Can the washed yeast go to bottom layer?

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kansasbrew

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I washed some Nottingham yeast from my last batch of beer. I poured off the first water after 20 minutes and then repeated that twice. What I got after the final quart of liquid stratified (days later) was what looked like about 1/2 inch of pale, creamy colored yeast at the bottom, about two inches of darker greenish (but then I'm color blind so it could be tan)layer of something above that, and then water above that. I thought the trub was supposed to be the bottom layer and the yeast above that, but it looks reversed. Does some yeast go to the bottom after washing? I could imagine that some of the particulate that remained after three twenty minute intervals was light weight particles of waste that is lighter than yeast. But, it seems backward.
 
I wouldn't worry about it too much. To me the goal of washing is to reduce the amount of trub in your harvested yeast.
 
I'm not so much worried as wondering if it is in fact the yeast on the bottom. The color and amount suggest it is the yeast, but the fact that it is the bottom layer really makes me question my judgment.
 
That sound a bit opposite to how I have been washing mine. Seeing as you are wanting to remove the trub, hop solids and such once I shake with the added water and let separate for 10-20min I keep the top portion of yeasty water and toss the settled portion on the bottom. And probably do this twice before I end up with like 2 vials of fairly white yeast slurry. Keeping the top 1/2 or so with the yeast in suspension and tossing out what settles in the short time.
 
It's possible. It depends on the molecular weight of the constituent components of you harvested solution. If your proteins were smaller chain amino acids and you yeast was bonding to each other for some reason, it's entirely possible that your yeast fell out of solution before the proteins.
 
Thanks. I do keep the yeasty water. I did that three times as advised in the sticky on yeast washing. I didn't split the final into three small jars but kept it in one quart jar. If I was better with color, I'd be more confident about which is which, but again, the amount of light colored creamy stuff on the bottom and the much larger darker layer above makes me think Tarheelbrew13 is right--something to do with molecular weight etc.
 
Thanks. I do keep the yeasty water. I did that three times as advised in the sticky on yeast washing. I didn't split the final into three small jars but kept it in one quart jar. If I was better with color, I'd be more confident about which is which, but again, the amount of light colored creamy stuff on the bottom and the much larger darker layer above makes me think Tarheelbrew13 is right--something to do with molecular weight etc.

I have seen a number of yeast washing posts about Notty that say this. I think it just settles out really fast. You definitely want the creamy layer, but that little bit of trub won't hurt anything in your next batch.
 
Thanks. I do keep the yeasty water. I did that three times as advised in the sticky on yeast washing. I didn't split the final into three small jars but kept it in one quart jar. If I was better with color, I'd be more confident about which is which, but again, the amount of light colored creamy stuff on the bottom and the much larger darker layer above makes me think Tarheelbrew13 is right--something to do with molecular weight etc.

Does yours look like this? If it does, then you have some very clean yeast. This is about 40-50 mL. of S04 in a pint jar.

washed yeast.jpg
 
Prob the dead yeast on the bottom. Think yeast nutrient; dead yeast cells are used as yeast nutrient & are prob heavier than healthy living yeast. Thats my best guess & seems likely.
 
I had a number of batches of yeast do this and I worried about it until I made up a batch directly from a smack pack. Guess what...the yeast was on the bottom of the jar and a little foggy worty looking stuff above it with a clear wort above that. I quit worrying about it and have been using the yeast without any problems.
My biggest current head scratcher is with WLP 029. I can not get the yeast to seperate from the trub. I get a huge harvest, some of which I know is trub but will not seperate. This is the first time I have tried to havest it and have not used it yet, so I guess time will tell???
 
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