Yeast!

So... been awhile since anything has been written, but that was largely due to the fact that my stockpile of brews at home was getting large, and it was time to start finishing a few before making some more.  The 2 batches I decided to try out this time were an imperial ipa, and another for the keg when it drys up being "speckled heffer"  Since these styles can be made with similar yeasts, I thought this would be a great opportunity to try out harvesting and washing yeast from one batch to use in the next.  I brewed the imperial ipa first...reason 1, it takes longer to ferment, and reason 2... the speckled heffer is actually a partial mash, and I really didn't feel like going to the store and getting a second brew pot that night, not to mention adding a different twist to the process... that experience will be for next time.

*Side note..Since I knew I was going to be trying to keep the yeast, and I was starting with a high gravity beer, I first made a started off of the smack pack yeast, let that settle out, and made a starter again so that I was starting with a very large quantity to limit the stress on the yeast. 

First step, let the primary finish up, and get ready for racking to the secondary:

Check out all the hops in the I-IPA... I think there was close to a pound of hop pellets!

 Meanwhile...some small mason jars were boiled on the stove along with a couple larger ones to sterilize them

 After boiling for about 15 min.. the jars are filled with some of the kettle water and cooled to room temp via the fridge so the yeast don't die when they touch the water.  After the water in the jars is cool, pour the water in all the jars into the carboy after it's already been transferred to the secondary to get something for the trub to slurry up with:

Mix up the water with the trub next, and make a slurry (this photo is pre mixed):

Next step is to let some of the hops settle out a bit, and pour the liquid into a couple of larger mason jars:

After this cools enough, you can get the yeast liquid poured into a few smaller jars and place in the fridge for storage, and later use.

Now next time I want to make a beer, instead of buying yeast at $7/ batch, I can just take one of these out of the fridge, make a starter, and use it. 

Next time I try this, I think I will try a batch with much less hops in the start though, since it wasn't very easy to separate the yeast from the hop sediment.  Also, another project that could be fun for next time is harvesting yeast from unfiltered beer that you buy at the liquor store...  more info here:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/complete-list-breweries-harvest-yeast-88931/