user 338926
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Title pretty much says it all, what's people's opinion on yeast washing vs just pitching trub?
I have washed yeast exactly one time, had the resulting beer not turn out due to contamination, and never tried it again. Since that time, and on the advice of another person in a brew club I belonged to years ago, started pitching trub that was saved. Have never had a failed batch due to contamination since (that being about 10 years ago), but now have considered washing yeast again.
I've been experimenting with light beers. Some may have heard how light beers are much more difficult to make? Well, it's true. I'ts not that they don't turn out, they do. But, when a beer has a delicate flavor, it doesn't take very much to alter it, if not outright ruin that beer. I recently tried a Scottish Ale, which turned out fine, but the beer isn't to my liking. It used a small amount of black patent which creates a background flavor I'm not thrilled with. So, while the yeast that was saved is beautiful, using it in another batch of some light beer seems risky. Even if I got 2% of that flavor in the new beer, I'm going to notice.
I bought 2 gallons of distilled water for this try vs boiling my own water like last time. I don't have a lab microscope, so looking to see if there's contamination in small amounts isn't on the cards. I'd like to try washing yeast again, and if I were to succeed this time, I'd have much better odds of pitching a correct amount of yeast since trub has an unknown yeast content. Now, I probably overpitch heavily, which is fine, but again, beer A affects beer B to a small degree. If washing would all but eliminate that, that's the aim.
Any thoughts out there?
I have washed yeast exactly one time, had the resulting beer not turn out due to contamination, and never tried it again. Since that time, and on the advice of another person in a brew club I belonged to years ago, started pitching trub that was saved. Have never had a failed batch due to contamination since (that being about 10 years ago), but now have considered washing yeast again.
I've been experimenting with light beers. Some may have heard how light beers are much more difficult to make? Well, it's true. I'ts not that they don't turn out, they do. But, when a beer has a delicate flavor, it doesn't take very much to alter it, if not outright ruin that beer. I recently tried a Scottish Ale, which turned out fine, but the beer isn't to my liking. It used a small amount of black patent which creates a background flavor I'm not thrilled with. So, while the yeast that was saved is beautiful, using it in another batch of some light beer seems risky. Even if I got 2% of that flavor in the new beer, I'm going to notice.
I bought 2 gallons of distilled water for this try vs boiling my own water like last time. I don't have a lab microscope, so looking to see if there's contamination in small amounts isn't on the cards. I'd like to try washing yeast again, and if I were to succeed this time, I'd have much better odds of pitching a correct amount of yeast since trub has an unknown yeast content. Now, I probably overpitch heavily, which is fine, but again, beer A affects beer B to a small degree. If washing would all but eliminate that, that's the aim.
Any thoughts out there?