I washed it now what?

I pulled some tub from my primary and washed it put it in a jar with a air lock. What do I need to do to use this in my next brew?

You don't need an airlock on it because it's done fermenting. You want to cap it with a sterile lid and put it in the fridge. How long until your next brew?

About two weeks.

It'll be fine. I usually break it up into 5-6 vials to make new starters with.

Sounds great, give me some info on how you make your starters?

You'll be fine. In fact, about an hour and a half ago I pitched a yeast I washed a little over a month ago into a starter. It's taking off nicely. The key to keeping your yeast viable is to sterilize, not sanitize, your jar and then put it in the fridge. I take it out when I start making my starter wort and by the time the starter is cool enough, the yeast has warmed up enough to pitch.

gravity man said:

Sounds great, give me some info on how you make your starters?

Click to expand...

One cup DME to four cups water. Bring to a gentle boil for 15 minutes. Cover and let cool. Pour into sanitized jug, pitch yeast, and cover with an airlock. Try to time it so that you pitch into your wort when it's at its reproductive height rather than when it's making alcohol. If you need a lot of yeast, step it up a bit at a time.

After you all wash your yeast how long are you able to store it and still find that it is viable? Also, how many times will you wash it?

Cheers

I haven't attempted anything longer than a month in the fridge. I treat washed and refrigerated yeast as a temporary bridge to the next brew. For long term storage you want to look into freezing the yeast. It's much more involved but certainly well within the skill level of homebrewers.

After the starter that I made tonight and the beer tomorrow, this one will have fermented a total of 50 gallons of ale, but it's only four generations from the original smack pack. I washed and pitched three times (ten gallon batches) and on the fourth I saved a jar in the fridge while I pitched the rest. That's why this batch is so old. After this one I'll discard the yeast. It's not worth saving $10 for me to risk mutations becoming dominant. Others go longer than that and some professional breweries use the same yeast indefinitely. Of course they have chemists on hand to ensure the strain remains consistent. Run a search on yeast washing and you'll find lots of debate over the various issues.

Thanks for the info.

Cheers

surfbrewer said:

After you all wash your yeast how long are you able to store it and still find that it is viable? Also, how many times will you wash it?

Cheers

Click to expand...

I didn't reply to the "how do you" question because it was already addressed.

I've washed up to 5 generations of yeast and had no off flavors produced.

I have yeast over 1 year old that was still good. It mostly depends on your sanitation process. Another thing is to make sure you fill the container/vial up all the way. The less airspace the better.

You can also do a 50/50 mix with glycerin (cheaper from a pharmacy) and place/save the yeast in a freezer.

homebrewer_99 said:

You can also do a 50/50 mix with glycerin (cheaper from a pharmacy) and place/save the yeast in a freezer.

Click to expand...

It's more like a 15-30% mix with glycerin... read the yeast freezing thread, its really easy to do.

mykayel said:

It's more like a 15-30% mix with glycerin... read the yeast freezing thread, its really easy to do.

Click to expand...

I stand corrected...I thought I read 50/50 somewhere...my bad...