About yeast washing time

Got my vials with lids, glass qt jars, insulated freezer bag and ice packs....

Now to get the link about washing the yeasties and freeze them.

Start here, then scroll down for the link on freezing yeast.

Ok I've had my yeast in a clean jar with lid for a couple of weeks.

I poured off the clear stuff into 1 wqt jar with steril water. Got a little trub at bottom and rest of water is yellowish.

What exactly am I keeping?

The yellowish stuff?

I want freeze it and wants to make sure its yeast I'm freezing later and not just yellow water.

Yes, keep the creamy stuff...

Check for a couple of threads on washing. You should be pouring off and saving the liquid a couple of time to get the yeast(the trub settles out faster than the yeast) also You need to add something to it before freezing(cylcol?? sic) otherwise you end up with dead yeast.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Washing_yeast

I did but I see trub in botton, middle is a little cloudy and settling and top is clear and yellowish.

What layer is the yeast?

I got no pic or anything telling me what layter is what.

Is suspension the middle layer?

got a pic link to show me on WHAT I'm keeping?

Sometimes I swear my head is only to keep the rain out of my neck.

I merged your two threads- no need to double post! Here's some pictures (I found these by during a search for "yeast"): https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1164&catid=searchresults&searchid=583

https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1210&catid=searchresults&searchid=583

When you wash the yeast, it falls into three layers like that.

Ya, I got a very small trub layer, big layer #2 and clear top layer.

I'm to pour off the top layer and keep the middle layer as in photo https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...searchid= 583

I'm no expert on yeast washing as I just did it for the first time last week. But I didn't pour off the all of the top layer in the jar. I poured some off, then gently agitated the jar to re-suspend the yeast and carefully poured that off into a clean jar with more sterile water. I let that settle and ended up with just the white yeast and more clear yellow liquid. Decanted almost all of the liquid, and tossed it into a starter. Chilled and decanted it, re-stirred and pitched.

homebrewer_99 said:

Yes, keep the creamy stuff...

Click to expand...

??? is that the top layer? the 2nd layer thats cloudy or what?

you want the white cloudy stuff. The trub is on the bottom and whatever is on top isn't the yeast. If you pour off all the liquid, you'll be left with the trub and the yeast and it will be hard to separate the two. Try to agitate the yeast into suspension with the clear stuff and then pour that off. I set the jar on the counter and gently swirl it in a circular motion. This should keep the trub undisturbed.

So layer #2... thats all I was asking....

Why didn't someone just say so?

Ok instead of pouring the contents of the jar I have found something that works perfect.

http://www.abestkitchen.com/store/media/flavor-injector.jpg

I can extract just the yeast area or the top water area.

Freaking works like a charm.

I'm new but have not read anywhere about using this for yeast harvesting. All I see is out there is using a jar a funnel and for the test tubes this works better.

I have been following the directions on the wiki page, but I am having a problem with separation. After adding the glycerin and shaking I put it into the freezer. I check it later on and it has seperated so that the yeast is on the bottom and the clear glycerin is on the top!

Has this happened to anyone? Are the yeast still usable?