gwapogorilla said:
Tom, in John Palmer's book, he states yeast will store for a few months in the fridge. Of course, sooner is better...but what experiences have you had to help us new guys with this? I was going to harvest some US05 this weekend myself, from an IPA that's going to be around 7%ABV. Was hoping to split it to get an extra couple of batches from it.
Without knowing the specific passage you are referring to I cant really respond to Palmer's book. However, Palmer and Jamil have been consistent on every brewstrong episode, and Chris White / Jamil reiterate in "Yeast", that the viability of harvested slurry, specifically, drops off very fast. This is in contrast to commercially prepared liquid yeasts, which are packaged at the peak of yeast health. Further these are also packaged using proprietary methods and formulations to maximize longevity.
Perhaps the Palmer passage you are referencing was with regards to commercially packaged liquid yeasts? If that were the case, then I would agree the longevity of these is on the order of 6 months or so.
According to every published source I'm aware of the viability of slurry drops off at about 10% per week. So, after 2 weeks you are down around 25% dead yeast. For a typical ale pitch of 200 billion cells, that's 50 billion dead cells introduced on day 0. Anything more than that, is more than I want in my beer...just waiting to autolyze and start tasting funny.
I re-pitch from slurry to improve my beer, not to save money or time. Healthy, clean, re-pitched slurry
makes better beer than a starter from a fresh vial, which in turn makes better beer than a plain vial, which in turn makes better beer than a packet of dry yeast (though some may argue this point---ME homebrewer, specifically).
So, when I'm in the mood and have a series of beers lined up week-after-week, I will plan a sequence of beers around a specific strain (WLP001/002/500, etc) and brew from lower gravities to higher gravities every two weeks, repitching from one to the next. After generation #2, typically I can usually graduate to every week. The fermentation generally speeds up significantly, such that its done within 3-4 days, and I can crash for 3-4 days, and transfer the clear beer to a keg within 7 days of pitching. Then I can repitch VERY healthy yeast into the next batch.
In these cases, I will generally transfer the old beer to a keg the night before, and then wash the slurry immediately afterwards. I let the washed slurry settle overnight and decant the morning of brewday. I measure my slurry and pitch into a 500 ml starter to bring the yeast out of dormancy, and revitalize them. I have followed this sequence week-after-week for up to 7 batches...though I know others who have gone much farther. By the time I reach batch 7, I'm tired of the same yeast strain, and generally have too much beer hanging around waiting to be drunk. I have 6 kegs, and 4 primary fermenters, and enough bottles for another 5 gallons of beer. I also have 8 6-gallon, and 3 3-gallon carboys---but I don't use those much anymore. When the bottles, kegs, and all 4 primaries are full that means I have 55 gallons of beer in the house....its time for some drinkin! By that point, I'm tired of brewing and other projects need some attention.
In all honesty, I don't wash my slurry much anymore. My transfer methods now are good enough that I don't end up with much trub from the kettle. And, I only reuse slurry under near ideal conditions (1-2 weeks from pitching), so I have very little dead yeast to remove. The last couple of times that I actually went to the trouble I didn't have ANY undesirable material settle out. So, the extra handling just wasn't worth the risk of introducing an infection when there was nothing appreciable to remove.
cpapkt said:
I may pick up some star san but haven't yet because it seems as thought it only sanitizes instead of cleaning and sanitizing like one step. I've often thought about star san but have been using one step since I started brewing with Mr. Beer.
Direct from the manufacturer's website (http://www.ecologiccleansers.com/one-step.php):
Cleanser or Sanitizer?
One Step is not a certified sanitizer as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Obtaining that designation for use in promotional literature and packaging is, unfortunately, an expensive and time-consuming process that includes ongoing review by the EPA. Companies that obtain or use that designation typically invest a significant amount of capital or use another company’s product through a process called “sub-registration.” However, unless you are operating a commercial brewery, winemaking operation, restaurant or similar business, you probably don’t need a designated sanitizer.
So, it may work okay for you, but I prefer to use tested, qualified sanitizers for my beer. From their description, one-step is it an oxygen based cleanser---ie similar to oxyclean. oxyclean is what I use for cleaning. You will find that to be substantially cheaper than one-step in bulk.
If you are going to step up to the plate of yeast-washing, you should step up to the plate of industrial, certified sanitizers. Your sanitation practices are magnified by propagating slurry from batch to batch. Any infection in batch zero will continue to grow into batch 1, 2, 3 etc...becoming a higher percentage of the total colony with every batch. So, while your first batch (previously your ONLY batch) may taste fine, batch 3 or 4 might suddenly start to taste tart or sour or just plain weird or funky. What is the point, if its going to make worse beer (or risk making worse beer)?
