Turkeyfoot Jr.
Well-Known Member
Ive read over all the stuff regarding yeast washing so I decided to take my first crack at it with the yeast cake from my hefe that I bottled last night. I had my three quart jars all set, each filled halfway with boiled and cool water. In looking at the contents of the carboy I had maybe an inch of whitish cake and on top of that maybe 1/8 of leftover beer. The cake had been sitting while I finished bottling so things settled down a bit.
Right here I was a little concerned because it seemed like once I added the water and swirled theres no way the resulting volume would all fit in one jar but I pressed on. Sure enough, I ended up filling one and a half jars with what was in the carboy.
I let those jars sit for 45 minutes after which I noticed two, not three, distinct layers. I could definitely tell that the bottom layer was trub, browner in color and filled with little specks, so I poured off the top of both into the 3rd jar. I let that sit for perhaps an hour or two after which time I noticed three layers. I rinsed and re-sanitized one of my jars and poured the top two layers into that which gave me about half a jar and that I put into the fridge. This morning I check and I have maybe ½ of white which Im assuming is yeast on the bottom of the jar and 2-3 of orangeish liquid on top of it.
So, here are my questions:
Should I have bypassed the first water addition? I think there was enough liquid in the carboy to swirl and collect the yeast.
If I have to use that first water addition, do I collected everything from the carboy and use more jars or just not collect everything?
How much yeast should I expect to collect? I was hoping to fill 2-3 baby food jars but with what I have Id be lucky to fill one.
Im planning on taking what I got, minus most of the liquid on top, and throwing it into a starter tonight for a rye ale Im brewing Sunday.
Right here I was a little concerned because it seemed like once I added the water and swirled theres no way the resulting volume would all fit in one jar but I pressed on. Sure enough, I ended up filling one and a half jars with what was in the carboy.
I let those jars sit for 45 minutes after which I noticed two, not three, distinct layers. I could definitely tell that the bottom layer was trub, browner in color and filled with little specks, so I poured off the top of both into the 3rd jar. I let that sit for perhaps an hour or two after which time I noticed three layers. I rinsed and re-sanitized one of my jars and poured the top two layers into that which gave me about half a jar and that I put into the fridge. This morning I check and I have maybe ½ of white which Im assuming is yeast on the bottom of the jar and 2-3 of orangeish liquid on top of it.
So, here are my questions:
Should I have bypassed the first water addition? I think there was enough liquid in the carboy to swirl and collect the yeast.
If I have to use that first water addition, do I collected everything from the carboy and use more jars or just not collect everything?
How much yeast should I expect to collect? I was hoping to fill 2-3 baby food jars but with what I have Id be lucky to fill one.
Im planning on taking what I got, minus most of the liquid on top, and throwing it into a starter tonight for a rye ale Im brewing Sunday.