Hey all, I have a saison that is about to go into bottles this weekend (Hopefully). I want to reuse the yeast cake for a strong belgian christmas ale but I won’t have the ingredients till sometime next week. what is the best way to keep that yeast happy until then? can I just leave it in the carboy until I am ready to pitch onto it? or should I transfer it to some sanitized mason jars? any point in trying to minimize the trub transfer?
I would transfer to some jars and stick it in the fridge.
Maybe try some yeast washing.
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=4337.0
though some don’t think it’s that important.
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=4337.0
but I would try and get it out of the carboy if it’s going to sit for a while.
I use plastic containers with snap on lids. They seem safer to me than jars since if the yeast builds up pressure they won’t explode like jars do. I also split the slurry between 2 containers since an entire slurry is seldom necessary.
cool. I will see if we have an appropriate container. I am thinking the christmas ale is gonna be aroun1.080 or maybe a little higher. is there any benefit/cost to overpitching in that case? also can I just oxegenate the slurry before pitching rather than trying to shake a full carboy? (I don’t have a aerater stone nor the money to aquire one at the moment)
thanks I will check those links out
I use glass Mason jars for this but keep the lids slightly loose until chilled. Make sure you clean and sanitize the jars and lids.
You can pour the slurry you want to keep into sanitized plastic (PET) water or soda bottles and chill. I like the 8 oz ones. That way I can pitch right into the fermenter after they’ve warmed up.
Very safe.
Between reading this thread and reading similar comments in JZ/CW’s Yeast Book recently, I felt obliged to check on my yeast (in glass Mason Jars) yesterday.
There was some pressure build up in nearly all of them. The worst one was the jar that actually had the least amount of yeast/slurry in it (i.e., more headspace). Made a loud sound akin to a champagne cork popping when I opened it.
Kind of kicking myself for being stupid while doing it (I wasn’t wearing gloves or safety glasses, nor did I have a thick towel over the jar in case of explosion). Not smart. No harm done, though.
I’ve left the lids on loose for now. Plan to eventually switch over to plastic containers and will use the Mason Jars for yeast rinsing or other short term uses.
For storage times that are not too long, I use a mason jar and put
aluminum foil over the opening no pressure and easy.