Yeast from brewery (how much to use?)

[100million]

I have a question about how do u find out how much do I use for yeast to brew beer?

But this is the real question... I make starters all the time and get vials, smack packs, dry yeast like not, 04,05 etc... That is not the problem.... I use BeerSmith Mr malty... Etc

If I go to the brewery and the head brewer gives me yeast out of the fermenter (it is thick)....

how do I find out how much yeast to use?

Is there a easy way to measure the yeast in grams for the size of beer and the OG I have?

Thanks

 

[nimboden]

Mr malty has a "re pitch from slurry" let it settle in the fridge and see how much yeast vs liquid there is and go by the site. Typically it's around 300-500ml of slurry for standard ale.

 

[100million]

For 5 gallons or 10 gallons?

 

[505-Brewer]

Ask them for a cell density count. Otherwise your just guessing.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

2 billion cells per ml is probably a safe estimate.

 

[Hoppy_Sanchez]

I just picked up 32oz Crowler of 1968 wyeast from a brewery and I have the same questions. I also want to separate it the yeast into mini mason jars of the right pitch rate for beers being 1.060-70 5-6 gallon batch. Any help would be nice. I know this thread is old.

 

[sykesey]

The concentration of yeast in harvested slurry is anywhere from 0.8 to 2 billion cells per mL according to the Yeast book by Chris White, safe to assume about 1 billion cells per mL unless you can count yeast or run some experiments to determine concentration. So for a standard 1060-70 batch at 1 billion cells per mL per plato that works out to about 300 billion cells or 300mL / 10 oz / a bit over a cup. Ale yeast probably best with a bit less than that, or lager yeast a bit more.

thats a pretty reasonable starting point, otherwise you can check the pitch from slurry calculator.

 

[Hoppy_Sanchez]

Thanks for the information. Looks like I need to buy the Yeast book. This yeast is a 4th generation. ph of 4.3. The brewery did say the yeast is very active. Also it came from a stout beer. This is the brewery’s main house yeast.

 

[sykesey]

No probs... If you do get it it's on page 123-125 or so along with some info about how to estimate the concentration you have. If its viability is high just keep it as cold as you can without freezing then pitch away. I'm going to do the same soon with a local brewery hopefully, saves me buying whatever they have as house strains.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I'd go with a lot less than 300mL. According to the Mr Malty calculator, you'd only want about 65mL of good, thick slurry (which you'd expect from a brewery). Double that if it's a month old. I wouldn't use it if it was much older than that (make a starter instead). I've used that calculator for a lot of slurry pitches and they've always taken off quickly.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Ask them for a cell density count. Otherwise your just guessing.

Seriously? They’re doing the favor and you would ask for a cell count?

 

[sykesey]

The Mr Malty calculator uses a default value of 2.4 billion cells per mL, i'm assuming 60ml is with the thickness right up. If you make it 1064 starting grav and 6 gallons at the default it spits out 134mL.
The larger amount of 300mL was if the cell count was unknown to be safe, but personally i've pitched half a cup for an ale and that's been just fine. Since its fresh yeast im sure less will be fine but if stored for a while, better to add more or make a starter.

Seriously? They’re doing the favor and you would ask for a cell count?

That was a pretty old response. Agree though, asking a brewery that is giving you free yeast to do a cell count is probably a bit much. Just estimating with somewhere between 1 and 3 billion cells per ml of thick slurry should be fine

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

You calling me old?

 

[Hoppy_Sanchez]

Cool I’ll try a half cup for my next batch. I plan on splitting this with my friend. So I’ll just measure 4 8oz mason jars.

 

[Hoppy_Sanchez]

Cool I’ll try a half cup for my next batch. I plan on splitting this with my friend. So I’ll just measure 4 8oz mason jars.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

i'm assuming 60ml is with the thickness right up.

Yes, it is. If you get yeast from a brewery, it's presumably out of a conical, so will be full thickness (i.e. not mixed with beer like homebrew slurry is) and with a low non-yeast percentage (trub is dumped separately).

 

[sykesey]

You calling me old?

Not at all, just that the reply you were quoting was from 2015

 

[Hoppy_Sanchez]

Yea I’m pretty stoked on getting some
Fresh harvested yeast from one of
My favorite local brewery.

 

[Qhrumphf]

If it's straight out the cone full thickness, in lieu of a proper cell count, I'd go by weight personally. Different yeasts seem to flocc out denser, creamier, fluffier, etc than others (especially dependent on how it was conditioned prior to harvest), and that can make volume measurement a bit tricky, especially for homebrew scale.

According to Wyeast at least, "thick slurry" should weigh about 1.1kg/L, but it very much varies based on density. If we assume the Wyeast figure is an "average", and you've got thick yeast with low non-yeast solids, as you should with *properly* harvested commercial yeast, I'd take whatever count of "slurry" in mL and use that amount in grams. Makes sense to me the mass will be more reliable than the volume.

But as said above, a proper cell count is gonna be the most reliable.

 

[Hoppy_Sanchez]

I would have to find out the exact weight of the crowler can empty to determine that. I know they use a Dixie crowler machine if that helps with anyone knowing the Exact weight of a crowler can empty with cap. I guess I could buy a crowler, enjoy the beer and weigh the empty crowler the figure my exact weight.

 

[Terpene]

You could make a starter. Yes, it's extra work, but you'd have better control of pitch rate.

 

[smata67]

I filter trub and hops into the fermenter and store the resulting slurry in the squat 4 oz (1/2 cup) mason jars. This is about 100mL with some headspace. Come pitch time, I make a 1L starter to confirm viability and get things going and pitch into 5 gallon batches. Never had a problem with this approach. I have found that if I do not filter trub and hops going into the fermenter, the resulting cake is roughly twice the thickness, so the required amount to pitch is double. I store these in the 8 oz mason jars.

This is how I justify the amount. White Lab vials are 30mL and are usually half filled, so 15mL of slurry. This is reported to be about 100B cells. I assume their slurry is twice the cell count as mine, so mine is 30mL per 100B cells. So 100mL in my 4 oz jar is roughly 3 times this cell count or about 300B cells which is perfectly adequate for most 5G batches. On top of that, I make the 1L starter, to further put the cell count in my favor.

 

[InspectorJon]

I filter trub and hops into the fermenter

What is your process for filtering hops and trub? I’m assuming this is between boil kettle and fermenter.

 

[smata67]

Painter's nylon bag over a strainer. There are also funnels with snap in strainers for carboys.

 

[InspectorJon]

I’ve tried to use a paint strainer but it got blocked up with trub and I ended up having to squeeze it through using my hands. That did not feel very sanitary.

 

[smata67]

The first 4 gallons of a 5 gallon batch should be able to pour straight through the paint bag with this setup. The key for the last gallon or so with the trub and hops is to have a rigid enough support for the paint bag so you can scrape back and forth with a spatula. I provide a pic with the quantity of trub recovered with a typical 5 gallon batch of about 10 lb LME. Total weight of 2 lb 10 oz, with 4 oz of that being hops.