Re-use yeast for imperial stout

[stickyfinger]

Brewed a 1.064 brown ale with WY1450. Was thinking of re-using the yeast at the bottom of the fermentor for an imperial stout. I never re-use yeast anymore so I’m a little worried/concerned. What method will be safest to get no off-flavors? Wash, no wash, swirl in dregs of beer and pour in suspended only? I’m doing 11 G of stout at 1.100. What are the cool kids doing now?

 

[day_trippr]

No idea wth cool kids are doing (they're a crazy lot ) but imo the less one messes about with yeast the lower the risk of an unhappy ending.

A 64 point fermentation run properly should not have stressed your 1450, and assuming you did a ~5 gallon batch that ended well, after racking off the brown you could directly pitch 1/4-1/3 of what's laying on the bottom of the fermenter to the stout - or stash it in a handful of quart mason jars for later use...

Cheers!

 

[tellyho]

These days, when I reuse, I just dump some of the trub into a sanitized jar and save.

 

[Dgallo]

It’s a great idea to use the yeast from a brown for a stout. Washed is always ideal but not absolutely necessary. When I reuse yeast I’ll take some sparge running on brew day and cool it to pitching Temp and put it in the fv with the yeast as a small starter to get it semi active before the finished wort get racked on topv

 

[stickyfinger]

It’s a great idea to use the yeast from a brown for a stout. Washed is always ideal but not absolutely necessary. When I reuse yeast I’ll take some sparge running on brew day and cool it to pitching Temp and put it in the fv with the yeast as a small starter to get it semi active before the finished wort get racked on topv

Interesting idea. You wash it with sterile water first?

 

[Dgallo]

Interesting idea. You wash it with sterile water first?

I don’t go to extreme with washing the yeast. I’ll simply mix the slurry with some bottled distilled water in a wide mouth 1l jar and Shake it up in the container for about 30 seconds and then I’ll put it in the fridge to decant later. Then using a sanitized spoon I’ll crop the top 3/4 of the yeast cake off as it will be your most healthy/cleanest yeast.

The better option would be next time you want to reuse yeast, just top crop it off the krausen right after active fermentation slows.