Yeast Life

[Elsie Pop]

Hello,

Got some liquid brewing yeast two weeks ago from a commercial brewer. Have made one brew with it but have some left. Has been kept in fridge.

Q - Can I make another brew - how long is it viable for?

Thanks....

[Cobnut]

Freshly cropped yeast will lose its' efficacy quite quickly; great for a few days, but thereafter it'll need "waking up".

I can't say I have lots of experience, but my suggestion would be that at 2-3 weeks "age", you could simply add some wort to the yeast in progressively larger amounts prior to then pitching it all into the full batch. e.g. add a "splash" of wort, then 10-15 mins later a bigger splash, etc. You should see activity relatively quickly - if not, you yeast is probably past its' best.

Much beyond 2-3 weeks, you really would be best advised to do a starter at least 24 hours before brew day.

Doubtless there will be those with more experience of using and keeping this sort of yeast who can offer more specific advice.

Good luck!

[McMullan]

Brewers in real breweries repitch yeast within a few days or so of harvesting, when they're most alive and kicking. Beyond that few days you really need to be making a starter before pitching into your fermenter wort. In, say, a bottle of beer, at a low population density, yeast are known to survive for years. In a jam jar full of dirty slurry, in the back of your fridge, not so long.

[Elsie Pop]

Thanks for the replies. Ditched the yeast.

Used this yeast for a Tiny Rebel Cwtch beer kit. Bottled (16/11/20) about 7 litres and the rest is now in a King Keg. Using this as a clearing tank before transferring to a corny.

The beer is clearing very slowly. Maybe due to the addition of hop pellets (four packs)??? This week I added some Kwik Clear finings. I put one of the bottles in the fridge for a week and it's cleared but the King Keg isn't so far....

Any thoughts????

[bitter_dave]

I’ve found that cold crashing in the fermenter, followed by using gelatine to fine the beer if necessary, is the best way to clear beer. Usually cold crashing on its own does the trick, but some yeasts are easier to clear than others. I appreciate that cold crashing is trickier without a beer fridge but moving the keg to a cool place may help.