Yeast Question

[richieh]

Hello fellow yeast wranglers. Quick question:

I recently did a forced ferment on a beer just to test the attenuation limit, which means I over pitched yeast into about a litre of my beer, to see how low it would go under ideal (for the yeast) conditions. This involved a high (mid 20s) fermentation temp. and plenty of rousing. Needless to say the beer tastes unpleasant, not least of all oxidised from the shaking etc, but the goal was to see how fermentable it was.

Now, can any of you see any reason why I shouldn't repitch this yeast into a large starter, in order to grow it for a new beer? I mean the litre of forced beer will be tossed, and tasted unpleasant, but there's no reason the yeast should be unhealthy right? In fact it should be quite healthy and there's no reason it would cause further off flavours down the line?

thoughts please, cheers.
R

[Will_D]

When making starters it is normal practice to cool the starter, let the yeast settle and pour away the liquid. Just use the slurry.

Reckon you can do the same!

[Eoin]

Hello fellow yeast wranglers. Quick question:

I recently did a forced ferment on a beer just to test the attenuation limit, which means I over pitched yeast into about a litre of my beer, to see how low it would go under ideal (for the yeast) conditions. This involved a high (mid 20s) fermentation temp. and plenty of rousing. Needless to say the beer tastes unpleasant, not least of all oxidised from the shaking etc, but the goal was to see how fermentable it was.

Now, can any of you see any reason why I shouldn't repitch this yeast into a large starter, in order to grow it for a new beer? I mean the litre of forced beer will be tossed, and tasted unpleasant, but there's no reason the yeast should be unhealthy right? In fact it should be quite healthy and there's no reason it would cause further off flavours down the line?

thoughts please, cheers.
R

I'd not use it in a lager, but if it's another beer style that will hide minor phenols etc then I'd go for it.

I had an issue once when I made a large starter for a lager but fermented warm, despite pouring off the resulting "beer" the end result had a mild phenol in it that drove me crazy as it had nowhere to hide, had it been an ale I suspect it would not have been possible to taste at all.

[richieh]

hmm. I might not risk it in that case. I'm surprised though if the phenols carried over, I can't work out how that would happen. Hmm.

[Eoin]

hmm. I might not risk it in that case. I'm surprised though if the phenols carried over, I can't work out how that would happen. Hmm.

What type of beer is it?

I was making a very large starter, I ended up with about 2 litres of sludge, which I pitched into a 60l fermenter.  I suspect there was a lot of liquid in this, alone from the amount.
It very much depends on the style and the amounts you're talking about.

[Eoin]

If it's a lager you're seeking to make I'd take some of that and grow a new starter for it at proper lager fermentation temps.

[richieh]

it's white labs 004 yeast. I'll probably make another stout with it (last beer was a stout)

[Eoin]

it's white labs 004 yeast. I'll probably make another stout with it (last beer was a stout)

I would have absolutely no concerns about pitching it into a stout.

[richieh]

well I was never going to pitch it straight, but pitch into a large starter first, so I guess I can wait and see how the starter tastes.

[mr hoppy]

I had an issue once when I made a large starter for a lager but fermented warm, despite pouring off the resulting "beer" the end result had a mild phenol in it that drove me crazy as it had nowhere to hide, had it been an ale I suspect it would not have been possible to taste at all.

Just wondering, which yeast and how warm (18-20 degrees?)

[Eoin]

I had an issue once when I made a large starter for a lager but fermented warm, despite pouring off the resulting "beer" the end result had a mild phenol in it that drove me crazy as it had nowhere to hide, had it been an ale I suspect it would not have been possible to taste at all.

Just wondering, which yeast and how warm (18-20 degrees?)

It would have been WLP-800 and it was at room temps, so probably 22c or so at the time. I vowed to grow it out at fridge temps from then on.