Using and Reusing Yeast YEAST STARTER A  yeast starter  will begin fermentation sooner and ensure that it completes by activating the yeast and increasing the cell count.  These factors, along with good fermentation practices, ensure better beer.  If the yeast is dormant (cold and expended of all immediate food resources), or if the cell count is too low for the gravity of the beer or the size of the batch, a sluggish fermentation may ensue; causing stale, overly sweet, flawed or unfinished beer.  To avoid this, make it a habit to do a starter.   Think of your freshly purchased vial or tube of liquid yeast as a new gold fish.  You carefully got him home in his  baggie of cool water and you’re ready to put him into the fish bowl (fermentation vessel).  Do you just pour him in (directly pitch the cold, dormant yeast)? …No!  First you place him, baggie and all, into the tank water to adjust the temperature (let the vial warm up), gently pour him in and feed him (do a yeast starter).  That’ll be a healthy fish! CHOOSE A SIZE Starter size is determined by two things, (1) how soon you intend to brew and (2) how large of a starter is necessary for your particular batch of beer.  For average strength beers, a 12-Hour Starter is all that is necessary.  Do this one the night before you brew (or at the beginning of your all-grain secession) in order to activate and increase the yeast.  For large gravity beers (1.080 and up), a larger starter quantity (equaling more yeast cells) proves beneficial.  Either way, begin both as follows.     MATERIALS  Mason Jar or Erlenmeyer Flask or Beer Bottle  Stopper/airlock  Dry Malt Extract  Water  Yeast Nutrient  Thermometer  Sanitizer  Small Funnel PROCESS  1) Sanitize equipment and heat one pint water towards a boil  2) Add ¼ cup DME, boil/stir for 10 minutes, warm and shake yeast vial in    hand  3) Put top on pot, place in sink and surround with cold water, reduce heat    below 80F, let yeast vial rest  4) Pour yeast through funnel into vessel of choice, add ½ teaspoon     nutrient, add wort, shake, store warm for 6-12 hours.  5) A kraeusen will form on the surface when the yeast is active.  This    means its ready to pitch.  Sanitize the lip and pour into your aerated wort. If a larger quantity of yeast is needed, repeat the preparation of DME solution (minus the nutrient) and add to the starter when kraeusen clears out.  You can keep this up over a series of days to achieve a very large cell count.   MAINTAINING YEAST By using a starter you can also store yeast for a period of time in your fridge.  As you now know, healthy yeast is active when it is warmed and fed, and dormant when it is chilled and starved.  As your starter slows and eventually stops (all the food has been eaten), simply store the yeast starter in your fridge until needed.  To reactivate it, let it warm up and then add another dose of boiled DME.  One thing to note, however, is that through repeated reactivations of yeast, an undesirable amount of water has been added into the equation.  To reduce this unwanted water, simply pour it off the healthy white yeast on the bottom after reactivating and before pitching.  By doing this, you can gain many uses from one vial of yeast.  Another item to note: the less head space on your dormant starter the better.  Plan your container size in order to keep things topped up. RECLAIMING YEAST You can retrieve yeast from a fermenter in many different ways, one common method is use what’s left on the bottom of your secondary fermenter.  The yeast on the bottom of your secondary does not contain most of the trub that’s found in the bottom of the primary - trub that could flaw your brew.  However, the yeast off the secondary must still be cleaned using a technique called Acid Washing, detailed below. MATERIALS  Sanitizer  2 mason jars  Water PROCESS (Do this when you’re racking out of your secondary)  1) Boil and cool one pint of water and sanitize jars and lip of carboy.    2) Pour pre-boiled water into jar, pour yeast into water, let sit covered for    5 minutes.  The yeast will stay suspended and the rest fill fall out.  3) Slowly pour into next jar, let stand again until trub falls out, repeating    until only the cloudy water remains as this is the yeast.    4) To use immediately, use a 12-hour starter; to store, do a starter, surpass    high kraeusen (wait until the foam dissipates) and store in fridge,     reactivating when needed.