First time reconstituting washed yeast, odd color (pic)

[mttaylor1066]

In my first attempt, I washed and harvested some GY054 (Vermont IPA) yeast back in early March. It's been in my 10 degree Fahrenheit refrigerator since that time.

Like any first-timer, I'm concerned about committing a grave mistake.

I'm attempting to reconstitute it today. I decanted the very clear liquid out of the Mason jars and noticed that both jars had a similar greenish grey top layer and a dull grey-brown underlayer.

Smells like... yeast. No funk, no old tennis shoe smell, no acidic notes... just a faint whiff of yeast.

My questions to the Forum: Is this anything to worry about? Is this just a layer of dead yeast cells and if I step up a starter and it smells fine and the starter tastes fine I've got a RDWHAHB situation?

(I'm going to pitch this into 200 ml of 1.040 starter, stirplate for 24 to 36 hours, taste, then step it up to 2000 ml of 1.040 starter, crash, decant and pitch into 3 gallons of a Heady clone.)

Thanks for any information I can get form experienced yeast ranchers!

 

[IslandLizard]

Are you sure about 10°F? That's below freezing (32°F)!

The yeast does look a little dark, but that could be from trub still mixed in. The greenish cast maybe from leftover hop dust. You really don't have a lot of yeast there, make a 250ml starter from both jars. If viable, step up to 1 liter. Then again to 2-3 liter.

Instead of washing yeast, look into ranching from overbuilt starters. That way your yeast is always fresh and clean.

You can also pitch yeast slurry without washing. Washing is where you lose the majority of the yeast.

 

[kh54s10]

The green is most likely hop debris. If there was a light layer on top when you decanted this was the yeast. If you poured it off you don't have much yeast left.

I would try the starter but dilute the first step to about 1.025 so it is easy on the yeast. Then do the next step(s) at the normal 1.038-1.040.

 

[mttaylor1066]

Gosh, bad typo! 40 (forty) degree refrigerator.

Excellent suggestions, I will do just that.

THANKS!

 

[JJack887]

Agreed, step up the starters. And next time: Collect at least a pint of pure yeast! Easy direct pitching.

 

[mttaylor1066]

Agreed, step up the starters. And next time: Collect at least a pint of pure yeast! Easy direct pitching.

Just to be accurate, I collected about a gallon of milky white slurry from my fermenter and "washed" it down to fill these two pint jars completely.

After 2-3 months at 40 degrees, these jars settled to a clear liquid on top of the two cakes you see in the photo. I just drained off moist of the clear liquid before taking the pic.

I admit I may not have the concentration of yeast I could have retrieved. It was my very first time washing yeast.


NEXT time, I'm just going to build 4 liters of starter from a fresh pack of yeast, pitch two liters, crash the other two liters and refrigerate a pint of that slurry.