Yeast Washing Problem/question

So I attempted to wash my yeast after I racked my last brew last week. I followed the directions from the sticky in this forum.

However, I think there is a lot of hop gunk left over. It seems to be mixed with the yeast. I posted a pic as well, just follow the link. The color isn't the best, but the big hunk of yeast at the bottom has a very green tint to it, it definitely does not look like yeast from a vial or from a starter.

A) Is this a problem?B) What is my next step?

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.ne...04154847430_74901028_32459136_360423861_n.jpg

That's about how much yeast I've wound up with the first couple of times I harvested - did you stick it in the fridge? Could help.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that it has been in the fridge for 48 hours.

And it isn't the amount I'm so worried about as much as the color. I'm afraid I won't be able to get the hop trub out of it and that I may be wasting my time. I sure hope not.

No worries, try your best to pour just the yeast and not the water/trub when you start your next starter. I've had that problem with trub too. Any trub that you get in your starter will just fall to the bottom of your next batch.

Should I decant the liquid that is in there and add more water to try to loosen all the gunk up or should I just let it be?

Yep, just let it be. Just decant carefully when you use it for a starter. It looks good to me. If you're like me you'll get a feel for how to keep more trub out in future harvesting attempts.

So I'm guessing that as long as I make a starter, it ferments and shows no signs of off flavors, its good to use?

I don't filter or strain when I pour the wort into the Carboy and I use pellets, so how in the future can I avoid hopping my yeast?

ghank15 said:

So I'm guessing that as long as I make a starter, it ferments and shows no signs of off flavors, its good to use?

I don't filter or strain when I pour the wort into the Carboy and I use pellets, so how in the future can I avoid hopping my yeast?

Click to expand...

There's really no way around it if you don't use a strainer. There are several easy how-to guide on how to build a hop spider (the Beer Review Dude has one on youtube as well) in the DIY forums, if you feel equal to the task and want to start harvesting clean yeast.

Thanks for the responses. My funnel does not have a strainer, but I could use a nylon sparging bag or a cheese cloth to help in the future.

Just to clarify, however, my yeast should still be usable, correct?

Yep, the yeast will be fine. For the most part, the strainer will just make the jar look prettier in the fridge.

Agree, you'll be fine. I usually end up with a bit of trub in my starter but my yeast is perfectly healthy.

If you strain the wort when transferring from the kettle to the primary, a good bit of the Trub will be removed. Not sure how that would affect flavor, since I've always done that. The washing process is intended to remove the gross particles of trub, since they fall out of suspension earlier than the yeast. Its not intended to get it all out. Of course I never have ANY trub in my harvested yeast. and I'm not gonna tell you how... unless you ask ( please ask )

^^How?

Ok. Please tell me. I am dying to know.

Seriously, my green speckled yeast is kind of ugly

I assume he means a hop spider or something similar. Just another idea in case Shakes doesn't reply

I think one issue you have with so much hop junk is that you didn't let it settle out. When you add the boiled water to your fermenter, you need to shake it up then let it sit for 30 minutes. This lets the hops settle to the bottom while the yeast stays in suspension. Then just siphon off the top yeasty off-white watery solution into pint jars and put boiled lids and rings on them. Do not get the siphon hose down into the trub.
When I wash, I add slightly more than a gal. of water to my bucket that contains the yeast cake. Shake. Let sit 30 minutes. Then I use my sanitized auto-siphon to siphon off the yeast-water into 8 pint jars. Cap, refrigerate, then use with needed. I get virtually no hops and about a 1/2" of beautiful white glory in the bottom of each jar in about 3 days.