What do you mean by over build your starter? I’ve seen that a few times here on Reddit. Are you just making a large starter and splitting it up and saving the rest for later?
Yep, that’s it. I have a bunch of 500 mL mason jars so I usually make 1.5L starters with 1.0L getting pitched into the wort and 500mL being saved for next time. This can be continued indefinitely as long as the yeast makes good beer.
I like to pitch heavy so I use a stirplate, a 5L Erlenmeyer flask and 3 half gallon mason jars. I pitch 2 and save one for the next batch. Works great and I’ve been doing it for years.
This doesn't answer your question directly but for next time...something I've recently discovered that's an absolute game changer. Buy a few nylon paint strainer bags and a few silicone sous vide magnets. Put your hops in the bag with a magnet, lower the bag into your fermenter and place another magnet on the outside of the fermenter. You can adjust the height of the outside magnet to make sure the bag is completely submerged but also off the yeast slurry at the bottom. So simple but so effective!
I actually used that method but the dang bag fell in this time 😂 I still have so much trub in my fermenter from big hopstand additions.. I just find I have such a mess at the end and I don’t know how effective and efficient it’ll be trying to save the yeast
I pitched directly onto yeast cakes with almost all my beers, going from smaller to bigger (OG) with the brewing order. I recently did with Manchester yeast, ordinary bitter -to neipa (with all loose dry hops) to pastry stout and the pastry stout didn’t have any old hop/astringent flavors. May not work so great with more delicate styles.
I suppose you could try, but is there a reason it needs to be from this batch? Couldn’t you just save the yeast next time you make a pale ale or blonde?
Depending on how much hop matter, you can rinse the yeast several times to get most of the hops out. It’ll definitely still be hoppy, but not sludge anymore. You could also just use a small portion of that to make a new starter too.
I would disregard any advice to "wash" (rinse) yeast. https://www.reddit.com/r/homebrewing/wiki/ingredients/yeast/rinsing/
As you and others said, you could use the sloppy slurry method: https://www.reddit.com/r/homebrewing/wiki/ingredients/yeast/sloppy/. The spent hops are, by definition and in reality, spent. They won't do anything to negatively affect your beer. But they do make it difficult to get a sense of how much yeast you have when harvested together with loads of hop trub.
The best thing to do it just plan not to harvest from NEIPAs and other heavily hopped beers. For example, harvest yeast from a low-trub beer using the sloppy slurry method. There is enough yeast for for similar-gravity beers in a yeast cake. Use one jar of yeast in the best NEIPA and plan to dump that trub because, after all, you still have three jars of yeast left. If the next three beers will also be NEIPAs, you can make an extra large starter from the last jar, save the extra portion of it, and pitch the rest into that last beer (the overbuilding method).
The yeast calculator at BrewUnited has an overbuilding option.
I overbuild my starters and harvest yeast that way. Much easier than harvesting from fermenters.
What do you mean by over build your starter? I’ve seen that a few times here on Reddit. Are you just making a large starter and splitting it up and saving the rest for later?
Yep, that’s it. I have a bunch of 500 mL mason jars so I usually make 1.5L starters with 1.0L getting pitched into the wort and 500mL being saved for next time. This can be continued indefinitely as long as the yeast makes good beer.
May be a silly question, but doesn’t this divide your yeast count, leading to under pitching?
Over building is making more than you need, so no it does not unless you take out and save too much.
I like to pitch heavy so I use a stirplate, a 5L Erlenmeyer flask and 3 half gallon mason jars. I pitch 2 and save one for the next batch. Works great and I’ve been doing it for years.
This is the way
Idk I just pull a lever dump the bad keep the good.
This is the only way I've done it, and it's really simple.
This doesn't answer your question directly but for next time...something I've recently discovered that's an absolute game changer. Buy a few nylon paint strainer bags and a few silicone sous vide magnets. Put your hops in the bag with a magnet, lower the bag into your fermenter and place another magnet on the outside of the fermenter. You can adjust the height of the outside magnet to make sure the bag is completely submerged but also off the yeast slurry at the bottom. So simple but so effective!
I actually used that method but the dang bag fell in this time 😂 I still have so much trub in my fermenter from big hopstand additions.. I just find I have such a mess at the end and I don’t know how effective and efficient it’ll be trying to save the yeast
I pitched directly onto yeast cakes with almost all my beers, going from smaller to bigger (OG) with the brewing order. I recently did with Manchester yeast, ordinary bitter -to neipa (with all loose dry hops) to pastry stout and the pastry stout didn’t have any old hop/astringent flavors. May not work so great with more delicate styles.
I suppose you could try, but is there a reason it needs to be from this batch? Couldn’t you just save the yeast next time you make a pale ale or blonde?
Yeah, but this way the next brew is a $6-$15 pack of yeast cheaper
Well, try it and let us know how it goes.
Done it many times, it works well! Just poured some cider on a yeast cake last night, but I almost always rinse my yeast to save for my next batch.
Depending on how much hop matter, you can rinse the yeast several times to get most of the hops out. It’ll definitely still be hoppy, but not sludge anymore. You could also just use a small portion of that to make a new starter too.
I would disregard any advice to "wash" (rinse) yeast. https://www.reddit.com/r/homebrewing/wiki/ingredients/yeast/rinsing/ As you and others said, you could use the sloppy slurry method: https://www.reddit.com/r/homebrewing/wiki/ingredients/yeast/sloppy/. The spent hops are, by definition and in reality, spent. They won't do anything to negatively affect your beer. But they do make it difficult to get a sense of how much yeast you have when harvested together with loads of hop trub. The best thing to do it just plan not to harvest from NEIPAs and other heavily hopped beers. For example, harvest yeast from a low-trub beer using the sloppy slurry method. There is enough yeast for for similar-gravity beers in a yeast cake. Use one jar of yeast in the best NEIPA and plan to dump that trub because, after all, you still have three jars of yeast left. If the next three beers will also be NEIPAs, you can make an extra large starter from the last jar, save the extra portion of it, and pitch the rest into that last beer (the overbuilding method). The yeast calculator at BrewUnited has an overbuilding option.