So I'm preparing to do a 3 gallon all grain BIAB American amber that's not very hoppy to keep my yeast cake nice and clean.... Should I just gather my yeast cake slurry after fermentation store in fridge, then wash it another day prior to brewing my next beer or is it better to collect the yeast and wash it the same day as collection? My American amber is gonna be fairly low o.g. Also to help my yeast cake stay stress free.... Opinions / previous experience greatly appreciated
I stopped washing yeast years ago and have noticed no detriment. I simply collect the yeast cake in a sanitized mason jar and store in the fridge. If you decide you want to wash though I'd do it before storing.
To just repitch? I go up to a month and have gone longer but you'll notice significant lag times. After that I make starters most the time. I've used yeast stored this way that has been in the jar for well over a year. I just used some 1968 that was stored in May 2011. No issues and it performs better every time I repitch it.
You guys know any ways to estimate how much yeast is appropriate to re-pitch. Is the yeast from a 16 oz. mason jar equivelant to a wyeast pack, or is it plenty of yeast for a 1000 ml starter, or how big of an OG have you guys seen good results with a 16 Oz. mason jar of harvested yeast?? I suppose mr. Malty could help me guesstimate a pitching rate/ cell count on my harvested yeast?
I don't wash my yeast either. Put it in a sanitized growler with an airlock in the fridge, and then make a starter for the future batches.
I have thought about doing this in the past. My concern is that I always just bump the the boil kettle contents into the fermenter (I don't siphon or strain). So after the fermentation I'm left with everything that settled out of the beer mixed into the yeast. My beer is clear but the yeast cake has bits of hops and everything else mixed in. Are you reusing yeast this way and not tasting anything from the previous batch or is your yeast "cleaner" after fermentation?
You could top crop your yeast. I have the same problem as you (getting too much trub/hops in the fermentor) and I just top cropped for the first time, and it worked quite well... so far.
Most of the time the yeast I reuse is much like this. Sometimes depending upon volumes/hops I run the whole thing in with exception to what is left below my ball valve. Not for IPA's or heavily hopped beers, etc, those I try to leave most the hops behind. I never really notice a difference either way to be honest. Sure the collected yeast will contain more trub, hops, etc but it always seems to be fine. Try it out. Simply repitching after a week or two is good. If you are concerned store some for a month or two then make a starter and see what you have. I wish I could tell you some horror story but I've had nothing but good luck doing this.
So mr. Malty tells me I'd need about 54 ml of yeast for my next batch if that batch also has a 1.050 og ( 54 ml of my harvested yeast). Do you guys have any good ways to measure out harvested yeast?? I have a scale I could probably use or should I just guestimate 54 ml?
Why not just convert your results to cups? There are a ton of online calculators to go from ml to cups (or tablespoons, or whatever).
That's genius vikeman!! Dj that's also a very smart idea.... The votes are in and it's official that im mentally challenged. Now I know that a few posters here earlier mentioned no I'll effects of Not washing their harvested yeast. I run my cooled wort thru a double mesh strainer before it goes to primary to get most of the pellet particles out of my beer. Does this practice lend itself well to me being able to keep my yeast harvesting/repitching rinse free also??
