Wyeast 1469, rousing & harvesting tips?

[SteveH]

Hi all,

First time using liquid yeast and I've pitched 1469 yorkshire ale yeast into a TT Landlord clone, 24 hours later and it seems to be bubbling away well.

I read in some places that you should rouse/oxygenate this yeast after 24 hours, I aerated before pitching with a hand whisk for a few mins but unsure if I should do the same again if it's already clearly fermenting?

My instinct is to leave it alone, but wondered if others who have used this yeast can share any tips/experiences?

Also wondering about harvesting, given this is a top-fermenting yeast am I best to get a couple of scoops of krausen (and a bit of fermenting wort?) into a jar, then add more fresh wort and get it on the stir plate?

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions

 

[Ben034]

I've used this yeast a number of times without rousing and it finished fermenting without issue. I understand that you may encourage a certain ester profile that this yeast is known for by continuosly rousing. I've had good success without doing this but then I haven't compared side by side so couldn't say if there was a noticeable difference. I would have thought that on a commercial level, rousing the yeast would be more important than on a homebrew scale but other people may have a different take on this.

I always overbuild a starter so don't top crop but it's certainly a good yeast if you want to. I'm sure there are some threads on this on the forum detailing best procedure.

 

[matt76]

I've successfully harvested yeast from the krausen - it works fine but is a pain to transfer to anything other then a very wide necked container.

A better approach is approx 36 hours after pitching, draw off 250-500ml from just below the surface using a turkey baster. Transfer it to a sterilised container and let it ferment out and the yeast will settle on the bottom in a couple of days and can be harvested.

But honestly I find it simpler to just harvest yeast from the bottom of the FV once I've transferred the beer to the bottling bucket.

 

[Brew Dad]

I have used this yeast a few times, and as reported, it is a quick mover. I don't think you will have any issues with a TT clone, as it is lower gravity, but I did have 1469 stall on a higher gravity beer (an ESB clone) at 1.020. Seems this yeast starts and ferments quickly, but also drops out quickly, so rousing might be needed on higher gravity beers.

 

[SteveH]

Great thanks all - I didn't do a starter this time as was away over the weekend, just smacked the pack and left overnight (only a 10l batch though so I think the pitch-rate was probably OK).

I think I'll give top-cropping a try so I can get another batch on before this one gets bottled but agree collecting slurry afterwards or overbuilding a starter is probably easier.

If the lid is off I may as well give it a stir after collecting some foam/wort I guess, but good to know that may not normally be needed!

 

[Zephyr259]

I overbuild my starters and have been using this strain for over a year now, just what most say, quick and reliable yeast, but I've not put it in anything strong. I guess rousing and aerating would be to simulate commercial open fermentation? I just leave it to do its jobs.

 

[SteveH]

I overbuild my starters and have been using this strain for over a year now, just what most say, quick and reliable yeast, but I've not put it in anything strong. I guess rousing and aerating would be to simulate commercial open fermentation? I just leave it to do its jobs.

Thanks for the feedback - after deliberating I left it alone do do its thing but I was worrying after reading about the Yorkshire square process of constant mixing/rousing, and a few folks that had stalled fermentations etc.

Probably fussing about nothing, I'll leave it alone and harvest the slurry when it's done! :)

 

[matt76]

Thanks for the feedback - after deliberating I left it alone do do its thing but I was worrying after reading about the Yorkshire square process of constant mixing/rousing, and a few folks that had stalled fermentations etc.

Probably fussing about nothing, I'll leave it alone and harvest the slurry when it's done! :)

Second law of engineering: if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[SteveH]

Well I needn't have worried about rousing - the first batch went down to 1.008 from 1.045 in 10 days without touching it at all!

Pitched some of the slurry into a 21l batch of a slightly stronger (1.056) ESB late last night, and it's already bubbling this morning!

Oh and the TT clone tastes great based on the sample jar tasting, got to wait a couple of weeks to see how it turns out from the bottle.

 

[matt76]

Good work fella - Told you it wasn't broke

 

[private4587]

I have just done a King Goblin OG 1.073 and ended up at 1.011 in a matter of days no rousing, just a question though does anyone know how many times i can overbuild this great yeast.

 

[Zephyr259]

Mine's been used about 5 or 6 times over 18 months, I've been on a kveik trend this year so I need to build mine back up for a summer bitter.

 

[An Ankoù]

I'm in two minds about this yeast. It certainly gets going quickly enough and looks like the kind of yeast I used to see on beer in the fermenters at the now defunct Dorchester Brewery (Eldridge Pope), which was alleged to be thick and rocky enough for mice to chase each other across it. It takes ages for the head to drop, though and for the beer to clear on its own unless I rack it into a secondary FV, when it drops almost bright almost immediately. At bottling time, the beer is well-attenuated so perhaps there is something for rousing or at least getting the beer moving. No trouble clearing in the bottle, but it doesn't seem to add much to the character of the beer. I've done six or seven brews from a summer bitter through an APA to a mild and gone through 3 generations without a hitch.
Don't get me wrong, I prefer it to S-04 and Gervin, perhaps I was expecting too much.

 

[Zephyr259]

I've read about it taking a while to drop but never had that issue myself, ferments out my 1.040 ish beers in 7 days, then I crash cool and bottle on day 10.

 

[An Ankoù]

I've read about it taking a while to drop but never had that issue myself, ferments out my 1.040 ish beers in 7 days, then I crash cool and bottle on day 10.

I'll rebuild some and give that a try as I'm taking advantage of the the cooler weather over the next few days to get some bitters in. I'll try a TT Landlord. It should suit that perfectly.