Beer Forum

I harvested over a gallon of abbey ale yeast last week from a lower gravity brew.
I pitched the whole gallon into a new Russian Imperial Stout batch. It took off like a rocket in less than an hour so I had to rig up a blow off tube to another bucket. The bucket had been scrubbed with oxy clean so it wasn't dirty, but it wasn't "sanitized". I just filled it halfway with tap water and submerged the blow off hose in it.
After it was done with the biggest part of the action, I chilled and decanted the liquid that was sitting on top of the yeast, then poured the yeast into a large clean but not sterilized mason jar.
It turns out that the whole jar is full to the top with pure clean golden yeast. It looks way clearer than the yeast that I pitched to the RIS.
I'm going to brew a fairly strong Dortmunder today and I'm thinking about taking a chance using the yeast that I harvested even though I didn't sterilize like I was supposed to.
Do you think this is a mistake, or should I go for it?
I'm feeling lucky.

Thanks,
Brannon

You harvested over a gallon? Slurry or mixed with beer? How big was your batch? It might not be a RIS with that Belgian yeast, maybe a BIS. It won't be a Dortmunder for sure. It will be some kinda Belgian, but it should be ok if within two weeks kept in the frig, as long as the first two are clean. Your really creating unique beers. I love it.

Thanks! I kind of have trouble sticking to recipes completely.
I also added 2 pounds of Belgian candy sugar to the stout monster that I am creating.
It was slurry. I planned to wash it but there was so much that I just re-pitched it.
The batch size was 5 gallons. I haven't moved up to whole grain yet. I'm probably not going to for a while but we'll see.
I'm really just wondering if I am going to screw up my batch by using this yeast that I top cropped in just plain unsterilized tap water.


Brannon

burbankbrewer wrote:You harvested over a gallon? Slurry or mixed with beer? How big was your batch? It might not be a RIS with that Belgian yeast, maybe a BIS. It won't be a Dortmunder for sure. It will be some kinda Belgian, but it should be ok if within two weeks kept in the frig, as long as the first two are clean. Your really creating unique beers. I love it.

Being lazy, I rinsed out a keg fermenter after one day in primary with just Ice Mountain bottled water. It came out fine. I was doing the double drop fermentation technique that Brakspear uses in England, where after 16hours they transfer to another fermenter. But I do recommend sterile water for more than one generation.

Cool.
I'm just going to pitch it. It looks too good to go down the drain.
I tasted it and it even tastes clean.
This time I'll be ready with some sterile tube and a sterile bucket/water in case it happens again.

Aaaah....the miracle of beer!

cheers,
Brannon

burbankbrewer wrote:Being lazy, I rinsed out a keg fermenter after one day in primary with just Ice Mountain bottled water. It came out fine. I was doing the double drop fermentation technique that Brakspear uses in England, where after 16hours they transfer to another fermenter. But I do recommend sterile water for more than one generation.