What to do with trub

[Pickettj]

I couldn't resist and after 9 days I racked my first beer into a secondary. First of all, I want to say that beer smells phenomenal. I can't wait to try it mid-January! Secondly, I now have a layer about an inch thick on the bottom of the primary that I hate to waste if it can be used for something besides taking up space in my garbage. Is there a use for this sediment that fell out of the beer (yeast, hops and other waste)?

 

[runningweird]

I put it on my compost, works great.

 

[Pickettj]

I put it on my compost, works great.

I thought about dumping it on the garden. The problem with that today is that the garden is covered with 8" of snow thanks to our little blizzard...Maybe I'll put on my big boy shorts and haul it out there anyways. Thanks!

 

[CTR08]

Reuse! Wash it, keep it in sanitary container... And you'll be good! Just do some googling. Can reuse for 5 to 10 generations!

http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/07/25/yeast-washing-reusing-your-yeast/

I have had success even pitching right on top of yeast cake! Might not get as much of a yeast profile if you do this due to high pitch rate, but I have done this a few times with success. If you do that, I would not let it sit for more than a week or so.

I like to just siphon the yeast cake into sanitized bottle, cap and refrigerate. Works great, just read about pitch rates a bit. Of course make sure to re sanitize outside of bottle prior to pitching... And I skip the flaming of the mouth of the bottle and have not had an issue.

 

[dstranger99]

I like to dip my balls in it, but I'm weird like that.........

 

[Pickettj]

I may look in to washing the yeast later on. On my first I'm trying to keep it simple (I really am!). And dstranger99, that is fairly odd but not inappropriate if you love beer that much!

 

[Jon73]

All of the above methods work. My compost loves it, I've racked on top of it with a second batch (quickest fermentation startup ever), and while I've never tea-bagged my beer, I'm not above trying it.

 

[inhousebrew]

If I'm not dumping it into a cleaned and sanitized mason jar I'm dumping it down the drain.

 

[Pickettj]

If I'm not dumping it into a cleaned and sanitized mason jar I'm dumping it down the drain.

I happen to have two or three dozen mason jars with lids and all that jazz that I picked up from my grandmother just before she was put in to a home. I was going to use them for canning veggies from the garden but I think yeast starters are a far better use! If I put the next bit in a mason jar will refrigerating it stop the yeast? Will they go all comatose? or do I need to look somewhere else for that info? A link to another post will suffice...

 

[stratslinger]

I happen to have two or three dozen mason jars with lids and all that jazz that I picked up from my grandmother just before she was put in to a home. I was going to use them for canning veggies from the garden but I think yeast starters are a far better use! If I put the next bit in a mason jar will refrigerating it stop the yeast? Will they go all comatose? or do I need to look somewhere else for that info? A link to another post will suffice...

At this point, you've already racked the beer off of the yeast cake, correct? And, I'm assuming, the yeast cake has been exposed to the elements for some time. Is this correct? If it is, don't even attempt any method of reuse - whether you dump some of it into a mason jar as-is (which is perfectly viable if you plan to re-pitch it in 14 days or so) or you plan to wash it (which is recommended if you want to hang onto the yeast for longer than that 14 days). The longer the yeast has been exposed, the more likely it's picked up something more than just yeast; bacteria, wild yeast, or other nasties that just may turn whatever you pitch that yeast into to something less than palatable.

Your best bet may be the drain or the compost heap, and make sure your prepared in advance next time to wash or package up that yeast cake next time around.

 

[Pickettj]

At this point, you've already racked the beer off of the yeast cake, correct? And, I'm assuming, the yeast cake has been exposed to the elements for some time. Is this correct? If it is, don't even attempt any method of reuse - whether you dump some of it into a mason jar as-is (which is perfectly viable if you plan to re-pitch it in 14 days or so) or you plan to wash it (which is recommended if you want to hang onto the yeast for longer than that 14 days). The longer the yeast has been exposed, the more likely it's picked up something more than just yeast; bacteria, wild yeast, or other nasties that just may turn whatever you pitch that yeast into to something less than palatable.

Your best bet may be the drain or the compost heap, and make sure your prepared in advance next time to wash or package up that yeast cake next time around.

That's the route I went. It's already on the garden. I didn't even think about the possibility of reusing until I had already racked the beer off of it. This is more of a "what should I do next time" thread. I'm going to read up on washing it and saving it longer term. Thanks for the heads up though!

 

[UncleLankyFrank]

I put it on my compost, works great.

I also compost, but I try to keep the yeast out. It's worth it to harvest it anyways.

 

[BrewerBear]

That's the route I went. It's already on the garden. I didn't even think about the possibility of reusing until I had already racked the beer off of it. This is more of a "what should I do next time" thread. I'm going to read up on washing it and saving it longer term. Thanks for the heads up though!

There is a good how to on yeast harvesting stickied at the top of the fermentation and yeast forum.

 

[whoaru99]

I flush it down the toilet. Don't brew enough at this point to save yeast.

 

[grem135]

I poured mine out in the yard while cleaning the bucket. Good thing too, I had to recover my stribar!

 

[Neoprene]

If you have dogs, just take care with disposing of hops in your garden. Ingestion of hops can trigger malignant hyperthermia in dogs, albeit very rarely.
I've been a veterinarian for 15 years and have spent the last 10 in emergency medicine, and have never seen a clinical case of hop toxicosis, so hopefully I'm not worrying anyone unnecessarily - just thought it was worth mentioning!

 

[unionrdr]

I wouldn't mind if it was the occasional coyotes we get around here got into it. Lucky our cat is still around. Dang thing was about the size of a German Shepard too.

 

[firemostale]

I like to dry my grub out in the sun, then I chop it up and snort it! Just kidding. Look up how to wash and preserve yeast ( freezing/ glycol). That's another art form in and of itself!

 

[firemostale]

Meant to say Trub but auto correct does not brew so that is a foreign word to it!

 

[mcangeli]

Meant to say Trub but auto correct does not brew so that is a foreign word to it!

It could easily become grub though...