Re using my yeast

[ianj84]

Hey, so I'm brewing a red ale at the moment with 1056 and wondered if when I transfer my red ale to keg can I dump new pale ale wort on top of it without any problems.

Concerns
Will the trub left over from red ale be ok sitting there for another ferment?
Going from a darker beer to a lighter beer?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Natethebrewer]

There's a bunch of discussion on here about this and a process called yeast washing.
I'm told you should go from light to dark but I've had luck both ways.
I usually make a starter and scoop out a few tablespoons either the day before I brew or at mash in. close up the growler containing the starter, transfer, clean and sanitize and then just pour the yeast back in when your next batch is ready.

 

[dcp27]

i'd wash it, then it doesnt matter what you do first/second: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/

otherwise just use a cup or so of slurry (check mrmalty.com for the proper amount), using the whole cake would be over-pitching

 

[Natethebrewer]

dcp27- agreed the whole cake would be way too much.
I haven't washed before but still scooping out some into a starter has been very reliable for me.

 

[ianj84]

Thanks for that.
I have a glass carboy, so do I tip all of it out into another container so it's easier to scoop?

 

[Natethebrewer]

I'm doing my scooping from a primary fermenting bucket so there's plenty of elbow room. I would avoid pouring, it would mix up good yeast, bad yeast, and other stuff you don't want.
Can you siphon some off? Aside from that I'd look into washing, or perhaps adding a little water (distilled, preboiled, etc) to make things easier to siphon.
Shouldn't take a whole lot of yeast to get it going, like dcp said, a cup or so.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Thanks for that.
I have a glass carboy, so do I tip all of it out into another container so it's easier to scoop?

Nah, just pour out what you want to save, discard the rest. Buckets or open top fermenters are easier to collect yeast using a large soup ladle and scooping.


I'm lazy, I would just pour about a third of the cake into a sanitary container and pitch that directly into a new batch within a week or two. Or easier yet, if you have a second fermenter, transfer yeast after racking directly to your new batch. Pour off and discard any liquid prior to repitching into the new brew. Many ways to do this, from simple to full on yeast ranching, read up a bit and choose what suits you.

 

[ianj84]

Thanks for advice.

So this is what I just did.
I poured the junk at the bottom of my fermenter into a bowl after putting the beer into a keg.
So then I made a starter and put about a cup of that junk into the starter.

I started pouring it and took the first runnings.

It looked like brown sludge.

So is this pointless or will it work?

How will I know if it worked?

I know I did it wrong but id appreciate some feedback, cheers

 

[dcp27]

you'll know it worked if the starter shows some activity (it'll probably be real quick tho with how much yeast you added). the cup alone may have been enough as is tho (see the slurry tab: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html )

 

[ianj84]

Hey. Yeah i got activity straight away. It's a 1 liter starter but it has like an inch of trub at the bottom. When I pitch should I put it all in or pour it without the trub?