Saving Yeast ( How much to save?)

[pointcity-homebrew]

I am wanting to save the yeast(Thames Valley) from my last batch. I only have a container that is approx. 900ml. My question is will this be a sufficient amount for the next 5 gal batch?

Sorry this is the first time that I am attempting this, and I have read a lot but never mentioned how much is enough.

Thanks
J

 

[rupert130]

Mr. Malty has a repitching from slurry option. Use that to determine how much you will need

 

[heckler73]

just do it.


and then make sure you make a starter for a couple days before you brew with it.

 

[hottpeper13]

If you can rinse the yeast and let it settle out then decant and store the thick slurry in the flask. When i do this I can pitch this into 10 gal of wort and it takes off in 6 to 8 hrs. So you only need 1/2 of you slurry for repitching. Also if stored more than 2 weeks I make a starter and start all over again. I try to plan my beers for 3 to 4 uses of each yeast I buy. about 3 weeks apart, rinse and repitch.

 

[flars]

You can use almost any container to save yeast in, as long as it can be sanitized. Beer bottles, mayonnaise jars (plastic or glass), or coffee maker carafe. Don't seal the container to tightly. Allow for residual CO2 to escape.

Plastic wrap or aluminum foil, secured with rubber bands, can make a good short term lid.

 

[flars]

I am wanting to save the yeast(Thames Valley) from my last batch. I only have a container that is approx. 900ml. My question is will this be a sufficient amount for the next 5 gal batch?

Sorry this is the first time that I am attempting this, and I have read a lot but never mentioned how much is enough.

Thanks
J

It took a few minutes for my brain to engage. 900 ml is almost a quart. You should be able to collect about 375 ml of yeast, measured after a week of settling, in your jar. This will depend upon how much beer and hop debris is left in the fermentor.
When I'm harvesting, I will leave just enough beer to cover the yeast cake. The quart canning jars will have 375 to 400 ml of yeast. I do strain the hop debris as I pour into the fermentor.

 

[pointcity-homebrew]

Thanks for all the advice, as I said this is the first time trying this. As I become more experienced, it seems as though I become more frugal as well.

I have the yeast in a sanitized tupperware drinking bottle, I squeezed the bottle to make sure it was not air tight. Poured my slurry in and placed it in my fridge. I am making a stir plate, and will be sure to make a starter before pitching.

Thanks Again
J

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I rarely repitch a cake, since I like to use a variery of yeasts. my process is as follows:

1. make a starter
2. pitch starter to the current batch, reserving a small amount in the starter flask
3. Add starter wort and ferment as a usual starter.
4. cold crash, decant once.
5. swirl up remaining starter and pour into a sanitized perform tube
6. cold crash and decant starter tube
7. repeat steps 5 and 6 til tube is 2/3 full of sediment, or until starter is gone.
8. cap and label with strain name and ferment date.
9. refrigerate no more than 14 months.
10. return to step 1 when it's time to use this strain again.

I used to save 2 vials of sediment, until I realized that I was just ending up with more vials of old yeast. When its time to do a new batch I begin my starter monday evening before a brew saturday. Friday I go buy my grains. If the starter shows no signs of life, I'll reboil the starter media (to kill any bacteria I accidentally ranched) and repitch with a fresh sample I purchased along with the grains. I almost did this once. but when I brought the grains home Friday evening the starter was bubbling away merilly.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Saved slurry is roughly 2 billion cells per ml. The viability by date on the yeast calculators has been way off when I compared it to viability counts and fermentation performance.

See here for details:
http://www.woodlandbrew.com/2012/12/refrigeration-effects-on-yeast-viability.html
http://www.woodlandbrew.com/2012/11/counting-cells.html