Harvesting yeast from a Corny Keg fermentor

[Cusco_Brew]

Hi,

I am fermenting in a pair of Corny Kegs, no shortened dip tubes or any alterations made to them. Does anyone have any tips on collecting yeast from corny keg fermentors for re pitching.

I racked the beer from these into a serving keg the other day. And the first bit ran cloudy for only a few seconds, which surprised me as I was expecting a lot more yeast and crap to come out before the beer ran clear. When I opened up the fermentor it looked like most of the yeast cake was still in the bottom. Should I be collecting the first run off before the beer ran clear? This didn't seem like enough. Or should I be collecting from what was left in the bottom after I had racked?

I am due to keg another batch this week, and would like to collect the yeast for re pitching. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Zac

[BrewerJ]

Your best bet would be to top crop when you are on like day 3 of the fermentation. What you can do when it all settles to the bottom is swirl the keg to make it whirlpool the yeast to the center and then collect until it runs clear, repeat this process untill you have enough yeast

[Quin]

Or should I be collecting from what was left in the bottom after I had racked?

Yes. Add sanitized water to the yeast cake and swirl around to get into solution. Store cold in a sanitized container until you are ready to pitch. Use the Mrmalty.com pitching rate calculator to determine how much slurry to pitch for your next batch.