Hi guys,
I have a general question regarding the process of reusing yeast. I have read what I could find on the forums and there seems to be a few different techniques to this - the most simplest seems to be adding the new must straight on top of the previous yeast cake.
I have a gingermead that I used EC1118 in and I want to do a ginger wine next. Yeast is quite expensive where I live and I usually get it from ebay.
Question is - after racking off, if I take out the sludge left on the bottom and place in a sanitized jar (i'd like to clean out the fermenter before adding the new must), do I add it all of the sludge back to the new must?
I'm wondering if there is an EASY way to separate the live yeast from the spent yeast - like can I just let it sit for an hour or so, and treat anything that drops to the bottom fairly quickly as dead yeast and assume that most of the live yeast will stay in in suspension and therefore just add back the liquid from the top?
I was thinking that this way I could boil the spent yeast left over on the bottom and then also add it back to the must as a nutrient. Does anyone do this? The whole concept does seem a bit variable to a noob like me as it seems that you can never be sure if there is enough live yeast left to add back. But hey if it works great!
I have a general question regarding the process of reusing yeast. I have read what I could find on the forums and there seems to be a few different techniques to this - the most simplest seems to be adding the new must straight on top of the previous yeast cake.
I have a gingermead that I used EC1118 in and I want to do a ginger wine next. Yeast is quite expensive where I live and I usually get it from ebay.
Question is - after racking off, if I take out the sludge left on the bottom and place in a sanitized jar (i'd like to clean out the fermenter before adding the new must), do I add it all of the sludge back to the new must?
I'm wondering if there is an EASY way to separate the live yeast from the spent yeast - like can I just let it sit for an hour or so, and treat anything that drops to the bottom fairly quickly as dead yeast and assume that most of the live yeast will stay in in suspension and therefore just add back the liquid from the top?
I was thinking that this way I could boil the spent yeast left over on the bottom and then also add it back to the must as a nutrient. Does anyone do this? The whole concept does seem a bit variable to a noob like me as it seems that you can never be sure if there is enough live yeast left to add back. But hey if it works great!
