Harvesting Yeast

[andytv]

My brew club's current objective is to lower $$$ per batch, and we have identified the need to harvest and re-use the yeast from our batches. Can someone give me the lowdown of the mechanics and effectiveness of this process??

How is it done?

What qty do you need for a standard gravity 10gal batch?

Is it reliable?

I know this info is avaiable in books, but I'd rather hear the consensus from the folks who use this forum.

[dartedplus]

In the most recent (OCT. 2001) issue of Brew Your Own magazine, there is an article that goes over this topic in pretty good detail and is pretty easy to follow. I think that should give you a good start. You can usually get the magazine where you buy your supplies, or you can go to their website which is byo.com. I find the magazine a great source of info and ideas.

[Okami]

I asked the same question in this forum a few months ago. Boil a mason jar and lid to sterilize it. Pour the sediment from your secondary fermemter into the jar. Keep this in the fridge until you are ready to brew again. You can "wash" the yeast with distilled water if you want a "cleaner" yeast without the hop residue that may be present, but yeast from the secondary should be fairly clean. Washing involves mixing the yeast with distilled water, alowing it to settle, and then pouring off the clean yeast and leaving behind the hop residue. Three washings is usually enough. I just reuse the yeast from the first jar. I have been reusing the yeast for about 12 batches now, and I haven't had any problems yet. Sterlization is the key to success.

[brewdude]

I too was trying to reduce the cost of my brew.
A couple of years ago I started a few fuggles plants
and now grow all my own hops. I also located a
website that explained in great detail how to
make yeast "slants". It is a way to take yeast
(primarily from a good source, ie. Wyeast) and
grow it in capped test tubes. I have finished
culturing about 20 tubes using this method. I
have yet to use one of the slants but it seems
to be very easy to do, so far. Locating the capped
was a little bit of a challenge. I discovered a med
supply house in a nearby city. I bought a large
bag full (I'm guessing around 200) of tubes and a
tube rack for $30. This will be enough tubes for me
for MANY years even if I throw the old ones out
(of course reusing them would be cheaper). Everything
else you need to culture you probably have at home
(ie. Knox gelaten, DME, a flame source). When I want
to use a slant I'll just take some wort and use it to
collect the yeast from the tube, add it to an airlocked
bottle of wort and let it work for a couple of days
before my brew session. Supposedly you can transfer
yeast from a slant that is getting old to a new one
and perpetuate the yeast strain indefinetely. We'll
see..... As with all your brewing endeavors, sanitation
is key! If you want I'll locate that website and get it
back to ya. Good luck!

[andytv]

Thanks for the input. Since my post, i have visited Wyeast's website and spoke w/ their people, who were very helpful. I think I know how to grow my own yeast now. I'll try after the next batch. here's a tip for you you may already know);

Mcmaster Carr Supply (www.mcmaster.com) has a great selection of almost every sort of supply you will need to support homebrewing. I am pretty sure that they have lab equipment (test tubes etc) at reasonable prices. They also stock things like tubing, fittings, almost anything you can think of.

Thanks Again