Yeast harvest amount

[JLL]

I'm in the process of scheduling our first brews on our 20 BBL system. We will be brewing double batches to fill 40 BBL FV's. I'm wondering how much re-pitchable yeast I can expect to use for following batches. This is assuming yeast nutrients in the boil and 100 ppm Ca in our water for proper flocculation. For example with our ale strain (Cali), I've got a 13P beer that I'm hoping will produce enough yeast after fermentation and resting at 50F for a couple days to harvest enough for 40 BBL of 12P wort one day and 40 BBL of 18P wort the next. Any thoughts?

[GlacierBrewing]

I would start with a yeast cell count and viability test so you know how much you need to pitch into your batches. From there, I feel it will be a matter of experience to determine how many harvests you will get from a brew. I'm on a 10bbl system and can expect around 2-3 solid harvests.

Prost!
Dave

[JLL]

I would start with a yeast cell count and viability test so you know how much you need to pitch into your batches. From there, I feel it will be a matter of experience to determine how many harvests you will get from a brew. I'm on a 10bbl system and can expect around 2-3 solid harvests.

Prost!
Dave

Dave,

We will definitely be doing cell counts and viability tests before any pitch, but I was throwing it out there to see what other people are getting from a single harvest. When you say you are getting 2-3 solid harvests, are those harvests for a single brewlength (10 BBL wort to fill 10 BBL FV)? As stated before, I'm hoping that there will be enough yeast to harvest from 40 BBL of a 13P beer on a Monday for 40 BBL of 12P on Tuesday and a 40 BBL of 18P on Wednesday for example.

[wailingguitar]

Regardless of the system size, I expect 2-3 good pulls to repitch into a FV of the same size

[GlacierBrewing]

Dave,

We will definitely be doing cell counts and viability tests before any pitch, but I was throwing it out there to see what other people are getting from a single harvest. When you say you are getting 2-3 solid harvests, are those harvests for a single brewlength (10 BBL wort to fill 10 BBL FV)? As stated before, I'm hoping that there will be enough yeast to harvest from 40 BBL of a 13P beer on a Monday for 40 BBL of 12P on Tuesday and a 40 BBL of 18P on Wednesday for example.

Yes, those are from a single brew:10 bbl FV.

[Jim Lieb]

I would agree that you should definitely get 2 harvests from each batch, except for maybe the first batch. I have seen were the first batch brewed may not produce enough for two pitches. The Cali yeast does reproduce well, but have seen lighter reproduction on the first generation.

Jim Lieb

[Yeast]

I'm in the process of scheduling our first brews on our 20 BBL system. We will be brewing double batches to fill 40 BBL FV's. I'm wondering how much re-pitchable yeast I can expect to use for following batches. This is assuming yeast nutrients in the boil and 100 ppm Ca in our water for proper flocculation. For example with our ale strain (Cali), I've got a 13P beer that I'm hoping will produce enough yeast after fermentation and resting at 50F for a couple days to harvest enough for 40 BBL of 12P wort one day and 40 BBL of 18P wort the next. Any thoughts?

you should crash to a colder temperature and harvest sooner. the longer the yeast sit the less active, the more glycogen they eat, and in conicals the stress from hop trub, pressure, and other bad environmental problems. like the others said you should get 2-3 pitches back out of a successful fermentation. you should be pitching on cell count and viability into your batches.

40bbl in mL is 4.69E6
so (4,693,911 Fermenter size in mL)(18ºP)(750,000 cells per ºP)=6.3E13 cells to pitch.

say you harvest 7 brinks from that fermentation say 28.3L(7.5gal) and you take a cell count and find out you have 8.1E8 cells and 90% viability. giving you 7.3E8 active yeast cells per mL. 28,300mL*7.3E8 = 2.1E13

so you needed to pitch 6.3E13 cells and you have 2.1E13 in each brink you need to use exactly 3 brinks to pitch the next fermentation.


Another important thing to note is that if you're doing 20bbl one day and then 20bbl the next you may be topping up your fermentation tank after the lag phase has begun. in this case you should only pitch for 20bbl and oxygenate on the first day. the second batch on the second day would be introduced without oxygenation. the yeast have already multiplied and you have enough yeast to handle the second days top up. you retain a better ester profile if you don't oxygenate the top ups after the lag phase has ended. if you're going to brew both 20bbl batches within 10-12 hours then pitch for 40bbl.

the best thing you can do for yourself is start to pitch accurately and invest in a scope and a counting slide. this additionally allows you to look for potential beer spoilers in your yeast prior to pitching. acid producing rods and cocci for example.