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  • Process for reusing yeast. Am I missing things?

    Hi all,
    I am new to the forum and I am also a new pro brewer; just got the job 2 days ago! Anyway, the brewery wants me to take over all the brewing operations; we have a small 1.5bbl system and I will be the only brewer. In the past, the beer has been WAY under pitched, like 3 smack packs for a 1.5bbl batch, thus there are a bunch funky esters and large amounts of diacetyl; the Hefe comes out with a smokey profile... Because we don't have a ton of cash, I need to wash and reuse all the yeast I can, but I have only done this on the home brew level. In reading through the forum, I believe I understand, but please tell me how I can improve the process:
    1. Once I have hit my FG, dump trub from the dump valve on the bottom of the conical; make sure to get rid of the brown material that first comes out. We do not have jacketed FVs, so I can't lower the temp.
    2. When the creamy yeast start flowing, capture them in a sanitized container (I will be using several 2000mL mason jars) and cover.
    3. Place in fridge
    4. When I go to use the yeast in the next day or two, bring it up to fermentation temps, sanitize the mason jar and dump it in.

    What am I missing? I thought this process involved acid washing and additional chemicals? This seems too easy!

    Thanks!

  • #2
    You could consider acid washing your yeast or feeding if (if it will be several days before you repitch). Kudos to you for attempting to pitch at the proper rate and eliminate an inconsistency in your product. However I think you're going to find that the "funky" esters in the beer and smokey flavor in the hefe (probably phenols) are more likely the result of using unjacketed fermenters (and thus poor temperature control of fermentation). For more great info on yeast harvesting you should take a looking at the Brewing Science Institute website. They have a lot of great info on there, and even sell kits for washing & feeding your yeast. Good luck!
    Hutch Kugeman
    Head Brewer
    Brooklyn Brewery at the Culinary Institute of America
    Hyde Park, NY

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    • #3
      You guys need temp control to make good beer. Your fermenters are going to spike up past 80 degrees if you don't temp control somehow.

      Acid washing yeast is not recommended unless it is a last ditch effort. It puts quite a bit of stress on the yeast.

      When covering the yeast container, make sure the cap is not tight and the yeast do not get pressurized.

      For 1.5 bbl, you should have good luck pitching about 1500-2000 ml of 50% yeast solids. I would recommend getting your first pitches from BSI, it'll be a little over $100 with shipping for 1.5 bbl

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      • #4
        I would echo the above about temperature control and getting a fresh lab culture from BSI for each of your strains, those guys rock.

        Your harvesting/repitching technique seems fine as long as you pay careful attention to sanitation during the whole process, dump the first part and last part of the cone and only harvest the yeast from the center of the cone, vent your mason jars so they don't explode and don't keep yeast in the fridge for longer than a week or so.

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        • #5
          I would recommend getting your first pitches from BSI, it'll be a little over $100 with shipping for 1.5 bbl
          Second this. According to the online yeast calculator I use, you'd technically need 5 smack packs in a 5 gallon starter wort to get a sufficient cell count. After factoring in all costs including your time, malt extract, yeast packs, and increased risk of contamination...it would be worth just buying a fresh culture. Remember that if handled correctly, many strains can be harvested 5-10+ times, so don't let the initial cost scare you too much.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Junkyard View Post
            You guys need temp control to make good beer. Your fermenters are going to spike up past 80 degrees if you don't temp control somehow.
            +1

            Not only is this the most influential factor in beer quality/consistency, rapid temperature swings will stress yeast, and stressed yeast make poor candidates for re pitching.

            Your owners may not be willing to (immediately) invest in jacketed fermentors, but it should be on their radar. Depending on the type of fermentors, there are ways to rig up passable temperature control for the interim. Post some pics of your fermentors, or shoot me a PM, and we can figure something out.

            Fermentation temperature control should be your A1 priority right now.

            Originally posted by Junkyard View Post
            Acid washing yeast is not recommended unless it is a last ditch effort. It puts quite a bit of stress on the yeast.
            +1

            Storing cold, without oxygen, and with beer from the previous batch (in the cone or as harvested slurry in a storage container) allows the yeast to stay dormant. Washing/rinsing will cause the yeast to prep for growth/fermentation, prematurely using (wasting) nutrient reserves and decreasing viability/vitality for the next fermentation.

            At your size, harvesting/reusing yeast should be very similar to how you do it as a homebrewer, except you're harvesting from the bottom of a tank and reusing it more quickly (and consistently).
            Kyle Kohlmorgen
            Process/Automation Consultant
            St. Louis, MO

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            • #7
              Hello - pro brewer working with 1.5bbl non-jacketed fermenters here....

              Our fermenters are on wheels and when it gets too hot where we ferment, we push them into the cold room. These are single walled plastic conicals. The ambient temperature where we have them stored is never over 55 degrees (unless they're holding a Belgian or something). We chill into them at 65 or so and then add heat as needed to keep the fermentation temp stable. When we want to "crash" them, we stop adding heat and leave them uninsulated in our cold room at 44. Not an ideal crash to be sure, but if we leave them there for 3 or 4 days, they will clear up enough to keg and serve in our tasting room.

              You need to be able to have some kind of temp control or else you'll never get to the point of even wanting to harvest your yeast, let alone being able to get enough. We typically pitch a liter of liquid yeast from Wyeast into a small, well oxygenated beer to grow up our pitch. From that we can usually harvest 2 to 3 liters of good yeast, depending on the strain.

              Good luck.

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              • #8


                This thread covers my method of temp control for plastic single wall conicals on page 2.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Junkyard View Post
                  http://discussions.probrewer.com/sho...Nano+fermenter

                  This thread covers my method of temp control for plastic single wall conicals on page 2.
                  That is a fantastic reference.

                  Do you think you could use the stainless steel immersion chillers sold to homebrewers, or is the fermentor top opening too small?

                  SS Immersion Chiller:
                  Stainless Steel Wort Chiller is very high quality and durable. It is made up of 8 feet of vinyl tubing and 25 feet of stainless steel tubing.
                  Kyle Kohlmorgen
                  Process/Automation Consultant
                  St. Louis, MO

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    We had ester issues from underpitching in stock recipes when I took over for my brew pub as well. Another thing to look at is yeast variety you are using. When I took over it was Coopers which has an estery profile even when used right.

                    If you want to save on yeast, i find safale 05 a good, reliable option for a large variety of styles. A 500g pack will run you about $80 and should be able to do 1.5 bbl 6-8 batches depending on OG.

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