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chanson16 · 02-17-2013, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brulosopher

As long as your starter doesn't smell like burnt rubber, go for it.

Would that indicate an infection? My question was more in line with pitching tonight being too early. Not necessarily being worried about infection.

Thanks for the link! I couldn't find it searching.

**Brulosopher** · 02-18-2013, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chanson16

Would that indicate an infection? My question was more in line with pitching tonight being too early. Not necessarily being worried about infection.

Thanks for the link! I couldn't find it searching.

Not an infection, but autolysis... dead ueast

srattler · 02-18-2013, 06:38 PM

Good write up....

zeg · 02-19-2013, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chanson16

I made a 1.034 starter from some washed yeast yesterday and there are no signs of fermentation in the airlock nearly 24 hours later. I know that activity in airlock doesn't mean anything but there isn't enough wort to take a hydro sample. Any thoughts?

No krausen has formed yet. There are a few white dense clumps on top and I am hoping it is not an infection.

Unless you watched the thing very closely, you may simply have missed the peak of its activity. It's such a massive pitch rate that it can burn through the sugar extremely rapidly. Your photo looks normal.

Also, note that an airlock on a starter is not generally recommended. The ideal is a foam stopper, a decent makeshift approach is a loose cover of sanitized aluminum foil. You're making yeast, not beer, so you want to keep it as aerated as possible to encourage the yeast to reproduce rather than ferment.

**high5apparatus** · 02-19-2013, 01:45 PM

I used washed yeast for the first time yesterday. Followed the sticky instructions here and the airlock was moving on my carboy while I was still cleaning up the kitchen.

I also drew off some wort at the end of my sparge to boil, bumped up the gravity a bit with corn sugar, then refilled my growler with what was left of the yeast after pitching to hopefully make more yeast.

**msa8967** · 02-20-2013, 01:05 AM

How successful is it to harvest lager yeast by using this washing yeast method? I have had plenty of success washing ale yeast but I am curious if washing lager yeast yields similar results.

zeg · 02-20-2013, 02:43 AM

I have so far made three lagers with yeast harvested from a single batch and it seems to have worked extremely well, though none has made it all the way through the pipeline yet.

HollisBT · 02-20-2013, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeg

I have so far made three lagers with yeast harvested from a single batch and it seems to have worked extremely well, though none has made it all the way through the pipeline yet.

Did you use the same washing process?

zeg · 02-20-2013, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HollisBT

Did you use the same washing process?

Yes. I don't know of any reason that a lager yeast would need a different process. This method is actually probably more appropriate for those, whereas ales are frequently top-cropped (though since the method described here happens after fermentation is complete, that's not a direct comparison).

The only difference is that I did slow 3-stage starters with 1-2 day cold crashes, ending up with about 1.5 gallons which I decanted and pitched.

HollisBT · 02-20-2013, 04:27 PM

Good to know., I wasn't sure whether the floc gang characteristics or bottom feeding properties would effect the wash or not.

With lager yeast wanting to stay at the bottom, my logic pointed me to think that washing would be a bit more difficult, as the top portion of the wash might have a much lower cell count as the bottom.