Yeast Washing Illustrated

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Question for everyone...I washed some 1098 brit ale back in September. I had 3 or 4 jars left; most of them looked like the pictures here with a layer of yeast on the bottom. However one of them seems to have gone bad. When I opened it it had a bit of a smell (not terrible though), was darker in color and had turned into a solid gelatinous mass that resembled the inside of an aero chocolate bar with all of the air pockets in it.

Can I assume that this jar got infected with something?
 
I'm sure someone has asked this before, so sorry in advance, but: is the larger jar roughly the size of the four smaller ones put together?

Would skipping the step of the larger jar have any significant down side?
 
lmnop said:
I'm sure someone has asked this before, so sorry in advance, but: is the larger jar roughly the size of the four smaller ones put together?

Would skipping the step of the larger jar have any significant down side?
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I accidentally skipped the large jar step during one wash, and noticed that the result was a much larger amount of dead/un-useable yeast and/or particulate matter in my jars, which were then being pitched into the new wort.
 
Yeah, that sounds pretty bad. So I guess don't be lazy on that step, then.

The wide mouth ball jars are ~a pint, so 16oz X 4 = 64oz for the big jar? Any glass jar that size should do the trick?
 
Or you could always do a larger jar. I end up leaving a decent layer of trub/dead yeast at the bottom of the big jar.
 
evilhomer said:
O1vY2.jpg
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OSS_s-04_wash_12:21:10.jpg


:ban: :ban: :ban:
 
xoltri said:
Question for everyone...I washed some 1098 brit ale back in September. I had 3 or 4 jars left; most of them looked like the pictures here with a layer of yeast on the bottom. However one of them seems to have gone bad. When I opened it it had a bit of a smell (not terrible though), was darker in color and had turned into a solid gelatinous mass that resembled the inside of an aero chocolate bar with all of the air pockets in it.

Can I assume that this jar got infected with something?
Click to expand...
I think that would be vegamite. Chuck it!
 
StarCityBrewMaster said:
I have 2 questions:

1. If I'm using White Labs California Ale yeast and wash it can I then use the washed yeast for any APA or IPA I brew next or is it recommended to only use it for the same recipe again? For example if I made a pale ale with cascade hops and then wanted to make an IPA with chinook and simcoe, I can still use this yeast for both batches without any off flavors correct?

2. I've read that you can use 5 generations worth of yeast. Does this mean you start with the first yeast strain for a batch of beer. Then it's washed and you now have 4 yeast jars for the 2nd generation batches. With the 2nd generation you can get as many as 16 jars of washed yeast which would last me half a year or more and would then be used for 3rd generation batches. Is this correct?

Thanks
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1. This is the whole point of washing the yeast. If you are doing the same style, then pitch onto the cake. If not then properly wash and store the yeast and it can be used for a different malt/hop profile beer.

2. Yes, you are correct. The only problem is I seldom let the yeast go past 6 months. Therefore, the generations are a mute point. Its the old pyramid scheme... 5 generations or 6 months, whichever comes first. You work too hard to pitch crappy yeast.
 
I made a starter with all 4 of those jars from my giant picture above. It's actually for a lager and came to half of what Mr. Malty said I needed but I had airloc activity within 12 hours after pitching.

I usually don't touch my beer from the time it goes into fermentor until bottling day. Think there's any need to check the gravity on this one earlier?
 
evilhomer said:
I made a starter with all 4 of those jars from my giant picture above. It's actually for a lager and came to half of what Mr. Malty said I needed but I had airloc activity within 12 hours after pitching.

I usually don't touch my beer from the time it goes into fermentor until bottling day. Think there's any need to check the gravity on this one earlier?
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Honestly, I don't check gravity anymore before bottling. That being said, I age my stouts at least 32 days before bottling to allow fermentation more time to fully complete. Only 7 of those days are spent in secondary, and usually only to add vanilla bean to the beer. I suppose one day it could bite me in the ass but I haven't had a problem with it yet. (I store my beers in garbage bags in case of bombs) With stouts I pitch multiple jars, but with ales I usually only pitch one jar. The latest stout I made I pitched one jar of that wash I posted a pic of earlier, and then the next day I pitched another jar (turns out that was unnecessary, as I could see bubbling/foaming when I opened the bucket) and within hours there was just a streaming going on in the airlock, no gaps between pops at all.
More back to the point; just to be safe it couldn't hurt (as long as you're careful about sanitation) to check your gravity three days before your bottling date and then checking it again on bottling day, just in case.
 
AugustDerleth said:
Honestly, I don't check gravity anymore before bottling. That being said, I age my stouts at least 32 days before bottling to allow fermentation more time to fully complete. Only 7 of those days are spent in secondary, and usually only to add vanilla bean to the beer. I suppose one day it could bite me in the ass but I haven't had a problem with it yet. (I store my beers in garbage bags in case of bombs) With stouts I pitch multiple jars, but with ales I usually only pitch one jar. The latest stout I made I pitched one jar of that wash I posted a pic of earlier, and then the next day I pitched another jar (turns out that was unnecessary, as I could see bubbling/foaming when I opened the bucket) and within hours there was just a streaming going on in the airlock, no gaps between pops at all.
More back to the point; just to be safe it couldn't hurt (as long as you're careful about sanitation) to check your gravity three days before your bottling date and then checking it again on bottling day, just in case.
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I don't touch my beer either, 30 days in primary then I check the gravity before bottling. I think I'll just do that this time too.
 
bluebrew17 said:
Chris white is gonna hate you for this...
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I don't think so.

I was just reading the new book "Yeast" by Chris White and Jamil Zainasheff. In the book they tell you exactly how to do this as well as how to culture and store your own yeast.

So, I think he's OK with it.

There's more than enough brewers around that don't want to do this to keep White Labs and his competators in business and profitable for a long time.
 
I'm in the middle of my first go at yeast washing. The trub + water is sitting and settling as I type. However, the yeast cake had a strong apple odor to it. The sample tasted fine (it's the Bells Two Hearted clone from the recipe section). Should I Relax, Don't Worry Keep Yeast Washing or is the possible infection or Acetaldehyde reason to scrap the operation and try again with a different batch? The yeast in question is Wyeast 1272.
 
Just began a starter with my 3 week old washed yeast and am starting to wonder if this thing is going to ever take off. I had canned and refrigerated individual 1/2 pint jars.

Last night, I let one jar warm up to room temp. I boiled up 2 qts of DME, let it cool, and then poured off most of the liquid from the yeast jar, shook it and pitched. It's been on the stir plate for about 13 hours now with no sign of life. The temp is rather cool, at about 65 F. Is the sediment from one 1/2 pint jar enough? Or do I just need to give it more time?
 
My 2 cents.. and it may have been mentioned elsewhere... use canning tongs to pull the jars out of the pot... those big jars are heavy when full, and it's awful tough to hold your grip on them with smaller tongs
 
marcycaulkins said:
My 2 cents.. and it may have been mentioned elsewhere... use canning tongs to pull the jars out of the pot... those big jars are heavy when full, and it's awful tough to hold your grip on them with smaller tongs
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+1 to this... I was lazy a couple weeks ago and was using regular tongs... of course the damn jar slipped and splashed boiling water... No injuries, but it could have been ugly.
 
Bonwit said:
Just began a starter with my 3 week old washed yeast and am starting to wonder if this thing is going to ever take off. I had canned and refrigerated individual 1/2 pint jars.

Last night, I let one jar warm up to room temp. I boiled up 2 qts of DME, let it cool, and then poured off most of the liquid from the yeast jar, shook it and pitched. It's been on the stir plate for about 13 hours now with no sign of life. The temp is rather cool, at about 65 F. Is the sediment from one 1/2 pint jar enough? Or do I just need to give it more time?
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Update: Well, it ended up taking about 48 hours, but they finely woke up! When I pitched them to the primary, they took off quite rapidly. I suppose all is well. I'm wondering if perhaps I should have added the sediment from 2 half pint jars, or would that have made any difference?
 
2u7uewx.jpg

This is my first attempt at washing yeast. I followed the directions in the OP, and this is a jar of WLP500 after a day or so of refrigeration. Does it look like I got too much trub/sick yeast when transferring from the fermenter to the flask then the flask to the jar, or am I being paranoid?
 
I read almost everything on this topic, and what confuses me the most is the amount of yeast that I will use for the next batch. As I can see, some of you have got only a thin layer on the bottom of the jars, while some have got almost half of the jar of the yeast.

How do I know the proper amount of yeast that I'll use for a starter?
 
400d said:
I read almost everything on this topic, and what confuses me the most is the amount of yeast that I will use for the next batch. As I can see, some of you have got only a thin layer on the bottom of the jars, while some have got almost half of the jar of the yeast.

How do I know the proper amount of yeast that I'll use for a starter?
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You'll need to use a starter. Don't consider this to be the same pitchable yeast vial that you buy.
 
scottlindner said:
You'll need to use a starter. Don't consider this to be the same pitchable yeast vial that you buy.
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While it may be beneficial to make a starter using these jars of wash, if you follow the directions they ARE viable enough to be decanted, swirled, then pitched as liquid yeast.

and Yoder is right, andigi: it looks as though you have a larger layer of trash than viable yeast. I don't know if it would be worth the trouble at this point to remove the viable yeast while leaving behind the trash. It's possible you didn't, but it looks like you skipped the second step, which helps drop out much of the trash.
 
I tried this method with my last cake but I made a mistake. I didnt decant very much and have ended up with a 1 inch sediment layer the bottom with a 1/8 inch white layer of yeast. Its been chillin in my fridge for about a month.

I am going to try and make a cider from this, should I try and shake the jar up, and re wash the yeast the correct way as it was illustrated?
 
HItransplant said:
+1. Even if you dont need any more cells, a starter will proof your yeast.
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What do you mean by proof? Simply to ensure it is alive, or something more than that?

I suggested to make a starter for washed yeast even if you don't do this with the pitchable vials. The reason I suggest this is that with the pitchable vials you are buying them as you need them so you know they are fresh and ready to go. With the yeast washing we are doing this to store it. Call me a self critic, but I don't trust myself to make as good of a pitchable vial as the pros.
 
scottlindner said:
Call me a self critic, but I don't trust myself to make as good of a pitchable vial as the pros.
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Self critic? No, I would call you a realist. There is no way you are going to make as clean or as pure of a sample as the manufacturer unless you have all the lab equipment and expertise they have. One of the big reasons it is suggested to use the yeast no more than 3-5 cycles is because the yeast mutate from generation to generation- partly to adapt to its food source and environment. However, that being said, when you wash the yeast as explained in this thread, you can certainly obtain a sufficient quantity of good viable yeast to do the job for the next batch- in my experience, I get more cells (OK, I'm assuming here because I haven't counted the cells) than I get in a vial/smack pack. OH, and for those that take this comment the wrong way, I certainly advocate ALWAYS making a starter- even with a fresh smack pack/vial.
 
Sorry if this question has already been asked, but reading through 800+ posts at the moment is a little daunting. Is there any reason it wouldn't be possible to do this directly from a yeast starter instead of from a yeast cake? I basically had the vision of making a starter, dividing it up in mason jars, and then make starters from those as necessary. Thoughts?
 
johnnyboy said:
Is there any reason it wouldn't be possible to do this directly from a yeast starter instead of from a yeast cake? I basically had the vision of making a starter, dividing it up in mason jars, and then make starters from those as necessary. Thoughts?
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Sure, its not really "washing" though, because there isnt any trub to remove.

Just pitch your starter.. let it ferment out, crash in the fridge for a week. Once its all flocked out, follow the directions for sterilizing canning jars full of water (in OP).. just do 5 small jars (more or less depending on how many new starters). Decant off liquid from starter, or at least most of it, pour in 3 full jars and half of the 4th into the jug with the yeast.. empty the rest of the 4th down the drain. Shakey shakey... until the yeast is resuspended in the jug. pour even amt into each of the 4 jars, using the sterile water in the 5th to top off each jar once the jug is empty. Top each jar off until it is all the way full, then carefully place lid-- youll lose some liquid but this will insure you have very little or no headspace.

Practice good sterile/sanitary technique and this really isnt too difficult... in fact its kinda fun.

johnnyboy said:
Sorry if this question has already been asked, but reading through 800+ posts at the moment is a little daunting.
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p.s. Dont forget about the "search thread" option. I didnt discover it until id been on here for a bit.. certainly helps me zero-in on pertinent information within a thread.
 
Are you guys reusing the canning lids? I'm used to regular canning where you throw away the sealing portion with the rubber. But I was thinking the other day, since we aren't actually canning I should be able to reuse that portion and sanitize like normal.
 
evilhomer said:
Are you guys reusing the canning lids?
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Yeah, I re-use them. I usually add them to the boil just like the OP suggests. One note, if you leave the tops in a bucket to soak in iodophor solution, do NOT leave them in there overnight. The lids and seals rust very quickly and will leave rings and marks on your bucket. I tossed them in just to get them a lil' clean, and continued cleaning up and by the time it got down to my bucket my back was killing so I just left it. Needless to say, there are orange marks in my bucket! Heh, it's a bucket devoted solely to sanitizer so I'm not too pissed. Just lettin' ya know about the possibility of marks.
 

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