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5 Tips For Repitching Yeast at Home
While pitching a fresh sachet of dry yeast is the easiest way to achieve consistent fermentation performance, a homebrewer can maximize their investment by harvesting and repitching yeast. Here are some tips for achieving the best results when repitching at home.
- Use sanitized equipment. Ensure that the harvesting spoon and the receiving container have been thoroughly cleaned and sanitized (by heat, if possible).
- Avoid harvesting trub and hop particles. This can be achieved by top-cropping during high krausen or bottom cropping after transferring to a secondary fermenter. Avoid harvesting yeast after dry-hopping.
- Pitch only fresh, highly viable yeast. Count viable yeast cells if you have a microscope. Otherwise, keep your yeast happy by storing it in the fridge for up to a week. Avoid harvesting from stressful fermentations like high-gravity or sours.
- Don’t overpitch. You can have too much of a good thing. Pitching too much yeast can result in off-flavors. Use about 150-300ml of yeast slurry per 19L (5 gallons) carboy, depending on the thickness and viability of the slurry. Save some of the yeast in the fridge, you can always add more if the fermentation is slow to start.
- Limit the number of repitches to less than 5. With each generation, the cost savings are less and the risk of contamination or changes to the yeast flavor profile becomes greater. After five repitches (maximum), start again with a fresh pitch to ensure your beer is always consistent and high quality. The cost of a new sachet is less than the cost of materials and your time for a brew that has to be dumped.
Published Mar 25, 2024 | Updated Mar 28, 2024
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