
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-Oi...443430?hash=item1e906343e6:g:AxgAAOSwDN1UQUBL

I tried it on a brew where I just used notty, just in case anything went wrong and I somehow lost the strain. Although you need to be careful with the pump as the yeasty wort seems to want to squirt back out again as you withdraw the hose bit from the FV. It worked really well and I ended up with about 1cm of yeast in the bottle.
I didn't bother to pitch the resultant harvested yeast into a starter though as it was only notty and I was more interested in trying the harvesting part of the method rather than the propagation part.

I'll be trying it again on my newly bottle cultured Shepard Neame strain after I pitch on monday.

It may be possible to use this method from brew to brew almost indefinately as your harvesting cells of all kinds during the most vigourous part of fermentation and not putting any selective pressure on cells like you do with say bottom cropping. It seems similar to top cropping but you dont need a massive krausen as your harvesting from just below the krausen so you should be able to use this method on any ale strain

I think this method will be particularly useful for me as I can build up a little "bottle bank" of different strains and just keep them with the rest of my bottles. Ideally you want to keep them in the fridge but I think you dont HAVE to, as all a particular strain might need to compensatefor keeping it at room temp is an extra step up

 

[CreweBrewer]

Nice. I've been top cropping lately and found it much better than harvesting from the trub; having to wash the yeast and hoping what you're left with is actually yeast (haha!) is a pain.

Dave

 

[Covrich]

Nice. I've been top cropping lately and found it much better than harvesting from the trub; having to wash the yeast and hoping what you're left with is actually yeast (haha!) is a pain.

Dave

When top cropping are you nicking a bit of wort too? I found when top cropping I get a thick pillow of yeast and am not sure whether to let that just sit in a jar as it is

MyQul sounds like a nice idea will be interested to see how you get on with it, you just going to stick foil over the bottle for a few days then cap?

 

[MyQul]

Nice. I've been top cropping lately and found it much better than harvesting from the trub; having to wash the yeast and hoping what you're left with is actually yeast (haha!) is a pain.

Dave

I've been using English strains with large krausens (when I'm not using notty) lately and although top cropping is great for harvesting virtually pure, highly viable yeast you need to use it soon after harvesting. With the above method you can keep it for months until you need it, which is what attracted me. It's almost like having the conveniance of dried yeast in a liquid form

 

[Spoon]

Ohh I like that idea. I'm guessing the bottle of yeast would be ready a week or so after the main FV's been bottled, just about the time I get an itch to brew again!

 

[Covrich]

I've been using English strains with large krausens (when I'm not using notty) lately and although top cropping is great for harvesting virtually pure, highly viable yeast you need to use it soon after harvesting. With the above method you can keep it for months until you need it, which is what attracted me. It's almost like having the conveniance of dried yeast in a liquid form

Yeah thats why I asked the above question, I think you will need a starter if you plan to top crop and use down the line because all I got was a jar of fully pillow stuff which whilst good wasn't going to last long..

 

[MyQul]

When top cropping are you nicking a bit of wort too? I found when top cropping I get a thick pillow of yeast and am not sure whether to let that just sit in a jar as it is

MyQul sounds like a nice idea will be interested to see how you get on with it, you just going to stick foil over the bottle for a few days then cap?

Yes, that's what I did (sprayed with star san of course)

 

[MyQul]

Ohh I like that idea. I'm guessing the bottle of yeast would be ready a week or so after the main FV's been bottled, just about the time I get an itch to brew again!

Sooner as your not making beer your harvesting yeast. As soon as your beer in the FV has fullly fermented out the bottle will have too.

 

[CreweBrewer]

When top cropping are you nicking a bit of wort too? I found when top cropping I get a thick pillow of yeast and am not sure whether to let that just sit in a jar as it is

MyQul sounds like a nice idea will be interested to see how you get on with it, you just going to stick foil over the bottle for a few days then cap?

I get a little bit. But I've been putting a little water in the jar. It hasn't done it any harm so far.

Dave

 

[MyQul]

Yeah thats why I asked the above question, I think you will need a starter if you plan to top crop and use down the line because all I got was a jar of fully pillow stuff which whilst good wasn't going to last long..

The problem with putting starter wort in with top cropped yeast is that it's so viable, it just goes crazy. So it's hard to store for a long period of time. There's a thread/piccy about the forum of someones attempts at putting about 40ml of starter wort in a jar with some top cropped wye valley yeast. The piccy is taken about 10 minutes after and it just looks like a piccy of a yeast volcano (I try and find it)

 

[CreweBrewer]

I've been using English strains with large krausens (when I'm not using notty) lately and although top cropping is great for harvesting virtually pure, highly viable yeast you need to use it soon after harvesting. With the above method you can keep it for months until you need it, which is what attracted me. It's almost like having the conveniance of dried yeast in a liquid form

I'm going to make a starter this afternoon with my three week old top-cropped yeast. I'll let you know here how it gets on.

Dave

 

[MyQul]

@Covrich

Found it Post 7 http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=58336

 

[CreweBrewer]

I'm going to make a starter this afternoon with my three week old top-cropped yeast. I'll let you know here how it gets on.

Dave

Made a 1 litre starter and it's gone mental! I was planning to brew on Sunday, but at the rate it's going I'll be doing it tomorrow!

Dave

 

[jeg3]

That was my photo! I'm still top cropping the same yeast (5 generations now), but when you make a starter it does go crazy. I've learned that a smaller starter is better so I make about 100ml and store in the fridge once it's fermented out.

This method sounds great though MyQul. Will try it

 

[jeg3]

I tried this method last night with a sanitised ladle and it seems to have worked.

It's fermenting out at the moment.

 

[MyQul]

I tried this method last night with a sanitised ladle and it seems to have worked.

It's fermenting out at the moment.

Good innit? :thumb:

 

[jeg3]

Good innit? :thumb:

Saves me from making up and boiling fresh wort. :thumb:

Good find. Dunno why it didn't occur to me before to do this?

I'm currently culturing Fullers yeast from a bottle of Bengal Lancer as well, so my yeast bank is growing... :)

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[MyQul]

Saves me from making up and boiling fresh wort. :thumb:

Good find. Dunno why it didn't occur to me before to do this?

I'm currently culturing Fullers yeast from a bottle of Bengal Lancer as well, so my yeast bank is growing... :)

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

I think your still going to need to put the harvested yeast into a 2L starter when you come to use it

 

[jeg3]

Yeah, I always make a starter. I only brew once a month, so it goes dormant in the fridge anyways...

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[Cwrw666]

I say new but I've never come across this yeast harvesting method other than here

http://forum.craftbrewing.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=9710 14th post by INDIAPALEALE

So I decided to have a go. The basic methods is; 36hrs after pitching clear a space in the krausen and harvest 500ml of wort from just below the krausen. Put it in a bottle and allow to ferment out then cap. You'll then have about 1ch-2cm of yeast in the bottm of the bottle. When it comes to using the yeast just decant of the beer (and drink) swirl the yeast into suspension with a little bit of remaining beer then pitch into a 2L starter.

Being paraniod about opening my FV too much I bought one of these 500ml oil pump/syringe thingies
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-Oi...443430?hash=item1e906343e6:g:AxgAAOSwDN1UQUBL

I tried it on a brew where I just used notty, just in case anything went wrong and I somehow lost the strain. Although you need to be careful with the pump as the yeasty wort seems to want to squirt back out again as you withdraw the hose bit from the FV. It worked really well and I ended up with about 1cm of yeast in the bottle.
I didn't bother to pitch the resultant harvested yeast into a starter though as it was only notty and I was more interested in trying the harvesting part of the method rather than the propagation part.

I'll be trying it again on my newly bottle cultured Shepard Neame strain after I pitch on monday.

It may be possible to use this method from brew to brew almost indefinately as your harvesting cells of all kinds during the most vigourous part of fermentation and not putting any selective pressure on cells like you do with say bottom cropping. It seems similar to top cropping but you dont need a massive krausen as your harvesting from just below the krausen so you should be able to use this method on any ale strain

I think this method will be particularly useful for me as I can build up a little "bottle bank" of different strains and just keep them with the rest of my bottles. Ideally you want to keep them in the fridge but I think you dont HAVE to, as all a particular strain might need to compensatefor keeping it at room temp is an extra step up

I don't really understand this. So you've pitched your yeast, then you've harvested some yeasty wort, put it in a different container and allowed it to finish fermenting. As the yeast settles out you can then pitch this in another brew. How is this different from pitching trub from the bottom of the FV? You've simply made trub in a different vessel from the main FV - it's exactly the same stuff, just a mixture of live and dead yeast cells plus settled out sediment from the original wort. Or am I missing something?