No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

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chefgage
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No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by chefgage » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:00 pm

Just tried to dump some yeast from my ss brewtech 7 gal chronical. I did not get any slurry out only what appears to be mainly just beer with a bit of matter in it.

This happened last time fermentation i did.

I am using whole hops in the boil so i assume they are filtering out alot of material contributing to trub. But i would expect some yeast slurry at the dump valve surly??

I dumped tonight which means the beer has been in the fermenter for 12 days. The fg was hit on day 4 or 5. I then bottle on day 14.

This is a picture of the dumped samples.
20181017_204916.jpg

guypettigrew
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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by guypettigrew » Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:45 am

Looks OK to me. There's more than enough in those jars to make a starter for your next brew.

What is it about it that causes you concern?

Guy

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by chefgage » Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:49 am

To be fair there is now three layers. The large amount of trub on the bottom, a very thin layer of yeast next and then beer on top.

My concern is that i just sort of expected more yeast to be harvested.

I will pour off most of the top layer and try to catch just that thin layer of yeast.

I will post up another picture later of hopefully separated small amount of yeast.

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by guypettigrew » Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:54 pm

Which yeast was it?

I've found some (WLP001) produce very little from the dump valve. Others (WLP007) produce loads.

Guy

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by chefgage » Sat Oct 20, 2018 11:23 am

guypettigrew wrote:
Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:54 pm
Which yeast was it?

I've found some (WLP001) produce very little from the dump valve. Others (WLP007) produce loads.

Guy
The yeast is a WLP001 :)
So that would explain it then based on your experience. I have done this before with this yeast. I started with a bought pack of WLP001, made a starter then fermented with it. The saved yeast from this batch was very small in volume. I brewed again with this saved yeast (made another starter).

So this time i have managed to save a little bit more but if it performs like last time i should be good to go.

Thanks for the heads up about there not being much to save with WLP001. I will have to try a different yeast to compare.

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by chefgage » Sat Oct 20, 2018 12:29 pm

So this is how much yeast was harvested. A little bit more than last time.
20181020_122719.jpg

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by guypettigrew » Sat Oct 20, 2018 3:38 pm

When I first began making yeast starters from harvested yeast I was using far too much yeast.

Orlando (I think) explained how less is better with a starter. If a yeast has yielded loads from the dump valve I now spoon out just a small portion for the starter. Then put it back in the 'fridge until next time. All done with sanitised equipment and as cleanly as possible.

What you have in that jar looks just right for a 1 litre starter.

Good luck!

Guy

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by chefgage » Sat Oct 20, 2018 3:42 pm

guypettigrew wrote:
Sat Oct 20, 2018 3:38 pm
When I first began making yeast starters from harvested yeast I was using far too much yeast.

Orlando (I think) explained how less is better with a starter. If a yeast has yielded loads from the dump valve I now spoon out just a small portion for the starter. Then put it back in the 'fridge until next time. All done with sanitised equipment and as cleanly as possible.

What you have in that jar looks just right for a 1 litre starter.

Good luck!

Guy
Thanks for that. I had slightly less last time and it turned out ok so i am confident it will with what i have collected this time. I just expected to get loads of yeast out of the chronical but now i know better :)
Last edited by chefgage on Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by guypettigrew » Fri Nov 02, 2018 11:02 am

My last brew used WLP002. First time for me.

After seven days in the FV, then a day or so cooled to 12°C, there was close on 500ml of yeast slurry to harvest. The most I've ever had from any yeast!

Just shows how different yeasts yield different amounts to harvest. Fascinating!

Guy

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by chefgage » Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:57 pm

guypettigrew wrote:
Fri Nov 02, 2018 11:02 am
My last brew used WLP002. First time for me.

After seven days in the FV, then a day or so cooled to 12°C, there was close on 500ml of yeast slurry to harvest. The most I've ever had from any yeast!

Just shows how different yeasts yield different amounts to harvest. Fascinating!

Guy
Looking forward to trying a diferent liquid yeast to see how that compares harvest wise to the WLP001. Might try WLP002 as you did, i need a bigger jar though :lol:

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PeeBee
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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by PeeBee » Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:17 pm

WLP001 is not very "flocculant" (keen to drop out) and may even be described as "powdery". Yours looks spot on (and reminds me to never be tempted to use it). Whereas WLP002 …

I've had WLP002 accumulate so much in a conical that it has blocked the racking valve (set several inches higher than the dump valve). I collect WLP002 from the dump valve for baking bread; I break off chunks of yeast from the slab I collect.
Cask-conditioned style ale out of a keg/Cornie (the "treatise"): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzEv5 ... rDKRMjcO1g
Water report demystified (the "Defuddler"; removes the nonsense!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by guypettigrew » Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:21 pm

PeeBee wrote:
Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:17 pm
I collect WLP002 from the dump valve for baking bread; I break off chunks of yeast from the slab I collect.
Interesting! How much yeast do you use for a loaf? My loaves use about 450g of flour. And do you have to do anything to the yeast before mixing it into the dough? I've only ever used fast action dried yeast.

Guy

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Kev888
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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by Kev888 » Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:33 pm

WLP002 is one of my favourites and yes, pretty good for harvesting via the dump valve; I usually dump some more than once before racking because the quantity can become too great and also too compacted. Though conversely it is quite poor for top cropping so I guess it depends on your preferred approach really.

WLP001 isn't in the same league for dumping, though I'm surprised there was quite so little. But if the fermentation was normal, there aren't many other likely options - if you can rule out too much getting discarded in earlier dumping (or through a blow-off tube), or too much being yet to settle, then it likely is what it is. The only other thing I can think of is if the collected yeast are being deceptive/misidentified, so stuff being discarded may actually be yeast.
Kev

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by PeeBee » Fri Nov 02, 2018 6:44 pm

guypettigrew wrote:
Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:21 pm
Interesting! How much yeast do you use for a loaf? My loaves use about 450g of flour. And do you have to do anything to the yeast before mixing it into the dough? I've only ever used fast action dried yeast.
12-20g in 500g flour. More than usually recommended for fresh yeast. Beer yeast would prefer to be elsewhere than in bread but the dried bread yeast is so good now the results are pretty fluffy loaves, so the denser beer yeast risen loaves are a good change. Treat it like fresh baking yeast: Mix with warm water that's got a bit of sugar (tsp) in it and let it go frothy in an hour or two. I do use it in the bread-maker too. I'll use dregs from the fermenter rather than water sometimes.

WLP002 is best, but I've not tried many. Oddly Wyeast #1968 which is reputed to be the same yeast made rubbish bread (didn't make the same beer either, maybe that often seen yeast equivalence is a load o' ballony).

WLP002 is also the only yeast I've used that packs itself down into solid cake (that you can cut). Plays havok if you have a transfer pump.
Cask-conditioned style ale out of a keg/Cornie (the "treatise"): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzEv5 ... rDKRMjcO1g
Water report demystified (the "Defuddler"; removes the nonsense!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

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Re: No yeast slurry in Conical fermenter

Post by MTW » Fri Nov 02, 2018 7:05 pm

002 is the most solid clumper I've used too. 007 comes a respectable 2nd.
Busy in the Summer House Brewery

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