Washed Yeast Lag Time?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
hal simmons

hal simmons

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2007
Messages
104
Reaction score
1
I've got some Wyeast 1098 that I washed from a batch in mid Feb 2008. I'm brewing in 48 hours and am trying to decide when to make the starter. I realize it's probably too late to let it ferment out fully and just pitch the yeast, so i'm planning on pitching the whole thing at high krausen. Usually I make my starters around 24 hours before if I'm going to pitch the whole thing, but I'm wondering if since this yeast has been washed if i'm going to experience some lag time in my starter. I've never repitched washed yeast before, so I don't know what to expect.

I've got what appears to be about 1 to 1.5 oz of wash yeast sediment and I was going to pitch that into a 1L starter. It's a 5 Gallon batch with an OG of 1.060.
 
hal simmons said:
I've got some Wyeast 1098 that I washed from a batch in mid Feb 2008. I'm brewing in 48 hours and am trying to decide when to make the starter. I realize it's probably too late to let it ferment out fully and just pitch the yeast, so i'm planning on pitching the whole thing at high krausen. Usually I make my starters around 24 hours before if I'm going to pitch the whole thing, but I'm wondering if since this yeast has been washed if i'm going to experience some lag time in my starter. I've never repitched washed yeast before, so I don't know what to expect.

I've got what appears to be about 1 to 1.5 oz of wash yeast sediment and I was going to pitch that into a 1L starter. It's a 5 Gallon batch with an OG of 1.060.
Click to expand...
I would give it the 48 hours. If it gets past a month I figure two days to be on the safe side.
 
depends on how much yeast you have and how viable it is. I get anywhere from 3-6 jars of yeast when I wash. Each jar is about 2-3x more yeast as what comes in a white labs vial.

I have direct pitched, and I have made starters. Both worked fine. If you really trust your washing job (its not that hard really) you can likely direct pitch with no issues...just oxygenate well.
Or play it safe and make a starter.
 
If your sanitation is good, then washed is better than unwashed. You should always do this.
A bigger concern would be the age of the slurry. With something that old, it would be better to make a small starter, then use that to make a bigger starter. That way, you are dealing with all new growth yeast. It may still be not as good a s fresh though.
 
Hi,
I strongly recommend a starter. With a 1.060 beer at 5 gallons, you need about 2 liters of starter to get things going (see article on starters). If its viable yeast, a single stage starter should do, but you can always do a step up if you are concerned about it.

Cheers,
Brad
 

Similar threads

BugAC
Imperial Yeast Urkel for a Czech pils
Replies
2
Views
452
BugAC
BugAC
B
Yeast Scientists: Why not create yeast collections before brewing?
Replies
2
Views
470
McMullan
McMullan
D
Makin' Yeast...
Replies
12
Views
828
DBhomebrew
DBhomebrew
Iowa Brewer
Okay to Pitch Cold Yeast into Room-Temp Wort?
Replies
12
Views
1K
doug293cz
doug293cz
hennesse
How long can wort stand before yeast added?
Replies
3
Views
567
hennesse
hennesse
CornyKegs 300

Latest posts

Back
Top