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Top cropping and when?

Post #1 made 13 years ago
by housecat
Hi Gurus.

I pitched some 1469 yeast yesterday at about 10am I went back to check it at about 7pm and it was ready to jump out of the fermenter and take over my shed! :argh:

This is 23L in a 30L fermenter. Hopefully it doesn't blow out!
1469 Collab.jpg
1469 Collab 2.jpg
Wondering, how long into fermentation do you wait before you top crop a yeast?
Also, how much do you take? I have already taken about 1/3 of of the krausen to try and hold it back from world domination!

Cheers
HC
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Last edited by housecat on 19 Mar 2012, 04:43, edited 3 times in total.
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Post #2 made 13 years ago
by joshua
Good Day Housecat, Top cropping the foam for yaest has not given me very much. I wait until it settles down and take the middle layer of nice white slime below the Gray dead soldiers, and above the beer poop from the kettle.

Some of my 5 gallon recipes will nearly full my 10 gallon fermenter with junky foam. I think this is the stuff that makes a good head, so I stir it down, and have had no problems for 40 batches,so far.
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
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Post #3 made 13 years ago
by thughes
This is my rig I use for top-cropping. I put a lid on the bucket and then rig a blow-off hose into this customized over-flow can. I use boiled (sterilized) water instead of StarSan or vodka in the blow-off jug. The krausen blows off through the tube into this jug and basically fills it with a nice layer of top-cropped yeast. Once the active fermentation stops I simply empty the blow-off jug into a mason jar and seal it up. Viola! a batch of top-cropped yeast ready to go for the next batch.

:thumbs:
Image
Last edited by thughes on 19 Mar 2012, 08:20, edited 3 times in total.
WWBBD?
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Post #4 made 13 years ago
by kostass
joshua wrote:I wait until it settles down and take the middle layer of nice white slime below the Gray dead soldiers, and above the beer poop from the kettle.
ha ha ha hahaha hahah
:clap: :clap:
Last edited by kostass on 19 Mar 2012, 18:36, edited 3 times in total.

Post #5 made 13 years ago
by housecat
lol, nice one.

But it still doesn't answer my question. When should I be top cropping?
As soon as the krausen forms when it is starting to drop or some where in between?

HC
Part of the NoAd brewers

My mum says I'm cool.

Post #6 made 13 years ago
by joshua
Good Day HC, I have tried to save some at the time of maximum foam, and when the foam falls. Not much luck.

If you can grab some just as it smoothes out, and before it falls back In, that is the best time to Harvest.
Maybe your yeast will be better than mine.
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America

Post #7 made 13 years ago
by tolonen
I used 1469 a couple of months ago. I use ferm-cap (foaming inhibitor) in my fermentation procedure so fermentation probably reacted a little differently than yours.

The beer would have no foam for the first day and then all of a sudden foam would appear at day 2 or 3, about 3" thick in a fermenting bucket. I just scooped all of it out into a funnel placed in a Nalgene bottle. Filled about 3-1/2 500ml Nalgene bottles each time with airy foam. Over the next few days until next brew I let the foam settle in the refrigerator. Ended up with about 150ml-200ml of yeast each time and that was about what the pitching rate calculator said I needed for my next batch.

This method worked great for me, repitched to 3rd generation with no issues. Last beer tasted the best too I think, also seemed clearer. I've never used 1469 before so I'm not sure if I altered flavor profile using top-cropped yeast harvested on the 2-3rd day.
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Post #8 made 13 years ago
by shibolet
housecat,
I've top cropped a few times with great success.
two or three days into the fermentation, when the krausen is nice and thick, i use a large spoon to take as much white foam off the top and into a sanitized jar with some boiled and cooled water in it.
there is still plenty of yeast in the liquid part of the beer so don't worry about taking as much as the foam as you can. try not to take any brown muck.
by the way, here's another top cropping idea I've done successfully:
I brewed a double batch (~40 liters) and split in into two no-chill cubes. i only had a 2 liters yeast starter ready.
after the beer was cooled, i pitched the yeast into half the batch. after two days, i transferred the other half into a FV and top cropped yeast from the first batch directly into the second. a day later i added another few spoonfuls of top cropped yeast to the second half.
both halves fermented out perfectly and the beer was great.
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Kegs: Bob's Black IPA, Blanc Blond, Soda...
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