Harvesting yeast out of primary

[tmurph6]

I racked an ipa off its yeast cake today and was wondering if its ok to let my cake sit in the primary for a couple of days with the lid sealed until I make time to harvest?

 

[Waylit]

I wouldn't because you risk contamination. The alcohol in the beer creates a protective layer. Once you remove that, your risk of infection goes up.

I use half gallon ball jars. Fill half way, boil in microwave put the lid on and let it cool. That's your sterile jar for harvest.

 

[BigFloyd]

If it has a layer of beer atop the cake, you should be OK for a couple of days.

Personally, unless I'm going to pitch immediately onto an existing cake (typically not the whole cake - 25-30% for an ale), I like to go ahead and harvest it into sanitized canning jars. If I plan to keep it more than a couple weeks or if it has a bunch of hop gunk, I'll rinse it a couple times.

 

[tmurph6]

I boiled and cooled some water dumped it into the carboy, swirled it, let it sit and dumped the top 65% or so into a sanitized Erlenmeyer flask and set it in the fridge covered in foil. My plan is to decant off the water make a starter and pitch into my next batch jn a couple weeks. I only left it for about 24 hrs.

 

[tmurph6]

After 2 washes this is what i ended. up with. Is there any yeast here?

 

[BigFloyd]

After 2 washes this is what i ended. up with. Is there any yeast here?

Yes.

Keep that in the fridge until a few hours before you want to make the starter. Decant off most of the liquid on top. Sit it on the counter to warm and add it to the starter flask. You'll be good to go.