Washing and reusing yeast (cake)

I just use the yeast cake as is, no washing and great great results.

 

I don't wash either, just save the cake. I would probably wash if reusing a cake from a batch with a lot of non-bagged hops in it, but I personally choose to just not reuse yeast from those beers.

 

I will wash and save yeast if I'm not going to re-use it right away or if it was heavy on the hops...

I typically just grab a few spoonfuls fill the jar a bit and then add water. Let it decant pour off the liquid, leave the more solid stuff behind...

The amount never bothers me because i'm likely going to use it to make a starter later anyways..

 

Day 1 question here but...How do you save the cake?

 

I will save a pint mason jar worth of unwashed cake when I keg a beer. The jar goes into the fridge and stays there until I need it for a batch. On brew day I will pull it out of the fridge and let it come up to pitching temperature then pitch it straight from the jar with no starter. This works wonderfully every time as long as it is less than 60 days old and the wort is under 1.070.
I have tried washing yeast and in my opinion it is not worth the extra effort.

 

Pretty much how @csurowiec describes above. I also agree that it's good to hold in the fridge for about 2 months, though I try to keep it shorter for lager yeast. The only thing I will add is that the yeast on the bottom of the fermenter is usually too think for me to pour directly into a mason jar. I have some RO water on hand, preboiled and chilled, that I will add to loosen it up to a pourable consistency. I'll then also use the water to top off the mason jar.

 

I find it amazing that homebrewers are washing their yeast and analyzing and adjusting their water when many small brewers aren't.

Unless you've gone through several generations of yeast I'm pretty sure you're OK with just repitching it as csurowiec and scottakelly suggest.

 

You guys are fancy. I will typically just leave the yeast cake in the fermenter and rack the new wort on top. Naturally I would usually transfer the existing beer off the cake just prior to racking the new batch on top.

 

My only rules for pitching the cake is to make sure the first beer is fairly low gravity (~<1.050), a similar hop/maltbill, and that I rack the 1st beer @ , or equal to 1 week and immediately pitch beer #2.

 

The only time I will rack new wort right on top of a cake is if that new wort is going to be a big boozy beer and I want a crapload of yeast for a good fermentation.

 

Exactly. It's a great way to build up some real yeast numbers for a big lager.

 

Do I wash yeast? No.

Do I adjust water? Yes, there is no way I can brew light colored beers with my tap water. The water has very high alkalinity. I start with RO and build from there.

Many of the small breweries in the Midwest are adjusting their water. The ones that don't do anything? The ones around here don't make very good beer.

 

Yeah I just found the same high alkalinity in my tap water and now understand why I've struggled with light beers. I've been able to cover some of the flavors with post-fermentation additions (dry-hop, oak aging, orange peel) but have been hunting down other reasons so I am now planning to do some water adjustments as well (was just using 52 stabilizer before). It's pretty easy to understand using free calculators so its hard to understand why you wouldn't if you are doing all-grain brewing.

I have not re-used yeast yet from a full batch yet but was planning on trying it out with a Barleywine I plan to make in the next month or two. I plan to give this a try for that so thanks for all the information by everyone!

 

hate to speak for him, but I think nerofiddled is just surprised at the fact that many pro brewers aren't doing these things....

sure they can make great beer without doing those things. I've always made pretty good to great porters and stouts while my paler beers were usually sub-par before adjusting water. Re-using a unwashed cake can still make decent beer, but you it should probably be better off if the yeast get washed.

Also, if re-using yeast cake...be careful not to overpitch. Off flavors are pretty well documented to be associated with overpitching.

 

I understand what you are all saying about repitching on a cake, but I don't always brew again right when one beer is ready to be bottled or kegged. I save yeast in a fridge... So I have to put it in a jar.... I guess I could not wash it, but it doesn't bother me to, it's really simple...

 

Old thread that might help you:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/how-many-cells.77320/#post-1104177

 

Exactly - telejunkie got it right! I wasn't dissing homebrewers, I was lauding them! Nor was I dissing smaller breweries either, although there are some that need to start upping their game.