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For this year’s round of lager production, I thought I would try what Bierstadt is doing and basically use the 34/70 yeast for most of my lagers. First and foremost, pitching with something other than first-generation yeast should improve the performance of the yeast and possibly help with cleaner flavors and higher degrees of attenuation. The 34/70 can also supposedly ferment a couple of degrees colder once you get past that first generation. Secondly…I should be able to save some money on yeasts. Especially since I favor pure liquid strains, which tend to be more expensive.
It’s been awhile since I’ve harvested and repitched and I’m no expert at this. I’ve never ‘washed’ my yeast and I’m sure my methods are less than ideal. If anyone out there has experience with this I’d sure like to hear what your process is and pick your brain a bit.
If it helps…here is the process I’ve used in the past with some success:
I typically pressure-cook a small erlenmeyer flask (500ml) and a breathable silicone stopper. In a bucket of Saniclean solution I soak my dump valve tube. The dump valve on my conical gets sanitized with Alpet D4 surface sanitizer (I get it from Morebeer). When I’m ready, I attach the dump valve tube and open the valve to allow the first bit of yeast slurry to dump from the fermenter. After about 8 ounces has drained out, I start collecting yeast into the flask. If the slurry starts to turn to beer I continue collecting anyway, just to fill any air space with liquid. I seal and put into a fridge right away. As the sample cools and settles, a nice yeast cake forms on the bottom of the flask. At pitching time I flame the lip of the flask and pour off all of the bier, then pour the yeast into a new starter for the next batch.
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