How can I wait before washing yeast?

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MI_Troll

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I have a batch of beer that I needed to keg today so it would be ready to drink by a certain day. I had intended to wash the yeast but didn't get a chance to prepare. There is still a good 1/2" layer of beer on top of the yeast cake and it is sealed up with a cover and airlock. Would it be okay to wash tomorrow or has the ship sailed, get it next time? The yeast is a WLP002 English Ale yeast, which I understand comes with it's own set of headaches but that's another post. Thanks!

EDIT: So Similar Threads from my own post yielded some answers I had missed earlier. Fermentation bucket now in keezer chilling out, apparently that helps. Words of wisdom still appreciated.
 
The yeast doesn't really know you racked yet, so you can just sneak up on them later and grab them from under the beer blanket.
 
Be sure to do it relatively quickly, though. I ended up letting my yeast sit with about a half gallon of beer on top of it for a week+ and when I came back to harvest the yeast I noticed extra stuff on the top. Felt like an infection so I dumped that yeast.
 
Absolutely. It will be fine. As long as you kept things clean when racking there is no reason why you would see an infection. If it looks different than it did when you left it, then it's probably only because you stirred it up a little while racking. This is completely normal. Warming it could also make yeast come out of dormancy. Putting it in the fridge was a good idea. It will help put the yeast back to sleep. You also want to avoid areating as that will case them to wake up and cause immature budding. But again, yeast is pretty tough. If you do get some air there there don't sweat it.
 
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