Yeast Washing Illustrated

Reno_eNVy said:

Another 48hrs and there is complete separation. Now all I have to do is wait for my new propane hose to come in the mail and I can use the big jar on my next brew :rockin:

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Beautiful! :rockin:

I'm going to ask what will seem to be an odd question for all of you hard core brewers. I don't brew that many batches, but do want to reuse my yeast. I also brew a lot of different types. Over the past year, I've bought many different types of yeast. Would I do anything different in this procedure if I only wanted 2 pint jars of washed yeast at the end? I don't want to have four jars of yeast that would go bad before I use them (even though they last a year).
I know what most people's answer will be -- brew more and drink more, but seriously, I'd like to do this to save the money but not be swimming in yeast jars.

Thanks

Hi taa800, let the 4 jars settle for a week or so in the fridge and then pour off the liquid and use a small amount of sterile cool water, rewashing everything into 1 or 2 jars

L

I haven't done this yet, but I can't imagine that there's any reason at all you couldn't just fill the two jars that you want and then...stop. You'll then have 2 jars instead of 4, and you'll be tossing some more yeast than you would otherwise.

An alternative thread that might interest you is the freezing yeast thread. IIRC there are a few reports of multi-year saving. Also it should take less space depending on the size you use but if you go really small the ramp up starter can be time consuming.

A second alternative might be slanting. Reports there are only a year I believe but there small and you could make a small starter once a year to make new slants or just streak from your current and regrow the fresh slant if you're not worried about reducing your small chance of mutation.

ResumeMan said:

I haven't done this yet, but I can't imagine that there's any reason at all you couldn't just fill the two jars that you want and then...stop. You'll then have 2 jars instead of 4, and you'll be tossing some more yeast than you would otherwise.

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You could definitely use 2 jars instead of 4, they'd just have to be larger jars.

pabloj13 said:

Beautiful! :rockin:

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You should see the 1 quart starter it made....

Reno_eNVy said:

You should see the 1 quart starter it made....

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Yeah I love the stir plate for 1) higher yield and 2) knocking the krausen down. Tons of active yeast though!

pabloj13 said:

You could definitely use 2 jars instead of 4, they'd just have to be larger jars.

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Why do they need to be larger? Couldn't I use 1 large jar and 2 pint size jars instead of 1 large and 4 pint like the original post said to?

taa800 said:

Why do they need to be larger? Couldn't I use 1 large jar and 2 pint size jars instead of 1 large and 4 pint like the original post said to?

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You could. But you need a large enough volume to really separate the trub and yeast. If you used the same large jar and only two pint jars, you would get half the yeast.

pabloj13 said:

You could. But you need a large enough volume to really separate the trub and yeast. If you used the same large jar and only two pint jars, you would get half the yeast.

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But he only wants half the yeast. He'll get the same amount of yeast in each jar as he would have if he filled four jars, and in this thread it's generally been agreed that the yeast collected in one pint jar is a good amount to use to pitch into a starter.

And he thinks he only brews often enough to use a couple of these saved yeast jars before they go bad. So he can just do the rinse in the carboy, the rinse in the big container, and then fill two jars and toss the rest.

ResumeMan said:

But he only wants half the yeast. He'll get the same amount of yeast in each jar as he would have if he filled four jars, and in this thread it's generally been agreed that the yeast collected in one pint jar is a good amount to use to pitch into a starter.

And he thinks he only brews often enough to use a couple of these saved yeast jars before they go bad. So he can just do the rinse in the carboy, the rinse in the big container, and then fill two jars and toss the rest.

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Some people use them up to and even past a year (with a starter obviously). If doing that, why not use larger jars and get twice the yeast in each jar?

pabloj13 said:

Some people use them up to and even past a year (with a starter obviously). If doing that, why not use larger jars and get twice the yeast in each jar?

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That's a good question. If I used 2 quart jars instead of the 2 pint jars, how much of a starter would I need?

taa800 said:

That's a good question. If I used 2 quart jars instead of the 2 pint jars, how much of a starter would I need?

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That would all depend on how many mL. of thick yeast Mr. Malty tells you you need compared to how many mL. of thick yeast you have settled in the bottom of your qt. jar.
I would let the jar settle out. Then enter your brew info. on Malty, and proceed according to what you have vs. what you need.

My vote is wash it all, then decant and combine into as few containers as you have room for.

taa800 said:

That's a good question. If I used 2 quart jars instead of the 2 pint jars, how much of a starter would I need?

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Like wolverinebrewer (awesome name) said, it depends on a number of factors. When you wash it, you'll be able to see roughly what percentage of your solids are healthy yeast (the creamy white layer) and then the age of the yeast will affect viability. Go to Mr. Malty, input how much solids, what percentage viable yeast and date that you harvested them and it will tell you how much you need to pitch. From that you'll know if you can just straight pitch, or if you need a starter. I think past a month or so, it seems like most people make starters anyway just for good measure.

pabloj13 said:

Like wolverinebrewer (awesome name) said, it depends on a number of factors. When you wash it, you'll be able to see roughly what percentage of your solids are healthy yeast (the creamy white layer) and then the age of the yeast will affect viability. Go to Mr. Malty, input how much solids, what percentage viable yeast and date that you harvested them and it will tell you how much you need to pitch. From that you'll know if you can just straight pitch, or if you need a starter. I think past a month or so, it seems like most people make starters anyway just for good measure.

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What's the best way to determine how much solids I have, and where do I put that in Mr Malty? I'm using the Liquid Yeast tab, right?

taa800 said:

What's the best way to determine how much solids I have, and where do I put that in Mr Malty? I'm using the Liquid Yeast tab, right?

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When you crash your yeast in the fridge you can see the yeast layer. Generally mason jars have markings on the outside for mL. You can estimate that way. You'll be using the Slurry tab. If you pour off most of your wash water and leave just a little to resuspend the yeast in, I "think" a yeast concentration of somewhere near 2.5 billion per mL would work. Your non-yeast percentage would be how much you estimate of your sample to be either dead yeast/trub (darker later) or wash water.

Washing yeast for the first time right now. Probably should have waited for a different beer to try this. A double IPA with leaf hops in the fermenter and WLP007 yeast is probably not a prime candidate for yeast washing nevertheless I'm giving it a shot.

So I washed an English ale yeast about a month ago. It went very well. Got about 5 jars with a nice clean yeast layer in the bottom. They have been the the fridge since. Last night I pulled out all the jars and combined half of the jars into one jar by decanting the clear liquid off. I noticed that the yeast looked a little brown compered to before. The yeast smelled fine. I even tasted the fluid I decanted off and it didn't taste bad (just tasted like yeasty water). Is it normal for yeast to turn develop a brown tinge after awhile?

I made a starter last night so I guess I will find out if it is OK. As of this morning there was no activity in the flask but hopefully it kicks sometime today.

brew2enjoy said:

Washing yeast for the first time right now. Probably should have waited for a different beer to try this. A double IPA with leaf hops in the fermenter and WLP007 yeast is probably not a prime candidate for yeast washing nevertheless I'm giving it a shot.

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Add your boiled and cooled water to your fermenter and shake it up good so there are no chunks. Let it sit 45 minutes and all of the hops will settle. Use a sanitized auto siphon keeping the tip just under the surface and siphon just the top stuff. There is no excuse to get trub and crap into your jar even with an IPA

Have to admit for starters that I haven't gone through this whole thread but I noticed at the start of the thread that one of the bottles was 8 months old. So my question is, How is the recovery of those yeast after pitching to the starter? Is an overnight fine to get a starter. I ask because I have been freezing yeast in glycerol (another whole thread on this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/d...why-not-farm-yeast-freeze-269488/index11.html) and I am wondering what the relative effectiveness is.

Thanks for any feedback.

Does anyone know if there would be an issue with using the Foodsaver to seal the lids of the small jars holding the yeast samples?

I'm thinking it might promote longevity of the samples and prevent curious on-lookers from trying to open and take a whiff/peek into what is in the jars.

wolverinebrewer said:

Add your boiled and cooled water to your fermenter and shake it up good so there are no chunks. Let it sit 45 minutes and all of the hops will settle. Use a sanitized auto siphon keeping the tip just under the surface and siphon just the top stuff. There is no excuse to get trub and crap into your jar even with an IPA

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45 minutes would be way too long for WLP007. I've seen pictures on here where the yeast settles out before the trub did. This stuff drops like concrete. I let it sit for 10 minutes and poured into the big jar. Then I let that settle for 20 minutes and poured into the smaller jars. I still got some trub in there mixed in with they yeast but I don't think it will be a problem.

brew2enjoy said:

45 minutes would be way too long for WLP007. I've seen pictures on here where the yeast settles out before the trub did. This stuff drops like concrete. I let it sit for 10 minutes and poured into the big jar. Then I let that settle for 20 minutes and poured into the smaller jars. I still got some trub in there mixed in with they yeast but I don't think it will be a problem.

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I've never used that yeast but that seems unreal! I mean, how does a small microscopic yeast cell settle out before a heavy visible hop/trub particle? Even when I chill my starter flask of yeast for 24 hours, it has still not settled out.
Another thing, since I started not pouring from jars and using my auto siphon instead, I find I get no trub. None.... at least that you can see. My yeast settles out into an off-white 1/2" layer in a pint jar.

If the yeast settles slower than the trub then perhaps let it settle a bit, decant, add more boiled water, repeat. At least you'll see how much yeast you have right off.

Here's what I ended up with. I am happy with the results considering how difficult this strain can be to wash. The one on the right only ended up with a very fine layer on the bottom. The rest of them have a good amount in them

Baby food jars.

That's all I have to say right there. I came to this thread awhile back and have since washed 4 different yeast strains. To say that's taxing on the fridge storage space is an understatement. I could buy those test tubes that white labs uses, or something else smaller, but I was wandering through the megamart the other day and on their clearance rack they had close to expiration baby food in perfect size little glass jars for a quarter. They're 4oz and since they're small, you can fit a lot of them in a pot of boiling water. The food that was in them is so bland that there is no lasting odor or anything in the jars.

It's an extra step, but after the pint jars sit in the fridge for a couple of days or a week, I just decant most of the liquid and pour off into the sterilized baby food jars. TONS of space saved. Cheers y'all!

sheeshomatic said:

Baby food jars.



It's an extra step, but after the pint jars sit in the fridge for a couple of days or a week, I just decant most of the liquid and pour off into the sterilized baby food jars. TONS of space saved. Cheers y'all!

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Good score .. storage space is a challenge, so I switched to these

subscribing and looking forward to washing my first batch soon.

Thanks to everyone who contributes their knowledge on this forum on a daily basis. It helps beginners like me more than you can even imagine!

I washed yeast for the second time yesterday. First time was a dud and I decided to not re-use it. This time, I used Wyeast 1056 on an American Wheat and below are my results. The first picture is 30 minutes after pouring it into and shaking up my 1 gallon carboy, the second is after 60 minutes, and the last is after 24+ hours in the fridge. The 60 minute picture shows pretty clearly the desirable 3 distinct layers, but when I poured it out, a lot of it seemed to blend together. The one in the picture on the left was filled last and therefore I think a lot of the stuff on bottom is the trub. So, of the two, which one should I use for a starter? They both have a big bottom layer (about 14 and 6 fluid ounces) because these jars hold about 30 ounces but I'm worried that they have a lot of trub mixed in with the yeast in that bottom layer. Also, should I have just poured out the top two layers at the 30 min mark instead of waiting til 60 mins?

I used the Info learned here and it worked great. I have 4 jars of US-05 in the fridge now. How Long will US-05 keep in fridge. Anyone wash 05?

brian_n said:

I washed yeast for the second time yesterday. First time was a dud and I decided to not re-use it. This time, I used Wyeast 1056 on an American Wheat and below are my results. The first picture is 30 minutes after pouring it into and shaking up my 1 gallon carboy, the second is after 60 minutes, and the last is after 24+ hours in the fridge. The 60 minute picture shows pretty clearly the desirable 3 distinct layers, but when I poured it out, a lot of it seemed to blend together. The one in the picture on the left was filled last and therefore I think a lot of the stuff on bottom is the trub. So, of the two, which one should I use for a starter? They both have a big bottom layer (about 14 and 6 fluid ounces) because these jars hold about 30 ounces but I'm worried that they have a lot of trub mixed in with the yeast in that bottom layer. Also, should I have just poured out the top two layers at the 30 min mark instead of waiting til 60 mins?

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Yeah the one on the right looks great. The one on the left looks like it has quite a bit of live yeast, but I agree with you that it has more trub in it as well. I would think it would still be fine to use though, especially with a starter. Just think of all the people that pitch right onto used yeast cakes (with ALL the trub). You washed and got rid of a lot of the trub and if you use a starter you will amplify the live yeast even more.

I washed some Notty that had been used to make a cider, mostly because I wanted to try the process first hand, but also because Notty is $6 a pack at my LHBS.

I did the inital boiled water dump, waited 20 min, poured into a 1/2 gal container. Waited another 20 min then poured off into smaller mason jars.

Here's what it looks like in the fridge at about 36 hours, I had expected more separation and I'm honestly not sure if the bottom layer is yeast or trub.

I won't be using notty again for a while, so I'll leave it in the fridge and see if it separates more over the next week or so.

I think that thin white layer on the bottom is your yeast

It will clear up more. In another day or two the liquid should be clear.

I forgot to cover my boiled water when cooling...should it be ok yet? My jars look beautiful with a nice white layer of yeast in the bottom. Will they be good yet, or do I throw the yeast away?

rld04 said:

I forgot to cover my boiled water when cooling...should it be ok yet? My jars look beautiful with a nice white layer of yeast in the bottom. Will they be good yet, or do I throw the yeast away?

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Unless you were running a vacuum cleaner and pushing a broom with a window fan blowing , you should be safe...

Those bugs need airborne dust to 'fly' on, so you should be safe ..

US-05 will keep just as long as anything else would. If you keep it longer than a month (more than 2 weeks really) you really should be making a starter (possibly more than one depending on how it goes). There are reports in this thread even of people nursing year old jars back for use but you won't know til you make a starter.

So i tried washing my yeast tonight. After racking from the secondary there was enough beer left that i didn't opt to add any extra water; i easily sloshed it into a slurry and poured into my jars. They never settled. I was under the impression it'd only take like 20 minutes or so? been a couple hours now.