crashing/racking question

[fistwizard]

i ferment in a temp-controlled mini-fridge in the basement, but rack/bottle upstairs in the kitchen. typically i bring the fermenter up the night prior to racking to a bottling bucket, hoping most of what gets kicked up in transit settles out.

in primary i have 3 gal of a blonde ale building up yeast for a smoked pumpkin porter. in the past i've pitched directly onto yeast cakes in the better bottle, but there's a shit-ton of trub this time around.

is it feasible to plunk the better bottle in a cooler of ice water on the counter the night before and rack in the morning? would it take longer?

also going to pick up a couple mason jars, bust out the pressure cooker and try my hand at yeast washing- any tips/advice please share experiences.

thanks.

[PrymalInstynct]

I don't understand why you would need to put your bucket in an ice bath. if the beer is already at 40 or below when you take it upstair the temp won't raise fast enough to keep whatever kicks up from transport in suspension. As for the yeast washing what do you need the pressure cooker for? Below is my process, I haven't had any issues yet.

Boil 1 gallon of water to sanatize
Transfer beer while water cools.
Pour cooled water (atleast 80F) into fermentor and swirl.
Let sit for 10 - 20 minutes (until you see a clear seperation of the yeast from trub)
Put mason jars and 1 gallon jar in Star san for a couple of minutes with lids
Remove 1 gallon jar from star san and pour yeast into jar try and avoid getting trub into 1 gallon jar.
Let gallon jar sit for 10 - 20 minutes (until you see a clear seperation of the yeast from trub)
Pour contents from 1 gallon jar into quart mason jars
Cover with lid and tighten ring
Label the jars with yeast type and date and put in fridge
Make Yeast Starter if unused within a week or depending on gravity of the new beer.

[snowcapt]

Boil a gallon of water.
cool the water and set aside.
put an inch of water in your mason jar and cover it with plastic wrap.
microwave for 5 minutes and let them cool.
rack your beer as normal.
After you rack the beer, sanitize the top mouth of your bb.
Pour some of the yeast cake into one of the sanitized jars and fill it u with your sanitized water.
Swirl it around and let the big particles settle to the bottom.
Decant into another jar, leaving all the crap on the bottom of the first jar.
repeat this a few times until you have a nice clean layer of yeast.
depending on how much you harvest, make a starter or pitch directly into the new wort.
Ya dig?

[fistwizard]

I don't understand why you would need to put your bucket in an ice bath. if the beer is already at 40 or below when you take it upstair the temp won't raise fast enough to keep whatever kicks up from transport in suspension. As for the yeast washing what do you need the pressure cooker for? Below is my process, I haven't had any issues yet.

Maybe I had it in my head reading elsewhere that unless you're racking from where you're crashing, it pretty much defeats the purpose. i figured continued chilling would only encourage the trub to settle.

Thanks for the detailed response on yeast washing- pressure cooker is mostly for sanitary peace of mind. i know that beer is a hostile environment for most nasty things, but hell, botulinum spores scare the crap out of me...

[fistwizard]

Ya dig?

i feel ya. appreciate the share. i feel like i'm only a short time away from agar slants, inoculating loop, and a microscope...

[animaldoc]

Been there, went back.

Thought it would be great to have a slant of several different yeasts so I could choose whatever I felt appropriate and grow up a nice healthy pitch. Did that for a while - fun, but alot more work (and about 10 days of planning required) than running down to the local shop and picking up a package of yeast and doing a starter.

Still do it for some yeasts that aren't always available on short notice but my schedule is crazy and I can't always brew when I plan to.

Will probably go back to it if I can brew more regularly, but for me it's too much effort right now.

[PrymalInstynct]

Maybe I had it in my head reading elsewhere that unless you're racking from where you're crashing, it pretty much defeats the purpose. i figured continued chilling would only encourage the trub to settle.

I understand the thought but I can't say that I agree. I can't think of many fermchamber designs that would allow you to transfer in place from a bucket or carboy. I would venture a guess that most people have to move their carboy atleast a few feet onto a table to have the hight to transfer their beer. Plus the yeast and trub are at the bottom of your vessel and the beer surface probably only moves an inch up and down when walking not nearly enough to really cause much yeast to rouse back into suspension. Even if you do get some extra yeast it will only help in carbing your bottles and will settle out once you put the beer in a fridge.

[Bugeater]

With any bottle conditioned beer, even the best commercial ones, you will always have a bit of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. That's why you should always carefully pour it into a glass, being careful to leave the sediment in the bottle. So don't worry if you pick up a little yeast/trub when you bottle.