Yeast Washing Illustrated

So I had a nice Pale Ale with WL 029 (Kolsch) yeast where I washed the yeast.

Unfortunately my jars don't look like they have as much yeast as the other photos I've seen on this thread, and I'm not sure why (or if it's even that bad). The two things I've thought of are that I have a Coopers fermenter and I just use the spigot on the side to get the water into the large jar after letting it settle, and I waited maybe 10 or 20 min longer to transfer between the different vessels.

Anyways, regardless of my technique, I'll keep trying, but I need to get an idea if I have enough of this yeast to use down the road. I have 1 pt jars, and they all have about the same amount of yeast.

Can anyone tell me from the photo below if it's enough to get a (2L) starter going? Or will I need to step it up? Or what?



Thanks for your help! And for the technique as well!

I would say you could get a 2L going with it but if it would make you feel more comfortable then go ahead and make a 1L and step it up

Quick question. I gave up looking after 12 or so pages. I noticed someone said you brew with the same yeast but does it matter what beer you brew ? You guys aren't brewing the exact same beers with the washed yeast. Just the brews that use the same type of yeast, correct ? Was that clear ? I have been drinking.

I made a hefe and washed the yeast and later used it to make a cider.

yes you are correct about just doing things that use the same type of yeast. (i realize that ciders dont always use the hefe types of yeast but it had properties i was looking for)

crombie said:

So I had a nice Pale Ale with WL 029 (Kolsch) yeast where I washed the yeast.

Unfortunately my jars don't look like they have as much yeast as the other photos I've seen on this thread, and I'm not sure why (or if it's even that bad).

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Hey,

After my yeast was all clean I let it settle for a couple of days in the big jar. Then I poured of all of the liquid and added about 1 part of water to the 2 parts of yeast. Shook it all up and used a turkey baster to transfer the thick slurry into 125ml jars. Now they are about half full of yeast so I may have been a bit off on my 1:3 parts ratio, but no big deal.

But the main point is to let it pre-settle and then transfer it to smaller jars. My jars fit in the back of the fridge and they are pretty much unnoticeable. I used one for ed wort's apfelwein and it's going strong so 75ml of pure yeast was plenty.

Wingfan13 said:

Quick question. I gave up looking after 12 or so pages. I noticed someone said you brew with the same yeast but does it matter what beer you brew ? You guys aren't brewing the exact same beers with the washed yeast. Just the brews that use the same type of yeast, correct ? Was that clear ? I have been drinking.

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You are washing the yeast simply to be able to reuse the yeast. Washing the yeast separates it from most of the trub so hopefully you have just yeast left. Which beer you use it in depends on what you want to brew. For example, say you washed a Wyeast 1028 London Ale that was used to ferment a Stout. You would reuse that yeast in any beer you would normally use the 1028 in. In other words, You CAN use it in anything, but why would you? It will have the same flavor, floccuation, and attenutation as the package of yeast you originally pitched.

EinGutesBier said:

Gammon, that's right. The amber colored fluid is the beer itself. The stuff on the bottom is the yeast that has settled out and separated from the beer. Like the FAQ said, you want to dump as much beer as you can without disturbing the yeast on the bottom (which isn't too hard). Then, when you have minimal liquid, your yeast slurry will be concentrated, which is just easier overall for the whole process.

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Is that beer drinkable then? Definitely a stupid question, but I'm a newb! Thanks!:fro:

AugustDerleth said:

Is that beer drinkable then? Definitely a stupid question, but I'm a newb! Thanks!:fro:

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It is! It is beer after all right?

Consider it a right of homebrewing passage to drink it. And then chew on a hop pellet to round out the experience!

Jenks829 said:

It is! It is beer after all right?

Consider it a right of homebrewing passage to drink it. And then chew on a hop pellet to round out the experience!

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Actually, If you refer to the post he quoted, he was questioning whether the amber colored liquid in the photo was beer. And the answer would be NO. It is simply water. The beer afterall was racked off the top. Then sterlie water was added to separate the trub from the yeast. That is all that remains- sterile water and yeast. Granted the water does take on a slight tint during the process, but it is by no sense, beer.

Sure you could drink it, but I imagine it wouldn't taste very good.

Actually it would be beer. (uncarbonated and watered down from the washing process) You do rack off the majority of it but there will still be some there which is how you are getting that amber color.

daugenet said:

Actually it would be beer. (uncarbonated and watered down from the washing process) You do rack off the majority of it but there will still be some there which is how you are getting that amber color.

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Beer would be a fermented beverage. I hardly think that because there is .000000000001% of diluted beer in the mixture that you could call that "beer." Take for example your bottles when you wash them out. If you empty the bottle out except for say an 1/8 inch layer over the settled yeast. Then refill the bottle with water. It would take on a tinted hue. Would you call that beer?

depends on how many i had before i did it

daugenet said:

depends on how many i had before i did it

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You got me there! I can't argue that. I will concede that by Coor's definition, that it would be beer!

Fantastic Post, thanks OP.

Quick question, I'm about to bottle this weekend and would like to keep the US-05 from my primary using this method. If I were to brew a day or two after would I just pitch into a starter?

elproducto said:

Fantastic Post, thanks OP.

Quick question, I'm about to bottle this weekend and would like to keep the US-05 from my primary using this method. If I were to brew a day or two after would I just pitch into a starter?

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Just bottle while you brew and put your new brew right on top of it

Haha, I was thinking that. Not sure if I'm skilled enough, this will be my first bottling adventure. Not to mention I'm brewing Thunderstruck Pumpkin which looks quite labour intensive.

elproducto said:

Haha, I was thinking that. Not sure if I'm skilled enough, this will be my first bottling adventure. Not to mention I'm brewing Thunderstruck Pumpkin which looks quite labour intensive.

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US-05 is a dry strain and is pretty cheap, so IMHO it is not even worth washing. But, if you really want to reuse it, I would agree to just pitch on top of the old yeast cake. What you could do if you are concerned about this being your first bottling adventure, what I would suggest is this:

1. Brew your new beer.
2. As it is cooling, transfer the fermented beer into the sanitized bottling bucket and cover.
3. Pitch the new cooled wort onto the old yeast cake and put the fermenter away to let the yeast do its magic.
4. Go back to your bottling bucket and prime and bottle as directed in numerous threads on this site.

Or, make life easy on yourself. Go to the LHBS and get a pack of US-05 for $2.99 then brew and bottle on different days.

So out of those four mason jars would you use all four on your next batch or only one mason jar? Also would you make a yeast starter from the washed yeast before your next brew?

You would only use one unless you were brewing a beer with a really high OG. I am of the opinion that you should always make a starter when using liquid yeast. It wakes the yeast up, gives them a chance to multiply, and most importantly, it proves to you that your yeast is good.

A question that I've always had w/ this thread:

when I wash yeast using the directions in this thread, I keep the liquid that forms at the top (above the settled "trub")

when I make a liquid starter, I decant the liquid at the top and keep / use the "trub"

what gives?

Because when you wash the yeast, you are only leaving it long enough for the carp to settle out but not the yeast. If you wait too long, the yeast will settle to the bottom, too.

When you make the starter, the yeast has had plenty of time to settle to the bottom.

Yup you should be separating your yeast from the rest of the trub. Yeast is part of the trub. We are looking to keep only the yeast part of it.

A little late on this thread but thanks for the write up. I washed my first yeast, Scottish ale yeast, tonight and it seemed to go well. This is a nice way to get more bang for your buck!

I have been washing a batch of White Labs Dry English Ale Yeast WL007. It had flocculated into clumps and took quite a few washes to get it clean. On this last wash it had compacted into a tight white jello like layer with trash above AND below it. I was able to pour off the top layer and gently scrap off the stuff above it. I then added a little bottled water and gently swirled the jar to raise the yeast cake layer and suspend the bits below it and pour them off. I added a little more bottled water and shook the jars very vigorously to breakup the yeast clumps from the rest of the trash left behind. I poured it through a fine strainer and captured the remaining trash. The remaining liquid is very clean and after it cold crashes the yeast cake should be ready to store.

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Pappers said:

Because when you wash the yeast, you are only leaving it long enough for the carp to settle out but not the yeast. If you wait too long, the yeast will settle to the bottom, too.

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ok.... tried this tonight after I racked my "baby mama" foreign extra stout over to secondary.

question---

how long is too long to let the trub settle.... do you want to pour immediately following first signs of settling?

Im worried I let it sit too long.

This is further complicated by the fact that I 'effed up a little bit when racking-- I was doing a little too much RDWHAHB. I had tipped the carboy to avoid sucking the trub.. but I waited too long and my siphon died before i had a chance to suck the last little bit of beer out.

I decided that it wasnt worth the infection risk to try reracking just that one or two bottles off the top so I just carried on with my yeast washing.. my jars look like stout, not all nice and clear.... and now im a little worried i washed too much and just have beer in my mason jars with a little dusting of yeast. This prompted the above question.

so, to summarize,

1. how long is too long to sit before decanting into the next step?

2. should I, now that my mason jars are filled up with what looks like beer, rewash whats left in the "first step" jar I poured into from primary? (assuming that I just decanted off the beer and left the yeast behind).

... sorry about the stream of consciousness post. Hopefully someone can help.

1. It would be a really long time to be too long. The yeast stay in suspension for quite a while.

2. I would leave it alone. Sure you may have some trub in the jars, but a little bit isn't going to hurt anything IMHO. My first attempt at this was with a stout as well. I rushed it a bit and got a lot of trub in my jars. But I used the jars approximately 6 months later and they were fine.

BigB said:

1. It would be a really long time to be too long. The yeast stay in suspension for quite a while.

2. I would leave it alone. Sure you may have some trub in the jars, but a little bit isn't going to hurt anything IMHO. My first attempt at this was with a stout as well. I rushed it a bit and got a lot of trub in my jars. But I used the jars approximately 6 months later and they were fine.

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Thanks B.

Im not so worried about the trub, just the limited yeast... my jars dont have the nice thick layer I see in others pictures. Im just wondering if maybe my yeast dropped out and I left most of it behind in the first vessel (because I was being too careful not to get trub)?

does that make sense?

so now I have 4 jars of very dark liquid with just a little (2 mm) yeast, and my bigger vessel I t/f to first, with a inch of beer over a lot of trub and a 3-4 mm layer of what looks like yeast (slightly different color and density). Im thinking about rewashing this, not the other jars.

thoughts?

HItransplant said:

Thanks B.

Im not so worried about the trub, just the limited yeast... my jars dont have the nice thick layer I see in others pictures. Im just wondering if maybe my yeast dropped out and I left most of it behind in the first vessel (because I was being too careful not to get trub)?

does that make sense?

so now I have 4 jars of very dark liquid with just a little (2 mm) yeast, and my bigger vessel I t/f to first, with a inch of beer over a lot of trub and a 3-4 mm layer of what looks like yeast (slightly different color and density). Im thinking about rewashing this, not the other jars.

thoughts?

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They all sound fine to me. Just sounds like the ones with very little in them have just very little trub. The one with the most, just has more trub but it definitely sounds like its not worth washing again... don't stress about this. Remember, it is in a sense, free yeast. Just be sure to make a starter like you would anyways with a liquid yeast. My first ones, all of the jars had a ton of trub and were fine. The funny thing is, is that I didn't think I had more than a mm of yeast in any of them, but they all feremented their next batch better than a brand new smack pack.

Haven't seen this one asked yet so here we go. This process works just as well if you are primary fermenting in the bucket correct? Should be a no brainer but I had to ask.

LCTitan said:

Haven't seen this one asked yet so here we go. This process works just as well if you are primary fermenting in the bucket correct? Should be a no brainer but I had to ask.

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Yep, its just a little more difficult to see the settling and to know when to transfer to the next vessel. So I add another step by adding all of the water to the bucket and then dumping that into a large glass jar. Or just wait at least 20 minutes then slowly pour off the top.

Well, here's my first attempt. WL German Ale Yeast from BM's Octoberfast Ale recipe. Washed on Fri (3 days ago) and here's what I have now.

Wyeast from American Amber Ale, there were two more but I pitched them into a batch of Pumpkin Ale last night and it is bubbling away like CRAZY. Thanks for the detailed walk-through OP!

When washed the trub I was having trouble getting it right until I figured out something.

I would add water and cold crash it and every time there was not a distinct white layer. The yeast and trub trash were staying mixed. I then tried doing it again with a little trub and a lot of water. This gave the trub trash room to fall before the yeast. The water would then be a light white color and the trub trash would accumulate at the bottom. I then poured off the floating yeast and dumped the last 1/2inch or so of floating trub trash. On high flocculating yeast like WLP007, I found I had to shake the snot out of it so it would breakup the clumps and stay floating longer than the trub trash.

From one vial of White Labs WLP001 I now have three+ times as much and have it frozen for future brews.

worked like a charm.. got 5 jars of the good stuff.

thanks OP for making this tutorial and for everyone answering questions along the way.

Beer_Guy said:

and have it frozen for future brews.

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Did you mix the yeast with glycerin? I doubt the yeast will be alive or at least very viable after freezing.

BigB said:

Did you mix the yeast with glycerin? I doubt the yeast will be alive or at least very viable after freezing.

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Of course. And it is in a non-frost free dorm fridge which stays around 15-20* when set to max cool.

Beer_Guy said:

Of course. And it is in a non-frost free dorm fridge which stays around 15-20* when set to max cool.

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Cool, let us know how they do!

washing question: racking to secondary today and want to wash yeast, but forgot to prep mason jars and water till now. just boiled them and they are chilling in the fridge. racked beer to secondary and now primary has yeast cake sitting there (with airlock on top).

Is it ok to leave yeast cake there for a few hours while water in jars chills? How long should i chill the jars? usually i do day before i rack (dummy today)

thanks

Sure, you'll be fine.