2 ques regarding fermentation & repitching

[bazookazilla]

OK, I think I have it! It seems I am behind schedule if I'm gonna brew Monday. How about if after work tonight I transfer beer, rinse & decant yeast then immediately pitch to a starter instead of storing in refrigerator? Then chill & decant the starter on Monday? Is that asking things to move along too quickly?

[Ozwald]

You'll still need to chill it to get it to settle out, but you've got the general gist of it. Avoid thermal shock by raising/lowering slowly & I would advise against pitching it into your starter cold. It's not the perfect situation, but you'll still be better off than 'cake-pitching' the next batch.

[bazookazilla]

I stayed up what seemed like most of the night last night, racking, collecting, rinsing and pitching to a new starter. Even with a pretty hefty dose of foam control the starter on the stir plate is foaming up pretty big. I feel very much like this is going to work very well. Thank you ALL (esp. Oz) for your advice and suggestions!!!

[Ozwald]

No worries. With a little practice it won't take as much time, but it's good that you're not rushing through it on your first rodeo. After a while longer, it'll be 2nd nature. In fact I wrote the yeast rinsing guide from memory after not having done it in a while. I keep meaning to go back through it to make sure I didn't leave out a tiny detail that may prove useful, but I still don't have my brewery finished. Stupid life. It always has to get in the way.

Well rinsed yeast that hasn't been stressed out will tend to start up really quick & foam a lot (strain dependent of course). If you get another good, clean ferment out of it, be sure to rinse it again. That 3rd/4th generation is killer. After that your practices need to be nearly 100% nit-picky perfect to keep if from going downhill & even then it's usually easier just to get a fresh pitch. And give it some nutrient. They'll be so happy, you just might get a handie.

[bazookazilla]

Oz, you didn't tell me it was going to explode!!!!! It absolutely erupted. I have beer everywhere in the ferm 'fridge!! the door, the ceiling, the sides, even a puddle on the concrete in front of the fridge. My airlock is broken (the little piece in the middle), and I have one hell of a mess to clean up!
But I put on a blowoff tube and the beer seems to be fermenting nicely.

[PorkSlapper]

ouch, I feel your pain my brother, It only has to happen once to make you put a blowoff tube on every one of your beers for the first few days of fermentation. I cleaned around 2 gallons of Imperial Stout out of a closet, and drawers underneath. I pitched it onto a yeast cake from a brown ale, and it went wild far quicker than I thought it would.

[Ozwald]

Blowoff tubes & not overfilling your fermenter are your friends. That should go without saying.

You know you're a homebrewer when you've bought a 2nd mop for your ceiling.

[bazookazilla]

I have wished I had a pressure washer for a while but never so much as while cleaning up that mess!! It was obviously a very successful pitch but it made one hell of a mess. I believe it will be blowoff tubes for me every time from now on!!