How soon can washed yeast be used?

I have an unscheduled brew that I will be doing tomorrow and I wanted to know if I can effectively use yeast that I washed earlier today and refrigerated? Is pitching washed yeast (24 hours after washing) a bad idea or should I try to make a starter in the morning for the washed yeast or just us dry yeast instead?

thanks for any input you might have.

If you have a sufficient quantity of slurry you can go ahead and pitch it. Fresher is better. If you need to build it up you can do a starter now and probably double the yeast in 12-18 hours.

I have the slurry at the bottom of 2 pint size masonary jars slated for possible use tomorrow. I usually use 1 pint per 5 gallons allowing for the proper use of a starter. I had considered pitching onto the entire yeast cake but then recalled advice from this forum about being sure to wash the yeast properly first prior to pitching.

Thanks for the speedy reply.

Are your pint jars graduated? Typically I'll get about 50 ml in the bottom of of a pint jar. Two of those would be good for a 1.060 gravity ale. What are you brewing?

Pitching your washed yeast into a mini starter in the morning will help wake them up and get them ready to chow your wort. I did this on my last brew after reading White and Zainasheff's book "Yeast," and my lag time went down and yeast health went up. Just boil and cool a quart or two of starter wort (or pull a bit off your mash), decant your washed yeast, swirl it up, and pitch. No need for a stir plate, it just wakes the yeastie beasties up

Just pitch one of the pints straight into the wort. It will take off with no problems.

I just pitched a third of a cake, that had been in jars for the past 5 weeks, this evening. The airlock is going after 5 hours; a little too soon for my liking, I think I over-pitched. Fortunately it was PacMan, a neutral yeast so I'm not looking for any flavor contribution from the yeast.

Pilgarlic said:

Are your pint jars graduated? Typically I'll get about 50 ml in the bottom of of a pint jar. Two of those would be good for a 1.060 gravity ale. What are you brewing?

Click to expand...

I am brewing a modified (hoppier) version of NB Amber Ale. My wife calls it Much Better Amber because she thinks it has more flavor and body than the kit from NB.

5 Gallons
7.5 lbs Pale Malt
1.5 lbs Crystal 60L
1.5 lbs Munich
4 oz Flaked Wheat
1.5 oz Cascade 60 min.
.75 oz Cascade 15 min
.50 oz Cascade 5 min
.25 oz Cascade 2 min

use either US-05 or Wyeast American Ale to ferment.
SG 1.057 IBU 39



I did make a starter of the washed US-05 Chico this morning that will probably have about 6 hours head start on pitching. I'll have somewhere around 80 ml to pitch.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Yeah if I have slurry that's less than a week old, I won't even bother making a starter. More than that and I like to at least get the yeast some nutrients and O2 so they're ready for another batch.