Yeast Washing Illustrated

Boiled up some tap water. Of course the water is softened and there is some salt or minerals in the bottom of my mason jars. This going to hurt the little yeasty beasties??

do i need to make a starter when i do this, or if i was to use bigger jars, say 1 liter for example, would i be able to just pitch it??

sorefingers23 said:

do i need to make a starter when i do this, or if i was to use bigger jars, say 1 liter for example, would i be able to just pitch it??

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Start at post number 865, this was extensively discussed.

In a pinch, I've just straight pitched my washed yeast. It works fine, but can be slow to get going. If you have the time.. do yourself a favor and make a starter.

First of all thanks for the write up! Stoked to give this a go on our next batch!

My question lies with the mason Jars/Lids. I have done a bunch of pickling in the past and know that everytime I reuse the mason jars I need to buy new lids so the jars hold a vaccume. Is this the same case with storing the yeast or can I simply reuse the old lids?

Thanks!

They aren't going to be sealed like pickles, so if you use sanitizer on the lids I would think you could reuse them

Good to know thanks for the quick reply!

Your pics and simple instructions illustrating the process made yeast washing an approachable step in my brewing growth. I have done this twice now with great results. I have only bought 2 commercial packs of yeast and have brewed 6 batches from 1 harvest of 2nd generation yeast (1st generation washed) and have plenty of yeast left for more!!! Between the savings on yeast, going all grain, and starting to buy in bulk, my brewing costs have dropped dramatically.

My latest project is brewing several Belgian styles with 1 yeast. Then I will rebrew the recipes with a different yeast to taste the differences. I should be able to brew at least 6-8 different recipes off of 1 yeast purchase for each round of "testing." I brew a small, low hopped beer to harvest from then go big from there.

Again, thank you

I have not read through this post completely, but is there an issue with the hops in the bottom, or is this done on batches when no hops are added to the secondary? Great write-up.

dwpumo said:

I have not read through this post completely, but is there an issue with the hops in the bottom, or is this done on batches when no hops are added to the secondary? Great write-up.

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A lot of us don't secondary at all, even for dry hopping. I leave my brews in the primary for 3-4 weeks minimum. The beers I harvest from are always lower alcohol lower IBU brews as High alcohol stresses the yeast and hop resins/ oils coat the yeast's cell walls. Also the washing process is designed to save the yeast while leaving most of the trub. Look at the pics at the beginning and notice the layer that is settled out after each 20 min rest...that is mostly trub, not yeast. The yeast is still in suspension and settles after a day or two in the fridge into a nice off white layer of yeastie beasties!!!

If I was to store my washed yeast in 250ml jars would I get enough yeast to make a starter?

I planned on bottling my beer this afternoon. I wanted to try yeast washing the first time, but according to your steps I won't be ready to do so for at least a few hours after I bottle. How long is it safe to leave the yeast in the bucket after bottling?

I tried it for the first time last week using these steps. I boiled up the water a day before and sealed the mason jars up. On bottling day I racked my beer from primary into bottling bucket. Then I dumped my sterile water into primary and swirled it around. I proceeded by filling my bottles. When all bottles were filled, I carefully poured the yeast on the top layer into a large mason jar until full. Then I capped my bottles and cleaned all my equipment. Showered, s&$t, and shaved. Then I transferred the top layer of yeast from the large mason jar into 2 small mason jars and put them in the fridge. Went very smooth

Hi, so after washing yeast and storing in fridge, can you just let warm to room temp then pitch or do I need to restart the yeast for a few days before pitching into fermenter?

stivov said:

Hi, so after washing yeast and storing in fridge, can you just let warm to room temp then pitch or do I need to restart the yeast for a few days before pitching into fermenter?

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It's best to make a starter with the yeast from the small jar. Helps wake up the yeast and get them ready for fermenting

Ok, thank you so much for the great info! Love this site, this is my first post. only been brewing for a few years, and loving every min!

Do you think it is absolutely necessary to first decant the slurry into the larger jar, let settle, then pour off into the pint size mason jars for storage?

Or could it simply be to decant the slurry from the primary fermenter into the pint size mason jars and then store?

Cheers

Rahjah said:

Do you think it is absolutely necessary to first decant the slurry into the larger jar, let settle, then pour off into the pint size mason jars for storage?

Or could it simply be to decant the slurry from the primary fermenter into the pint size mason jars and then store?

Cheers

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That's what I do, except I only fill one pint jar; just enough for my next brew which is typically the following week. If I was to store it much longer, I think it would need to be rinsed better.

any issue freezing the jars...i.e. - shattered glass jars in the freezer?

dwpumo said:

any issue freezing the jars...i.e. - shattered glass jars in the freezer?

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The glass would only break if it was filled too high and the water couldn't expand. The real issue is that freezing will kill the yeast unless you use glycerin.

Rahjah said:

Do you think it is absolutely necessary to first decant the slurry into the larger jar, let settle, then pour off into the pint size mason jars for storage?

Or could it simply be to decant the slurry from the primary fermenter into the pint size mason jars and then store?

Cheers

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When you include this step you are pouring yeast in suspension off of trub that settles much faster...coagulated proteins from hot & cold break, hops, etc. If you plan on saving longer than a week or so as mentioned above you should not skip this step. In addition the trub can impart flavors to your brew if it is a lighter recipe. I always end up with layers of almost pure yeast and I like the fact that I end up with much smaller jars to store.

So, how long will they keep in the fridge? I brew often, but not multiple batches a week.

So far I've used yeast from 3 months ago with no problems but I dont know the exact shelf life. The beauty of the starter IMO is that you get to check the viability pre-pitching.

thanks to the OP for this great thread! I just did this for the first time today. I didn't want to pour from bottle to bottle though because I was afraid of spilling all over the place. Instead I used a turkey baster to draw up the yeast layer. It worked well and then I poured of the last bit.

TBel. Hope you sanitized the heck out of that turkey baster.

flabyboy said:

TBel. Hope you sanitized the heck out of that turkey baster.

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Nah! just rinsed it off with some water that was dripping off the roof.:cross:

tbel said:

Nah! just rinsed it off with some water that was dripping off the roof.:cross:

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That should do the trick

This did come up as a question, but I didn't see it answered...

I racked by beer to the secondary today...thinking I would save the yeast. Well, when I started to do it and read the instructions and saw that I needed to cool the water overnight. So the question is:

Will my yeast be ok in the bottom of the primary overnight? I put the airlock back on and stuck it back in the closet. Thanks for any info.

I tried this with a Lager yeast(Wyeast 2278) today and it didn't work so well. Everything just clumped back together and settled back out, no separation. It's worked great for me on Ale yeasts

Maybe I didn't mix it up enough when I added the initial water?

Just wanted to ask again about the yeast sitting over night? I plan to finish up tonight but want to make sure I'm not wasting my time. Thanks.

dwpumo said:

Just wanted to ask again about the yeast sitting over night? I plan to finish up tonight but want to make sure I'm not wasting my time. Thanks.

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You should be ok, sounds like you have it all sealed up. It will keep fine overnight.

Yankeehillbrewer said:

You should be ok, sounds like you have it all sealed up. It will keep fine overnight.

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Thanks.

dwpumo said:

Just wanted to ask again about the yeast sitting over night? I plan to finish up tonight but want to make sure I'm not wasting my time. Thanks.

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Yea you are fine. I did that with my first one and it was fine.

dwpumo said:

Just wanted to ask again about the yeast sitting over night? I plan to finish up tonight but want to make sure I'm not wasting my time. Thanks.

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If you are worried about it you could also sanitize a container and a stainless or plastic spoon and scoop it into the sealed container until you are ready to wash. FYI, you can also use Mr. Malty to determine how many ml of the slurry you would need to pitch directly w/o washing if you are bottling, washing, and brewing on the same day.

Cheers

I washed my first batch of yeast last night and the mason jars have been in the fridge all day. When is the earliest I could use one for my next batch? I was wanting to make a starter today to brew with tomorrow. Should I still decant it? I would think some/alot of yeast would still be in suspension?

Gonna wash some yeast. How do you guys recommend pulling the liquid out after waiting the initial 20 mins (from carboy)?

Just pour carefully into the big jar. You can also use an incremental step if the carboy is too unwieldy--swirl it up and puor into a bucket with no waiting for the first round or pour into 2 large glass jars instead of 1 then wait, decant, wait, decant.

Congrats on taking another leap in your brewing experience

I have the Bubon, so I'll likely be around all day if you have any other questions.

TANSTAAFB said:

Just pour carefully into the big jar. You can also use an incremental step if the carboy is too unwieldy--swirl it up and puor into a bucket with no waiting for the first round or pour into 2 large glass jars instead of 1 then wait, decant, wait, decant.

Congrats on taking another leap in your brewing experience

I have the Bubon, so I'll likely be around all day if you have any other questions.

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Thanks, broham!

krumb said:

Gonna wash some yeast. How do you guys recommend pulling the liquid out after waiting the initial 20 mins (from carboy)?

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Decanting is an option, syphoning, and something I tried yesterday was actually using one of my dedicated turkey basters which really helped me make sure I left all the crap on the bottom out. Good luck!

I read this thread a little over a year ago and have successfully captured and stored yeast using this approach - kudos to the original poster Bernie Brewer. Also, if there is any doubt as to how long you leave your jars in the back of the fridge, I just reconstituted a White Labs Platinum strain that I harvested and stored 11 months ago. Made a starter, decanted the excess wort and pitched - am going to split this batch of yeast into two. One for storing and another that I'll step up into a large enough starter for a batch of lager I'm brewing this week.