So, I'm going to wash yeast for the first time probably this weekend. Here's my question. I racked a batch to secondary last night after about 20 days in primary. I initially planned on brewing and pitching on cake, but no time yesterday. I also initially planned to wash yeast right when I racked (if I couldn't pitch on cake), but also ran out of time for that.
So... basically I just left a little bit of brew on top of the yeast cake and replaced the airlock on the primary carboy. E.g. I have a carboy with a cake and about 1" of beer on top of it, airlocked... Will it still be OK to wash and reuse this yeast when I get around to it? What if I don't get around to it until early next week? Is this any different than what I had before (a primary with cake and 24" of beer on top of it?) or did somehow introducing oxygen (e.g. just unairlocking it while i racked) while racking screw me?
I'm no expert, but I'd say wash it SOON! I tried the same thing, but I siphoned all the beer off, then added 1/2" of boiled and cooled water to cover the cake. I air locked it, and left it for about 3 weeks. When I came back to it, it reeked! I think I now know what autolized yeast smells like. You couldn't help but gag if you sniffed the carboy.
I ended up scrubbing the carboy, and filling it with extra strong Star San solution for 24 hours, and still took several wash/sanitize cycles the next day to get the smell out.
From now on, if I don't have time to wash it right then, I will stir it up and pour into a Mason jar or two and stick in the fridge, or I just won't save it.
I think Orfy did something like that, saying the yeast cake with a layer of beer for a while. I can't remember exactly how long, though, or at what temperature he kept it. Maybe PM him and ask him? Or do a search for that thread. I think it was a while ago, at least 6 months.
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We went trough this process a couple of weeks ago. We did not experience much seperation at all. The liquid has seperated from the solid material, but I don;t know if the yeast is still mixed with trub or not. If there is some trub in there, is that a problem?
I recently read somewhere that washed yeast loses about 25% of its viability every week from the washing date. Is that true? Because I washed some yeast early to mid last month and if that's the case, the yeast is pretty much worthless now. Can anyone dispute this? I'd hate to have dead yeast on my hands here.
I recently read somewhere that washed yeast loses about 25% of its viability every week from the washing date. Is that true? Because I washed some yeast early to mid last month and if that's the case, the yeast is pretty much worthless now. Can anyone dispute this? I'd hate to have dead yeast on my hands here.
After washing some Wyeast 1099 and 2000 about a month ago I stored them in the carboy @ 50 deg. I brought them up and made starters for them two days before brewing. The beers were up and going strong after a 6 hour lag time. I think the key is store the yeast cool or better yet cold in the fridge if you can. You will need to make a starter though if it has been much more than a week after fermentation and washing.
Then, trying not to disturb the stuff at the bottom, fill up the larger jar that you boiled. If some of the stuff from the bottom gets in, it's not the end of the world.
Let this jar settle for 20 minutes or so, too. You'll notice some more stuff settling to the bottom again.
Then, again being careful not to disturb the stuff on the bottom, fill up the small Mason jars. Fill them all the way up.
The four on the left are the ones I did today. the one on the right is one that I did last February. It's just there to show the final product.
All that's left to do is label the jars and put them in the fridge. Then when it's time to make a starter, you just pull one out, let it warm to room temp, and decant most of the liquid out of the jar, give the rest a good shake, and pitch it into your starter..
Hope this helps. Good luck.
So...in reference to the jar on the right. When ready to pitch to create a starter, it is the stuff towards the bottom you want. The top layers are the beer you do not want to pitch. Am I right?
Gammon, that's right. The amber colored fluid is the beer itself. The stuff on the bottom is the yeast that has settled out and separated from the beer. Like the FAQ said, you want to dump as much beer as you can without disturbing the yeast on the bottom (which isn't too hard). Then, when you have minimal liquid, your yeast slurry will be concentrated, which is just easier overall for the whole process.
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