Yeast Washing Illustrated

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Palefire said:
I wouldn't - you can wash those jars again. Wait for things to settle, pour out the liquid on top, add more boiled (and cooled) water, shake and decant. You might want to combine the yeast from the jars that have the trub in them - together they'd give you one nice jar of yeast.
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Thank you!
 
So I washed my yeast for the first time last night, all went will except I dropped the jar on the carpet! Didn't break but I'm pretty sure that I oxygenated the water pretty good (it wasn't full all the way) is this going to be an issue with the yeast?

Thanks in advance, great thread!
 
Couple of questions. I read most of the posts but may have missed this if it has been covered before.......

1. Is there any reason why you couldn't Star-San the jars/lids instead of boiling them? When I boil all of mine together, they get a scale of film on the jars (calcium?). Could I just fill them with boiled water after SS?

2. When you put the lids on the first time, they actually form a vacuum on the jars. Do you need that?! After you open them up to decant and use the jars again, you don't have a vacuum on the lids any more. Is that OK or not??
 
SuperiorBrew said:
yw4.jpg
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If this is what your containers look like, would you still need a starter? or could you just pour off the liquid and drop a few blobs into your fermenter.....seems to me this is more than enough yeast for a 10 gallon batch
 
vincemash said:
If this is what your containers look like, would you still need a starter? or could you just pour off the liquid and drop a few blobs into your fermenter.....seems to me this is more than enough yeast for a 10 gallon batch
Click to expand...

Technically, you could do that, but it's not the best way. You see, the yeasts are in hibernation mode when you've been storing them like this. You must wake them up before pitching. I ALWAYS use a starter.
 
HalfPint said:
Technically, you could do that, but it's not the best way. You see, the yeasts are in hibernation mode when you've been storing them like this. You must wake them up before pitching. I ALWAYS use a starter.
Click to expand...

This largely depends on your objectives. If you just want to save money and you always pitch a vial straight into the fermenter, a starter isn't necessary. If you use a starter for the other reasons, like your post suggest, than a starter is still necessary even though you don't need it for population purposes.

Scott
 
I just tossed both (a little over-excited, oops) of my half-full 250ml jars into a brew last night and 14 hours later is foaming out the top of the bucket, chuckle..... More than enough yeast there for sho'.

Jfriah.
 
I just wash English ale yeast from a pale ale and I couldn't get it to mix well. The yeast stayed clumpy and after putting it into the jars it almost looks like water with minimum trup. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a way to test one of the jars to see if I do infact have some yeast in it?
 
Shane23 said:
I just wash English ale yeast from a pale ale and I couldn't get it to mix well. The yeast stayed clumpy and after putting it into the jars it almost looks like water with minimum trup. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a way to test one of the jars to see if I do infact have some yeast in it?
Click to expand...

I didn't have the clumping problem but my last lager I could only rescue a little yeast, so I made 1L starter with what little I had and saved the yeast from the starter.

Hope this helps.
 
I am wondering the same question about rinsing the jars with star-san vs. boiling. I also have hard water etc... I have a few jars that I tried this idea with in the fride currently. I was thinking of making a starter and check the results before pitching... Has anyone else tried this? Would I be able to recognize off smells from the starter?
 
The big thing to remember when working with yeast is that you want the most STERILE environment possible. Although StarSan works great as a sanitizer, you won't get the best results by simply using StarSan. Boiling the jars, especially using a pressure cooker, will pretty much guarantee that you have a sterile jar to keep your washed yeast in.
 
OK, I followed the instructions and I currently have two ready in the fridge. I want to be clear here and I don't want to read through 70 pages on this thread.
I simply pull one out the day before brewday and pitch it on my cooled wort? That simple?
 
raenester said:
Thanks so much for this great post. I'm getting ready to wash my first batch of yeast, from my Xmas Ale I'm bottling tomorrow and I have question that's not so much to do with the washing as it is with prepping the jars.

I just finished boiling my new mason jars and they came out with a white, hazy film on them. I scoured some canning forums and saw several places referring to this being common with water that has a lot of minerals in it. I live in San Diego and we have pretty hard water, so I assume these are just mineral deposits from the 20 minutes they spent boiling. The fix they suggest is to add some white vinegar to the water and that will get rid of the film. Obviously I can't do that if I'm using the water they are boiled in to suspend the yeast so my questions are:

1. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it mineral film? Or something to do with the new jars, maybe I needed to was them better?

2. Do you think the jars (and the water in them) are safe to use? Or should I dump them and start over.

3. In future batches do you think it makes sense to boil them in a vinegar spiked water to eliminate the film. Then drain them, like you would for canning, and fill them with either separately boiled water or distilled water?

Hopefully I'm worried about nothing but I thought I'd run it past the hive mind and see what comes back.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

I know it's been a while since the question of mineral deposits on boiled jars was posted, but I have the same problem and thought I'd share my way around it.

The whitish film on the jars is a mineral that precipitates during boiling. It will coat pretty much every surface that's in the pot with the boiling water, but a large majority of it will just fall to the bottom of the pot. In most cases this is calcium carbonate. See your water treatment chapter(s) in your homebrewing references more on this mineral in your water, how it affects temporary hardness, and how to get rid of most of it. The rest of this post is all about the later, getting rid of it.

Anyway, I have lots of calcium carbonate in my well water (source water). To get rid of it this is all I do. First boil about 5% more of the source water than I need for 15-20 min. in a large pot and let it cool to 100F or so. If you have a lot of mineral(s) in the source water you'll be able to see some crystaline stuff in the bottom and on the side of the pot. Keep the pot very still while cooling. Once cool, laddle the water out of the cooled pot into another vessel being careful not to disturb the settled minerals on the bottom or side of the pot. Now scrub and wash the pot real well with a kitchen scrubber. Dry the pot. If there's still any trace of whitish haze or mineral crystals in the pot a white vinegar wash should get rid of it for good, but rinse very well if you do.

Now pour the demineralized water back into the clean pot and use it to boil your jars etc. Then proceed on to yeast washing using this water.

Using this procedure my jars come out of the boil clear and clean. I've used yeast washed with this double boiled water for several batches now with superb results.

Please keep in mind that this procedure only removes (most of) the minerals that precipitate out at boiling. Any minerals that don't precipitate out at boiling are still left in the water, and unfortunately at a higher concentration than the source water because this boils some of the water away. Calcium carbonate usually makes up nearly all of the precipitate, but a few other minerals will precipitate as well, mostly other calcuim and magnesium salts. Refer to water treatment disucssions online and in your homebrewing (or chemistry) references for the behavior of other minerals and your local source water analaysis for what minerals are present in your source water.

BTW, as a side note, if you're doing anything else with boiled jars or bottles, like canning or baby formula, this same basic procedure works fine for that too. Also if you need to do this to keep your jars clean then don't forget to clean and flush your hot water heater frequently too because the bottom of your hot water tank is probably loaded with the same mineral precipitate.
 
if i boil jars and water as said and seal.....would this water be considered sterile and be saved for a month or so till the next rinsing session? just thinking of saving time and boiling up a bunch and saving for the future. the lids have poped and all? can you reuse the lids for yeast i know canning you toss the lids after each use when they seal and pop? great thread i'm still working through it.
 
Wow. You are a trooper! If someone asked you to do all that for THEM and offer to pay you $5.99 - would you do it? That seems like a ton of work and time to save $6, bro. Just a thought!

starsailor said:
I know it's been a while since the question of mineral deposits on boiled jars was posted, but I have the same problem and thought I'd share my way around it.

The whitish film on the jars is a mineral that precipitates during boiling. It will coat pretty much every surface that's in the pot with the boiling water, but a large majority of it will just fall to the bottom of the pot. In most cases this is calcium carbonate. See your water treatment chapter(s) in your homebrewing references more on this mineral in your water, how it affects temporary hardness, and how to get rid of most of it. The rest of this post is all about the later, getting rid of it.

Anyway, I have lots of calcium carbonate in my well water (source water). To get rid of it this is all I do. First boil about 5% more of the source water than I need for 15-20 min. in a large pot and let it cool to 100F or so. If you have a lot of mineral(s) in the source water you'll be able to see some crystaline stuff in the bottom and on the side of the pot. Keep the pot very still while cooling. Once cool, laddle the water out of the cooled pot into another vessel being careful not to disturb the settled minerals on the bottom or side of the pot. Now scrub and wash the pot real well with a kitchen scrubber. Dry the pot. If there's still any trace of whitish haze or mineral crystals in the pot a white vinegar wash should get rid of it for good, but rinse very well if you do.

Now pour the demineralized water back into the clean pot and use it to boil your jars etc. Then proceed on to yeast washing using this water.

Using this procedure my jars come out of the boil clear and clean. I've used yeast washed with this double boiled water for several batches now with superb results.

Please keep in mind that this procedure only removes (most of) the minerals that precipitate out at boiling. Any minerals that don't precipitate out at boiling are still left in the water, and unfortunately at a higher concentration than the source water because this boils some of the water away. Calcium carbonate usually makes up nearly all of the precipitate, but a few other minerals will precipitate as well, mostly other calcuim and magnesium salts. Refer to water treatment disucssions online and in your homebrewing (or chemistry) references for the behavior of other minerals and your local source water analaysis for what minerals are present in your source water.

BTW, as a side note, if you're doing anything else with boiled jars or bottles, like canning or baby formula, this same basic procedure works fine for that too. Also if you need to do this to keep your jars clean then don't forget to clean and flush your hot water heater frequently too because the bottom of your hot water tank is probably loaded with the same mineral precipitate.
Click to expand...
 
I am going to start washing my yeast now, after thinking about it for a couple of months.
I bought my jars this morning, I bought 4 oz jars to save the washed yeast. Will this be enough for a starter? I thought that was the size that was used...
 
jldesign said:
if i boil jars and water as said and seal.....would this water be considered sterile and be saved for a month or so till the next rinsing session?
Click to expand...

As long as the lid pop up button seals down, you shouldn't have a problem... a depressed pop-up is evident of a sealed jar. If it is sealed, then nothing can get in and the water should be fine for a long time.

jldesign said:
can you reuse the lids for yeast i know canning you toss the lids after each use when they seal and pop? great thread i'm still working through it.
Click to expand...

Ideally, you wouldn't reuse the lids. But I do. My thought is that if the lid is clean and boiled for 20 minutes, and doesn't have any obvious defects, it should be fine. Besides, the way I look at it is that the most I am going to lose is a little time and some reused yeast. It should be pretty evident if something is wrong with your yeast by the time it would make it to the final wort.
 
Newb question, but do you have to use a big jar then transfer in the mason jars, or can you just pour it into the little mason jars and skip the big one.
 
Reading through this yesterday I became inspired to start making yeast cultures and banking them.

I can get a horde or mason jars from my mom who stopped canning a decade ago. I was thinking of getting them to canning the garden veggies with them this year anyway.

All my carboys are currently empty, so I'm thinking of starting by rebuilding cultures from my bottles and some bottles of Orval.
 
bh10 said:
Newb question, but do you have to use a big jar then transfer in the mason jars, or can you just pour it into the little mason jars and skip the big one.
Click to expand...

You can, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea. The point of using the big jar is that when you pour everything into it and let it sit for a bit, you let the trub settle, leaving the yeast in suspension. Then you pour off the suspended yeast into the little jars, leaving the trub behind. That way you have only yeast in the little jars. If you pour everything straight into the little jars, they'll be filled with trub, which you don't want.

Make sense?
 
Noob Answer: I'm guessing you could pour into two small mason jars then transfer them both to a third small mason jar.
 
What do you guys think about this?

I did my first yeast wash a couple of weeks ago and got 6 mason jars full (not the 4 that was originally posted). All six jars have about 1/5 to 1/4 of yeast at the bottom and the liquid is pretty translucent as they have been sitting in the fridge for about 2 weeks. I would like to free up some shelf space in my fridge if possible so what would be the repercussions of trying to get all the yeast into 2 or 3 jars after they have been in the fridge for 2 weeks unsettled?

Thanks.
 
you should have plenty in the 2-3 jars you keep to start a starter...My advice is to make beer and use a couple jars or just toss them and use the remaining 2-3 as intended...
 
Carefully decant off MOST of the liquid out of all the jars. When you start pouring yeast out, stop. Then swirl the jars to get the yeast back into a slurry state. If you need to add some liquid back in, use as little as possible. Then pour this into TWO jars. After they settle, repeat again down to one jar. Or just fill one jar now and dump the little bit that won’t fit.
 
scottlindner said:
Hehe.. my first attempt (I was quick about it and didn't care if it was a success) was just the opposite of yours. I got just as much, if not more, but you can see color layers... so the washing didn't work so well.

I figure that a little trub isn't going to hurt me if I pitch reasonably soon. If not, I'll just dump it all or see if my dog wants to eat it.

Scott
Click to expand...

Only if you don't like your dog. Hops is poisonous to dogs.

This whole yeast washing is really easy. I would recommend trying it on a batch of Nottingham or something else you don't really care about just to see how easy it is. All you need is a few clean jars or lids, a pot to boil them and some water in, or a 5 gallon bucket of Starsan and a small 2 quart saucepan to boil the water in.
Rack from primary as usual. Pour about a quart of the boiled and cooled water in and shake it. Let it settle for 20 minutes. Pour off the top layer down to the darker layer into the four smaller jars. If your experience is like mine, the darker layer will almost 'stick' to the bottom of the jar. It is easy to separate.
If you still end up with a substantial amount of dark material, re-sterilize the larger jar, and pour each smaller jar back into it, top off with boiled and cooled water, and divide the good stuff back up into the 4 re-sterilized jars.
Pretty much like shampoo. Rinse and repeat.
 
Starderup said:
I would recommend trying it on a batch of Nottingham or something else you don't really care about just to see how easy it is.
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Good advice! But the way I look at it, you should try it on any batch that you are not going to try to reuse some other way (i.e., using slurry, pouring a new wort on the trub, etc.) Because all you would end up doing would be to dump anyways, so why not try to wash it.
 
BigB said:
Good advice! But the way I look at it, you should try it on any batch that you are not going to try to reuse some other way (i.e., using slurry, pouring a new wort on the trub, etc.) Because all you would end up doing would be to dump anyways, so why not try to wash it.
Click to expand...

Exactly. That way, no pressure. You can have fun with it and the cost is about zero.
 
Starderup said:
Exactly. That way, no pressure. You can have fun with it and the cost is about zero.
Click to expand...

save a jar for a few weeks in the frig and make a starter with it and wait a few days and drink some...tastes like beer your a yeast washin rockstar! no harm no foul.
 
Question: does it matter if my wort has a LOT of hops in it. I was going to wash the yeast from my Pliny the Elder Clone but then thought that all those hops might make it a bad batch to start with. Opinions?
 
aMillionDreams said:
Question: does it matter if my wort has a LOT of hops in it. I was going to wash the yeast from my Pliny the Elder Clone but then thought that all those hops might make it a bad batch to start with. Opinions?
Click to expand...

If you wash it properly, most of the hops will settle, and will not be in your "washed" yeast. As far as making it a bad batch, I doubt that there will be any off flavors form the hops in your yeast.

FWIW, I usually make a starter with my washed yeast, so it is extremely unlikely that any flavors would be present form the original batch that the yeast was washed from. Also, I chill and decant most of the time, so there is very little starter wort making it into my wort.
 
The concern is not about the hop trub but that yeast cell walls get coated in hop resins and this reduces their viability. Hops are antimicrobial, yeast are microbes and not exempt. Also, PtE is a pretty big beer. Besides being crusted in hop goo, your beasties will be tired. I'm semi-convinced that Vinnie brews Aud Blonde just to grow yeast for Plinky....

You can, but I would not.:p
 
My first attempt at washing yeast. So as far as I can see from other pics, it's supposed to look like this, yes?

Washed Yeast.jpg
 
944play said:
The concern is not about the hop trub but that yeast cell walls get coated in hop resins and this reduces their viability. Hops are antimicrobial, yeast are microbes and not exempt. Also, PtE is a pretty big beer. Besides being crusted in hop goo, your beasties will be tired. I'm semi-convinced that Vinnie brews Aud Blonde just to grow yeast for Plinky....

You can, but I would not.:p
Click to expand...

So what's the cut-off? I have a two-hearted clone that I'm getting ready to rack. It's about 7% abv. Should I try to wash those tired yeasties?
 
I have a different yeast washing question.

A buddy of mine and I did a 10 gallon batch 4 weeks ago. We split the yeast into sanitized mason jars using BMC to get the yeast, and trub stirred up. Since it was getting late, I put the jars into the refrigerator without washing the yeast. So now, I have lots of unwashed yeast and a brew day coming up Saturday or Sunday.

What should I do at this point? Pitch as is after it warms up? Make a starter? Let the yeast warm up to room temp, shake it up, re-cool and attempt to wash?

Thanks for your suggestions.
 

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