Should I throw washed yeast out if the beer it made has issues?

**msa8967** · 02-03-2012, 01:49 AM

Tried making a recipe I have made successfully in the past with the recent attempt coming to have a slight medicine after taste that may have come from over sparging. Should I discard the washed yeast from this batch? Is there anyway the off taste can affect the yeast? The beer was a variation on Yooper's Fizzy Yellow beer using Kolsch yeast. The brew sat in the primary for 5-6 weeks prior to bottling in December and the medicine after taste has not faded.

beerman0001 · 02-03-2012, 08:58 AM

There is probably nothing wrong with the yeast and you can use it again. Open up the jar and give it a smell. But if It was me I would throw it out and not even take a chance.

**Rbeckett** · 02-03-2012, 10:56 AM

Call me anal, but I would toss the yeast out and start over. Too easy to farm new yeasties than to risk another bad batch. In my opinion that would constitute alcohol abuse and cannot be tolerated. That alcohol didnt deserve to be treated poorly.... I know, I am a nut, but thats the way I roll.

Bob

Clann · 02-03-2012, 11:00 AM

New yeast=cheap insurance

**dcHokie** · 02-03-2012, 11:27 AM

I once reused a washed pitch of 1028 from an off-flavor batch and it was better. However, I also had some washed yeast pick up some weird flavors after harvesting from a batch that had bitter lime peel in it. Since that experience, I don't routinely harvest yeast from batches that have a ton of adjunct spices. I'm sure that some strains are more or less susceptible to picking up flavors, mutating oddly, etc.

If you kept multiple jars of the yeast, you could use one to do a small, hopped starter to see if smells/tastes funny...

**msa8967** · 02-03-2012, 12:02 PM

Down the drain it goes. Thanks for the input everyone.