First yeast wash

[Incongruent]

So I tried my first yeast wash on Saturday. I added distilled bottled water to the yeast cake and shook it all around then poured it into a rubber made container that had been sanitized. Syranwrap on the top and lid on then in the fridge. It's not a air tight container.

I thought I would pick up some Mason jars that day but apparently nobody sells them in the winter. I have a few more places I plan to look.

3 days later the thick sludge is on the bottom half. But it doesn't look layered like they said it would.

Can I still save this yeast or do you think it's too late to move to Mason jars? Or is there somewhere else I could store this? (Ziplock?).

View attachment 1484659450436.jpg

 

[Steveg229]

It looks like you have a very clean batch of harvested yeast. Must of not had much trub in the fermentor which is great. I would definitely transfer this to sanitized mason jars to make sure it is airtight. I always try to fill to the very top to limit oxygen in the jar as well.

 

[Incongruent]

So I found 6 1L canning jars at the dollar store for $4. Who knew? Just to make sure I understand this.... Do I trash the clear liquid on top and funnel the sludge into the jars?

 

[thunderwagn]

Don't know about your neck of the woods, but here, Ace/True Value is a great place to pick up canning supplies (jars).

 

[Steveg229]

Nope, keep the liquid. The beer layer above the yeast is a perfect protective layer to help preserve the yeast. Just swirl/shake/stir and pour into sanitized jars. Just make sure to sanitize everything first and then just store in the fridge.

 

[pshankstar]

Don't you want to make sure the lid isn't too tight so it can off gas or whatever it is called? I keep all my lids on my stored yeast slightly loose and have had no problems.

Congrats OP that looks great! Make sure to label your yeast and date it. It will help you later on when you want to use it again and make a yeast starter.

 

[Steveg229]

Once it gets down to fridge temps, there should be no more off gassing as any residual co2 will stay in solution. I have never had any problems storing sealed tightly in mason jars.

 

[Incongruent]

About a quarter of the contents was solid globs.. I think that was protein break... I tried not to get those in the jars. Ended up with two half filled 1000mL jars. How do I know how much to use for a new 5 gallon batch?

 

[Incongruent]

And now it looks like...

View attachment 1484702519202.jpg

 

[Incongruent]

Ive been watching some youtube videos.... They only take the top liquid and call them bottom the Trub and leave that behind... did I do it wrong and transfer the Trub? Should I do it again and take only the top liquid?

 

[Yooper]

Ive been watching some youtube videos.... They only take the top liquid and call them bottom the Trub and leave that behind... did I do it wrong and transfer the Trub? Should I do it again and take only the top liquid?

No. The thick goopy stuff is the yeast. You did fine.

I don't rinse my yeast with water, I just leave a tiny bit of beer in the fermenter, stir it up by swirling, and then pour it into boiled mason jars. I usually get about 4 jars of yeast that way, which is then enough for a 10 gallon batch.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

No. The thick goopy stuff is the yeast. You did fine.

I don't rinse my yeast with water, I just leave a tiny bit of beer in the fermenter, stir it up by swirling, and then pour it into boiled mason jars. I usually get about 4 jars of yeast that way, which is then enough for a 10 gallon batch.

Your using 2 full mason jars per 5 gallon batch? Seems like a lot.I go one full jar. I think its like 500ML,maybe 350-400 of actual slurry if I decant before swirling it up.Which is still more than the calculations recommend. How big are your jars and how much of that is actually the slurry after settling? Inquiring minds want to know

 

[Yooper]

Your using 2 full mason jars per 5 gallon batch? Seems like a lot.I go one full jar. I think its like 500ML,maybe 350-400 of actual slurry if I decant before swirling it up.Which is still more than the calculations recommend. How big are your jars and how much of that is actually the slurry after settling? Inquiring minds want to know

No, I do 10 gallon batches.

Actually, it's closer to 11 gallons, since I put about 5.4 gallons in each fermenter.

I usually use about 350 ml of slurry on the bottom (pouring off the beer on the top) for a batch.

 

[BrewingBrian001]

No. The thick goopy stuff is the yeast. You did fine.

I don't rinse my yeast with water, I just leave a tiny bit of beer in the fermenter, stir it up by swirling, and then pour it into boiled mason jars. I usually get about 4 jars of yeast that way, which is then enough for a 10 gallon batch.

Is it better for the yeast to re-pitch as is (no washing), or would you consider washing an unnecessary part?

 

[Yooper]

Is it better for the yeast to re-pitch as is (no washing), or would you consider washing an unnecessary part?

Washing yeast means to use acid and actually wash the yeast and that is a valid technique. Usually on this forum "washing yeast" is used to describe more of a rinsing technique.

Rinsing yeast will plain water is probably more harmful than helpful.

 

[Incongruent]

OK. So I tried to make my first starter and figured I'd add on the the thread here. I poured off the clear liquid leaving about 150mL of yeast in each jar Nd left on counter to warm. Boiled up 6 cups of water and 7oz of LME then cooled to 90.

I poured the wort into the two yeast jars and shook them up with the caps back on to loosen up that yeast slurry. Now got this hopefully ready to use tomorrow to make my second lager with.

What did I do wrong for next time?

View attachment 1486228138406.jpg

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I've never made a starter using a slurry. That's the beauty of it. Its got plenty of yeast in there already. swirl it up and dump it in...easy peasy

 

[IslandLizard]

OK. So I tried to make my first starter and figured I'd add on the the thread here. I poured off the clear liquid leaving about 150mL of yeast in each jar Nd left on counter to warm. Boiled up 6 cups of water and 7oz of LME then cooled to 90.

I poured the wort into the two yeast jars and shook them up with the caps back on to loosen up that yeast slurry. Now got this hopefully ready to use tomorrow to make my second lager with.

What did I do wrong for next time?

Adding 90F starter wort to 50-60F yeast slurry is not good. 90F by itself is way too hot for yeast, high 60s to mid 70s is best. Now your cold slurry has some temperature buffering capacity, so it may work out just fine, settling in the middle. The temp difference between the slurry and the hot wort causes a lot of shock to the yeast. Ideally they should be within 10°F from each other before mixing.

Your jars are so full, there is no headspace!
When they start to ferment, you'll lose half or more to the countertop from foaming and krausen.

Do you have any 1/2 gallon or 1 gallon jugs? Shaking those, with lots of headspace (air) creates lots of foam and can make great starters. See this article/thread on "SNS" [Shaken Not Stirred] Starters.

 

[arnobg]

I use quart mason jars myself. If I harvest my lager yeast from the fermenter after racking to the keg, will a 1 quart mason jar need a starter before the next brew? How about if it sits a month or two? If not how big of a starter should I make with it?

 

[Incongruent]

After 2 hours... foaming but not getting crazy yet... I could split this between 4 Mason jars maybe to get 50% room for headspace... on a scale of 1 to 10 how necessary is it? Usually Krausen takes like 1" heads pace room

View attachment 1486236450422.jpg

 

[Incongruent]

It did not foam over. I pitched these into a 5 gallon batch at around 20C. 4 hours later when the airlock was bubbling I moved the fermenter to the 4C garage. It's still 20C temperature so must be fermenting well.