First Attempt at AG and Yeast Washing (with pics)

Well, just like the title says. Did my first all grain recipe in an improvised BIAB technique. Here's the recipe I used for a 5 gallon batch:
• 2.5 kg 2 – row malt
• 0.5 kg wheat malt
• 30 g Hallertau hops
• Zest of 4 baseball sized oranges
• 1 package of Belgian wheat yeast (Safbrew S-33)

Bottled it all up yesterday managing to lose just over 1 quart to trub/yeast. I used 25 bombers and one clear bottle to monitor the beer over the next few weeks.

It was also my first attempt at washing yeast because I'd like to redo a Belgian Wit with correct AG technique once I get a mash tun and larger brew kettle. I got some trub into my yeast jars, but on the whole, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.

Looks good! Now you have a bunch of yeast for your next brews.

beerloaf

Yeast looks good, though it is a lot for a harvest. Just hope you boiled the water for the harvest and the containers to sanatize. When you harvest, you want the yeast in the middle, so add the water to the empty carboy, swish it up, let it settle, then pour off the top, pour the middle in the jars and dump the bottom. Usually leads to less yeast than pictured. You could probably pitch the jar without a starter since you have so much.

Here's the orange wheat after 11 days in the bottle. The bitterness I tasted on the sample I pulled on day 5 or 6 is completely gone. It tastes great now, but there is zero head retention. Looking forward to my next sampling day!