EDIT: Good way to determine infections in harvested yeast?
Several weeks ago, I decided to try harvesting and washing yeast from a finished batch. I didn't prepare for it on kegging day, and had no sanitized mason jars or anything, but whatever, its US-05 yeast and I wanted to collect and wash it mainly to get a feel for the procedure. It has now been sitting in my refrigerator with tap water, in an old unsanitized (but cleaned very well) honey jar.
I'm not worried at all if this goes bad, like I said, I just wanted to get a feel for the procedure.
I've been thinking about making another batch and making a starter with this (of course, I will have new yeast on hand if it doesn't pan out), but I'm wondering if there is a good way to determine if the yeast/starter has an infection? Would it taste sour or spoiled? Would the starter not kick off?
Even if I decide to throw this out and recollect some more yeast using some good sanitation techniques, how will I know if that yeast is free from infection?
Several weeks ago, I decided to try harvesting and washing yeast from a finished batch. I didn't prepare for it on kegging day, and had no sanitized mason jars or anything, but whatever, its US-05 yeast and I wanted to collect and wash it mainly to get a feel for the procedure. It has now been sitting in my refrigerator with tap water, in an old unsanitized (but cleaned very well) honey jar.
I'm not worried at all if this goes bad, like I said, I just wanted to get a feel for the procedure.
I've been thinking about making another batch and making a starter with this (of course, I will have new yeast on hand if it doesn't pan out), but I'm wondering if there is a good way to determine if the yeast/starter has an infection? Would it taste sour or spoiled? Would the starter not kick off?
Even if I decide to throw this out and recollect some more yeast using some good sanitation techniques, how will I know if that yeast is free from infection?