Harvest Yeast...The Easy Way!
Harvesting and washing yeast intimidated me for a long time. It seemed like a ton of work, a lengthy process and too complicated. It turns out that I was wrong. I cannot take credit for inventing this yeast harvesting method, it has been well documented online.
Essentially you make a larger yeast starter than you need (see my previous post about yeast starters). After 24 hours on the stir plate I split the starter into two different (sanitized) containers and put it in the fridge to force the yeast to fall out of suspension and form a cake at the bottom of the containers. I then decant the starter wort off both of the containers. I swirl up on yeast cake and pitch in my aerated wort. I take the second and pour the slurry into several sanitized vials for longer term storage.
Essentially you make a larger yeast starter than you need (see my previous post about yeast starters). After 24 hours on the stir plate I split the starter into two different (sanitized) containers and put it in the fridge to force the yeast to fall out of suspension and form a cake at the bottom of the containers. I then decant the starter wort off both of the containers. I swirl up on yeast cake and pitch in my aerated wort. I take the second and pour the slurry into several sanitized vials for longer term storage.
What I really love about this method is that you harvest perfectly clean yeast that has only fermented 1.040 SG wort that didn't contain hops...that's a pretty easy life for yeast and they will be ready to feast on wort in the future. The other advantage is that it only adds about 5 minutes to your brew day!
Save your favorite yeast, save money, brew more beer!
Cheers,
Graham
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