Although there was some airlock activity within the hour of pitching my recycled yeast slurry last night I wasn’t going to start jumping to conclusions and declare this experiment a success, but the sight of a bubbling airlock this morning left little room for doubt: my ‘pet’ yeast was happy in its new home!

I’m wringing this almost exactly 24 hours after pitching what started out as two sachets of WLP001, and not only is the airlock doing its thing but I’m also seeing some very positive feedback from my Tilt Pro: SG 1.023 / 2.9% ABV, 20.8 ℃. That’s a little warm for WLP001 and it’s been even warmer throughout today, but there’s nothing more I can do since I have the SS Brewtech Bucket (25 litre size – a new vessel on its first outing) on the windowsill with the blinds down and windows fully open. The room’s at 16 ℃, the interior of the FV is pushing 21. Crazy.

With lockdown #3 now over I’ve been scouring the shops in search of a new keg fridge, and once I get that sorted I’ll be able to restore the current keg fridge to its intended purpose of keeping fermentation vessels in check. Not long now, my little yeasty friend.