Storing yeast

[WildKnight]

I am getting into washing and storing my yeast cakes. I have had success in simply decanting the yeast cake into a sterile growler with sterile water, then waiting 20 minutes for the trub to settle. At this point I decant the middle and top portions of the yeast into a new sterile growler and toss it in the fridge. This gives me quite a large pitch for my next beer.

Alternatively, I could decant my yeast cake into a growler filled with sterile, hopped wort. This could then be aerated and allow the yeast to wake up, multiply and then ferment out the wort. This would slightly increase the cell count, but I suppose the biggest advantage would be the antibacterial properties of the hops (and a little bit of alcohol) for storage in the fridge.

I know yeast that go dormant after fermentation are not as healthy as those in the growth phase (aerobic). But, I am not sure of the health differences between yeast post-fermentation in a 5 gallon batch (they have done a lot of fermenting) compared to a re-primed yeast cake (not much fermenting) like I describe above. Is (are) there merit(s) to the alternative method I described or is it an unnecessary step?

 

[logdrum]

Do the wake up (starter) in a 1.040 wort 12-36 hrs before brewing.

-d

 

[WildKnight]

Wake up from what? Which method would you use for preparing the yeast for storage in the fridge? Is there a difference?

 

[logdrum]

Alternatively, I could decant my yeast cake into a growler filled with sterile, hopped wort. This could then be aerated and allow the yeast to wake up, multiply and then ferment out the wort

The idea of storage is to let the yeast go dormant, adding wort will prolong the process. Wash your yeast in sterile water & store till you're ready to use. Make a starter wort (at 10:1 ml/gm of DME) 12-36 hrs prior to brewing & pitch that. I like to cold crash the starter the night before, dump the top "beer" & pitch only the slurry.

-d.

 

[COLObrewer]

It matters not, in both instances you are effectively making a starter. Your yeast warriors will work either way.

 

[maida7]

I'll add that hops are not a great idea in starters. Hop oils are not great for yeast health.

Also, yeast does not like to be stored in a high alcohol environment. Alcohol is toxic to yeast.

I would wash the yeast to get rid of the trub. Then make a low gravity starter or pitch it directly into the next batch. Check out mrmalty.com for info on pitching rates. Do not store yeast for long periods of time. Best results are with under 2 weeks storage in the fridge.