Ultra cleaned washed yeast, or...?

Ultra cleaned washed yeast, or ultra trub?
I just transferred my irish red on Monday and washed the yeast here. This is after letting it sit in a gallon jar overnight in the fridge, decanting, then splitting between this and another smaller jar. They both look like this. Is this pure yeast, or pure crap? I've washed yeast before, but could always tell the trub layer.
Edit: It is WLP004, Irish ale yeast

You may clean it up a bit by decanting and the filling up with boiled and cooled water. Mine pretty much looks the same though.

It's good yeast. Water washing throws out 95% of the viable yeast.

I think your medium chunky salsa has gone bad!

It looks "Medium Chunky" otherwise I'd say it's perfect

Keep it and use it. Listen to woodlandbrew and read his blog - very informative.

Woodland brewer... I've always noticed a different taste in the beers that I have used my recycled yeast. The process I've been doing is boil water in jars and sanitize lid then cool overnight. Next day I rack my beer and dump all the trub and yeast into one of these jars after emptying the water from one. The next day (after sitting in the fridge) I remove the top beer layer with a sanitized turkey baster, then fill it back up with the water from one of the other jars. Shake it up and let it sit until I brew again. Sometimes I will make a starter, but have not noticed any difference in quality, so sometimes I'll skip the starter piece.

I've" washed" about 5 times since I started brewing, but only get to use the yeast twice before it gets really funky and ruins a batch... what am I missing?? I want to save $7 bucks a batch, but so far the beer from the fresh smack pack is always the best...

Komocabo said:

Woodland brewer... I've always noticed a different taste in the beers that I have used my recycled yeast. The process I've been doing is boil water in jars and sanitize lid then cool overnight. Next day I rack my beer and dump all the trub and yeast into one of these jars after emptying the water from one. The next day (after sitting in the fridge) I remove the top beer layer with a sanitized turkey baster, then fill it back up with the water from one of the other jars. Shake it up and let it sit until I brew again. Sometimes I will make a starter, but have not noticed any difference in quality, so sometimes I'll skip the starter piece.

I've" washed" about 5 times since I started brewing, but only get to use the yeast twice before it gets really funky and ruins a batch... what am I missing?? I want to save $7 bucks a batch, but so far the beer from the fresh smack pack is always the best...

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try just scooping a 1/4 cup of trub/yeast straight from the fermentor and dump it in the fresh wort. maybe all that handling is allowing something wild into your beer? i don't wash yeast at all, just jar up the stuff straight from the bottom into sanitized jars and i keep them in the fridge for months with good results.

Komocabo said:

Woodland brewer... I've always noticed a different taste in the beers that I have used my recycled yeast. The process I've been doing is boil water in jars and sanitize lid then cool overnight. Next day I rack my beer and dump all the trub and yeast into one of these jars after emptying the water from one. The next day (after sitting in the fridge) I remove the top beer layer with a sanitized turkey baster, then fill it back up with the water from one of the other jars. Shake it up and let it sit until I brew again. Sometimes I will make a starter, but have not noticed any difference in quality, so sometimes I'll skip the starter piece.

I've" washed" about 5 times since I started brewing, but only get to use the yeast twice before it gets really funky and ruins a batch... what am I missing?? I want to save $7 bucks a batch, but so far the beer from the fresh smack pack is always the best...

Click to expand...

Think thats your redflag for you needing to make a starter with your washed yeast maybe. You may want to rewash your shooken jar,even if it means just letting it sit a half hour,sometimes certain yeast settles faster it seems. What I mean is letting the trub settle out first for maybe the first half hour at least then just decanting the yeast into another jar. Im no washing pro,but just trying to help out. My lesson learned from even very clean washed yeast,is make at least a small starter for it, I belive my washed yeast I saved and even doing my small batches 1.6 gal that I still needed a small starter for them. Because only one of them stood out more than the others and it was the only one that had a small starter. I became a believer after that one and any washed yeast,Ill at least make a small starter for before brewday.
Plus I think you need to wash it that day and not dump it all in and then stick it in the fridge then wash the next day. I would get it off the trub sooner.

Komocabo said:

Woodland brewer... I've always noticed a different taste in the beers that I have used my recycled yeast.

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Your processes sounds good. When it comes to storing yeast sanitation is key. Beer is a product made to be tasted and smelled, so you are right on using those senses to check your yeast. If your yeast is off there are some true washing techniques that are very achievable as a home brewer. Clorine Dioxide tablets from Aqua Fina (not the iodine ones) seem to work for people. Northern Brewer sells them for this purpose.

In a few weeks I'll be doing a series of posts about the different techniques.

eastoak said:

try just scooping a 1/4 cup of trub/yeast straight from the fermentor and dump it in the fresh wort. maybe all that handling is allowing something wild into your beer? i don't wash yeast at all, just jar up the stuff straight from the bottom into sanitized jars and i keep them in the fridge for months with good results.

Click to expand...

I like this idea. I just listened to Jamil Z say that he always leaves a bit of beer behind in his fermenters and swirls it all up, waits 15 minutes for the trub to settle out, pours the creamy liquid into a sterilized (in a pressure cooker) nalgene bottle and stores in the fridge for a couple weeks. When you're ready to use, he decants the beer, pours in sterilized cooled water (from a pressure cooker), swirls, waits 15 minutes and pitches the creamy yeastiness. Or something to that effect.

Basically just reducing the number of times you transfer your yeast or add water.

I thought it was medium chunk peanut butter, in which case it still doesn't look too good

Thanks everyone! I'll get back into making starters... see if that improves the quality. You guys rock