When to pull yeast out of a conical

I’m excited to try pulling yeast out of my conical for the next batch.  I only pitched it yesterday so I know I’m ahead of myself but do you all let the beer finish entirely before pulling yeast or do you pull some while it’s still fermenting?
This is a lager that I’m doing with the intent of pulling a good pitch for a marzen but I don’t want to sacrifice the quality of this beer by pulling yeast too early.  But, how important to this brew is the yeast that has settled into the cone already anyway?
When would you pull yeast for a subsequent batch?
Thanks

I usually do a small dump about 24 hours after pitching (this is to get rid of some trub)… get rid of it. Then once fermentation is complete I dump some… get rid of it (highly flocculant yeast).  Then the next day I do my keeper pull.  There is usually another yeast worth to dump if you’re lagering in the conical (less flocculant yeast) but I don’t worry about that dump if I’m not lagering in the conical… I just use the racking arm to pull from above it.

I cooled to about 70F last night and then put it in the conical and left it to come to temp overnight before I pitched. Then this morning I dumped the true and any hop material prior to pitching.
I pitched this morning and 12 hrs later it is bubbling so I’m happy about that. I hope my pitch was big enough for the beer, I was building up older yeast so it was sort of hard to tell. But activity n a lager thus fast makes me think things are gonna be ok.

You can harvest the yeast from conical after you are done fermenting and cold crashed it for at least 24 hours.

Thanks all. I have no way of cold crashing :(  I’m doing temp control by using the ambient. It’s about 50 in my garage right now which is why I’m hoping to get another lager on quickly. Sounds like I’d best get another starter going instead of harvesting.

2-3 days after reaching FG, during the diacetyl rest. Drop the trub-y first bit, harvest the middle portion.

Careful with homebrew conicals. Many of them have 1/2" ports and if you are not careful you will get the yeast plugged up so bad you will not be able to get any movement.

You are correct. A solution to this is to put a little CO2 pressure on the conical. I found 2 PSI worked just fine, squirted the yeast out. My Blichmann is rated for 3 PSI.

That usually does work but I have resorted to coat hanger “plunging” to remove a few plugs, especially ones that I got careless about and let sit too long. And hoppy beers can be a special problem. Best to dump IIPAs regularly IME.

Yes, dumping the trub early helps too.

I knew there was a reason I went with the 1.5" butterfly dump valve. :smiley:

That’s what I have too.

Then you are home free.

I dumped a bit more trub today too. This is fun.

I just have plastic 60L Spiedels at this point, but have considered a conical, as I like the concept of transferring clear wort under pressure.  I have always wondered how you clean and sanitize the dump valve in place after the dump of an early trub and unwanted yeast?  Just spray it down with StarSan?

That is what I do.

Do you mean clear wort or beer?  I ask because I can’t think of a reason to transfer wort under pressure. Regardless either way is doable.  I have the Spiedel fermenter which I have used for several brews.  I transferred to the fermenter from the boil kettle (under pump pressure) coming out of the plate chiller.  When the fermentation is done I transfer under CO2 pressure to a keg.  If you a want picture of how I do it I can provide one.

I think either would work - wort or fermented beer - but I was meaning clear beer, really.  I would like to see your set up for pressurized transfer from the Speidel fermenter…I assume the screw on cap could be fitted with a cornie post and qcd?

Here is how I have done it:

The hose (I use silicone tubing) fits perfectly on the faucet output and the beverage-out ball-lock valve. I put hose clamps at both ends to seal it perfectly.  The yeast has always been just below the faucet, so not much gets into the keg.

Below is a picture of the top setup.  It is a #8 stopper held in place with the ring from an extra faucet I purchased.  The white T valve makes the final connection to the gas line.  2-3 psi from the CO2 canister and you’re in business.

BTW, I use a #8 stopper with 2 holes in it for fermenting.  One has the airlock in it, the other a thermowell so I measure actual beer temperature.

I bought a vacuum pump for transferring my meads awhile back… so I’ve been doing the opposite and transferring my beers via vacuum.  Mostly because it’s super easy.  Though I suppose I am taking co2 out of solution when I do it and I then have to use a slight bit more co2 to carb the beers back up.  Probably would use more co2 if I did the pressurized transfer still though… :wink: