Odd, but cool, yeast practices
by Jamie Martin, Brewmaster, Dells Brewing Co.
Aerating yeast – I stumbled upon this by process accident one day when I was short on oxygen. First I transfer my yeast into the fermenter along with two to three gallons of whatever beer the yeast came from. The result is a yeast slurry that is very loose and wet. Next I bubble oxygen in from the bottom of the tank at 5PSI for 15 minutes. The yeast gets all the oxygen it needs and I am not adding oxygen to my wort that could cause stalling. The key to this process is the addition of the beer/wort to the yeast so it is loose.
Using yeast as yeast nutrient – Happy healthy yeast already has all the nutrients it needs, so on a brew day instead of using a commercial yeast nutrient you can pull some yeast (I use 100ml/BBL), and add it to the boil. The cell walls will break down and the nutrients will be added to your wort.
Polish – In a pinch you can also use yeast to polish. Does it work the best? No, but it does work and it’s basically free. (Who doesn’t like free?) I always though that was cool.