"Unwashed" yeast collection question

[CajunChuck]

I see lots of people posting pictures of "washed" yeast and collected trub mixture. This is from the bottom of my oatmeal stout. I have a few other jars from an American Brown Ale and it looks identical.

All the other pictures I've seen have a considerable amount of beer on top and just a bit of slop/yeast on bottom that is clearly brighter and whiter. Is this normal. I hate to pitch this yeast mixture and use it in a new batch a beer if it looks off. I am new to harvesting/reusing/starting previous yeast.

 

[Sailingeric]

I pour my sludge into a sanitized glass jar and when I am ready to brew, pour off the top layer of beer and pour it into my wort. I have had no problems.

 

[iijakii]

Looks great. Read some of this thread for similar unwashed yeast experiences: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519995

There's an image somewhere in that thread showing how to estimate how much yeast per mL there is, based on how clean the trub etc is.

 

[CajunChuck]

Looks great. Read some of this thread for similar unwashed yeast experiences: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519995

There's an image somewhere in that thread showing how to estimate how much yeast per mL there is, based on how clean the trub etc is.

This is a helpful thread indeed. Thank you indeed.

 

[flars]

I would estimate 2 billion cells per milliliter if that were my yeast. To estimate viability for repitching this is a good calculator.
http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

 

[CajunChuck]

So do I make a starter with wort from DME and add this to it or do I dump it straight into the 5 gallon batch? I'm reading both...

 

[ba-brewer]

All the other pictures I've seen have a considerable amount of beer on top and just a bit of slop/yeast on bottom that is clearly brighter and whiter. Is this normal. I hate to pitch this yeast mixture and use it in a new batch a beer if it looks off. I am new to harvesting/reusing/starting previous yeast.

If you limit the amount of kettle trub that makes it to the fermentor the resulting collected yeast will be cleaner looking.

 

[iijakii]

Personally I pitch a healthy amount of slurry and forgo the starters... I hate starters. If it's half a year old or something I'd step it up I guess.

 

[TheMadKing]

So do I make a starter with wort from DME and add this to it or do I dump it straight into the 5 gallon batch? I'm reading both...

It depends on your viability and how much slurry you have.

Basically, if you make a starter that is less than 10x the volume of your slurry, the yeast will multiply until maximum cell density is reached.

So if you pitch 200mL of slurry into a 1.5 L starter, you're going to get about the same final number of cells whether you had pitched 300 mL or 150mL

So if you have a small amount of slurry, its best to step it up to the proper inoculation rate of your beer by pitching it into a starter.

If you have big jars like that, and your viability is high, I'd just pitch it directly.

If its old and you're unsure about viability, just make a starter for peace of mind.