saving slurry

I am saving some slurry from a batch of wine I racked into my carboy. my question is can I put this in a container and put a lid on it or would cause an explosion from the gases?

Why would you want to save sludge? Most of it is dead yeast, what will most likely happen is a lot of bad things will grow in it, might be good for making vinegar that you give away.

Are you making dragons blood or skeeter pee with it? I usually just put it in a sealed mason jar in fridge I think it can be frozen that way to but I've always used it within a week. Hope this helps

Using slurry is fine, you just have to be very careful keeping it.

My first thought is why put a batch of wine in harms way when you can usually get a pack of yeast for under $2?

If you are somewhere you can't readily get yeast, try this. Get a mason jar and new lid with the screw down thingy. Sterilize it, I mean really sterilize it, boil it, bake it, whatever, get it above 165*F for at least 10 minutes. Use a lighter to pass flame over any opening the slurry will pass over, including the mason jar. Once it the jar, put in a gallon size baggie, leave the lid loose (attached but so gas can escape) and tie a knot in the bag, place it in the refrigerator. Will keep for several weeks, bring it out a day before you plan on pitching, and when up to temperature start a starter so you can see that it is viable and smells good. ANY OFF SMELL, TOSS IT DOWN THE DRAIN.

I've used this procedure with beer making yeast and can normally get 3 - 5 batches per vial (use white labs cultures). Those cultures are around $6 a pop, that's why I did it (used to make slants and have a yeast library but don't brew that much anymore, wine is easier and I'm a lazy bum).

Good luck.

the skeeter pee recipe calls for slurry, but someone at a wine making store said use yeast. that is the only reason I kept it. So I would be better off using a yeast packet?

I've used slurry before and it worked fine. If anything it started faster than pitching new yeast. It was a slurry I harvested the same day I pitched it in the other batch. As long as you use good sanitary practices and the batch you are harvesting it from had a normal fermentation (no off odors), you should be fine.

That being said if I had the money for the new package of yeast I would normally go that way.

longhaul said:

the skeeter pee recipe calls for slurry, but someone at a wine making store said use yeast. that is the only reason I kept it. So I would be better off using a yeast packet?

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I've done both with success. I used EC-1118 when using new yeast.

You will be introducing the favors of the previous must to your skeeter pee, so you want it to be of a white variety such as Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris or a light fruit. The reason we start a pee with slurry is because sometimes the lemon juice is hard to start a ferment that's why stirring hard is recommended befor adding yeast. But EC-1118 would be the yeast you want to use if going with new yeast. As long as your previous ferment was normal and no off smells(rotten) as was mentioned before there's really no reason for new yeast. But this all works just the same good luck and let us know your outcome cheers

As others have said using a slurry will work successfully. I like saving slurries from my elderberry and muscadine for skeeter pee. And for the record, yeast do not die but you can overwork them! And you can store them either in the refrigerator or freeze them. I have successfully used slurries that have been frozen for two years.

Julie how do you freeze your slurry? In a ziplock bag or is the mason jar good to freeze.I know the ziplock bag is safer. Thanks

barbiek said:

Julie how do you freeze your slurry? In a ziplock bag or is the mason jar good to freeze.I know the ziplock bag is safer. Thanks

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I wouldn't use a jar. Glass cracks way to easy when liquids expand in it, think freeze.
Best way I ever found to get a skeeter pee started, leave the lees and a bit of wine from the donor ferment, start adding the ingredients directly to the donor primary. Make sure you start it out only using one bottle of lemon. When the s.g. gets down to 1.040 or so add the rest of the lemon. Do the same if starting the s.p. with yeast. Less acid and it starts easier. At least it seems to to me. Good luck with it,Arne.

barbiek said:

Julie how do you freeze your slurry? In a ziplock bag or is the mason jar good to freeze.I know the ziplock bag is safer. Thanks

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wide mouth Mason jars, not an off brand jar but a real Mason jar! LOL, I know some think it will break but five years and not one has broken.

Thank you Julie for confirming that! Now I can save more of my slurry! I have only saved slurry in fridge if I intended to use within a week. But I knew I read somewhere that you could save in mason jar in freezer. And as far as the wide mouth mason jars go that's all I will buy, Easier to clean!
Thanks again!

If you are going to make Skeeter Pee, try Danger Dave's "Easy Peesy". It's the same, but with yeast, not a slurry. Very easy.

RedRockGirl said:

If you are going to make Skeeter Pee, try Danger Dave's "Easy Peesy". It's the same, but with yeast, not a slurry. Very easy.

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But a totally different taste.

RedRockGirl said:

If you are going to make Skeeter Pee, try Danger Dave's "Easy Peesy". It's the same, but with yeast, not a slurry. Very easy.

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I also use a slurry for DB! Both call for lemon juice. You can use a slurry to start any wine if you don't have yeast but have a slurry. But I only use the slurry once then pitch it out, but I don't use slurry on my kits, heck I hardly use the yeast that comes with a kit unless it's a better kit that comes with a good appropriate yeast.

Julie said:

wide mouth Mason jars, not an off brand jar but a real Mason jar! LOL, I know some think it will break but five years and not one has broken.

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Thank you, Julie. Good to know, but with my luck think I'll keep the glass out of the freezer. Arne.

I freeze things (mostly soup stocks) in widemouth Ball jars all the time. I have only broken one (while too aggressively trying to thaw the contents in hot water)!

Question with this - I just tried my hand at harvesting slurry.

I racked the lees from primary to a sanitized milk bottle (yes, a glass quart milk bottle), added a little of my new must to make sure it would actually bubble, and then pitched it into my new must. Active fermentation was almost immediate and it is VIOLENT. I luckily separated out about 3 quarts into an old port bottle and am fermenting that with a different yeast, and I will combine them when I remove the fruit bag from the bucket and have the space to prevent spillover. Even with the extra room I am aerating it every 3 hours to keep the foam from spilling over (the new wine is a pineapple/plum blend - thought that would make a nice tropical rose).

Since the fermentation is so rapid, am I at higher risk for phenols? Will a cooler or warmer temp help prevent this? The bucket reads at 70 degrees right now in a cool room, so if I put it where I usually keep my primaries (by my pellet stove) it would be about 76 degrees.

If you are close to going over, set your primary in a tub that is larger than your primary. If no tub, a big garbage bag will work. If it goes over it will save a lot of cleanup. I do most of my fermenting over a concrete floor so it doesn't make much difference if it goes over. Did one in the living area of the house a long time ago. Tried to ferment in a gal. jug. Learned my lesson fast, now try to stay over the cement floor. Easy cleanup, keeps Kathy happy. LOL, Arne.