How To Reuse Your Beer Yeast to Maximize Your Yeast Potential

Reusing beer yeast is a cost-effective way to boost your brewing efficiency while maintaining yeast quality. Properly harvesting, cleaning, and storing your yeast can significantly enhance your brewing process, ensuring consistent results with each batch. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to effectively reuse your beer yeast and keep it viable for future brews.

HARVEST YOUR BEER YEAST FOR REUSE

To start reusing your beer yeast, the first step is to harvest it correctly. Proper yeast harvesting ensures that you capture the most viable yeast cells while discarding trub and other impurities.

Steps to Harvest Yeast:

  1. Aseptic Cropping: Begin by aseptically cropping the yeast into a sanitized container. Ensure that all equipment is sterilized to avoid contamination.
    • Sanitize: Sterilize all valves with 70% alcohol and flame. Sanitize hoses, utensils, and storage containers thoroughly.
    • Capture the Middle Layer: For conical vessels, drain the bottom trub-filled layer until you see a good color and consistency in the middle layer. Capture this middle layer in a storage container, then discard the top layer of trub.
      For round vessels, manually harvest the middle layer with a paddle to avoid mixing layers.
  2. De-gas the Yeast: Thoroughly de-gas the harvested yeast by shaking the storage container and allowing gas to escape through the lid. If the slurry is very thick, dilute it with sterilized and cooled tap water until it reaches the consistency of a milkshake.

Pro Tip: Harvest yeast immediately after final gravity is reached to ensure optimal viability. Storing yeast in the cone or under beer, even in cold conditions, can significantly reduce its viability.

Clean Your Beer Yeast to Remove Contaminants

Once you’ve harvested the yeast, cleaning it is essential to remove any brewing bacteria and ensure that only healthy yeast cells are stored. BSI sells a kit to clean your yeast.

Steps to Clean Yeast:

  1. Prepare the Cleaning Solution: Mix the contents of the ACIDIFIED WATER tube with the SODIUM CHLORITE tube. The mixture will turn yellow, indicating it’s ready to use.
  2. Add to Yeast Slurry: Pour the mixture into the yeast slurry and mix thoroughly. Allow the cleaning process to continue for at least 30 minutes.

Chemical Reaction:
5NaClO2 (sodium chlorite) + 4H+ (acid) → 4ClO2 (chlorine dioxide) + 4Na+ (sodium ion) + Na+Cl- (salt) + 2H2O (water)

Effectiveness: This cleaning process is highly effective at eliminating brewing bacteria while being gentle enough to use every time you harvest yeast. However, it’s not effective against wild yeast, so ensure your sanitization practices are thorough.

Feed and Store Your Yeast for Future Brewing

After cleaning your yeast, feeding and storing it properly is crucial to maintain its viability for future brewing.

Steps to Feed and Store Yeast:
  1. Add Wort Concentrate: At least 30 minutes after cleaning, add wort concentrate to the yeast slurry. There’s no need to mix; the yeast will naturally re-suspend in the wort.
  2. Proper Storage Conditions: Store the yeast at 34°F (1°C). Do not seal the container lid completely, as pressure buildup can harm the yeast. Yeast will retain high viability for up to 2 weeks at this temperature.

Extended Storage Tips: If your cold room temperature is above 34°F (1°C), place the yeast storage container in an ice bath to maintain the correct temperature. For storage longer than 2 weeks, drain old wort off the yeast bed and replace it with fresh wort every 2 weeks.

CLEAN & FEED KIT (2pk) – $50 + shipping

Image of beer wort and yeast cleaning chemicals.

Why waste perfectly good yeast just because the next brew day is too far out? Our Clean & Feed Yeast Care Kit allows you to prepare your yeast for up to 1 week of storage in just 30 minutes. This kit is designed for brewers who want to maximize yeast reuse and brewing efficiency.

Get your Clean & Feed Yeast Care Kit today and take the first step toward sustainable brewing.

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Conclusion

Reusing your beer yeast is an excellent way to reduce brewing costs and enhance your overall process. By following these steps to harvest, clean, and store your yeast properly, you’ll maintain high viability and ensure consistent brewing results.