Harvesting and cleaning Yeast

Thanks for looking in:
I am attempting to harvest and wash some yeast to re-pitch. The article I am reading has some good steps although I am not clear on one step here.
Which layer do I grab to let settle later?
1,2,3 or 4 ?
I thought 3 and 4 together....?

 

3. Give it a shake. Wait 10 minutes. When you see the trub (1) fall out and the liquid starts to clear at the 3-4 line then slowly pour off (collect) ONLY the cloudy liquid in 3 into a smaller jar. There's no need to get greedy trying to get close to the 2 line. 3 has plenty of yeast in it. Place the new container in the fridge so the yeast will fall out faster...overnight preferred.

 

Thanks for the steps and details, appreciate it. homebrewer 99

 

You're welcome. This is what your final product should look like:



This yeast is equal to more than 20 packets of yeast.

 

Is that a 1 Gal. jug?

 

1/2 Gallon Jug

@HB 99 Any thoughts on this Starter?
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/yeast-starter-from-harvest-thoughts.647700/

 

Yes, 1 gallon. After it clears I decant 75% of the liquid and transfer to a smaller container.

 

Looks active and normal to me. If I were to use it I would pour off about 75% of the wort (to drink/sample) to make use it tasted good before using. Then I would slowly swirl the jar to get the creamy yeast (top layer) to separate from the trub and pour it into the primary. Some people will just shake it all up, but I don't think there's a need to toss trub into the fermenter.

I can worts (in jars) to make starters. There is always some hot/cold break material in the bottom. I don't transfer that to my starters.

 

That's a good description; thanks! (I usually just collect all the crap from the bottom of the secondary fermenter and don't try to wash it) Would a turkey baster work better than trying to pour it?

 

LOL! Yes, I've tried a turkey baster. Maybe I didn't know how to use it properly (sarcasm), but I was not impressed, too messy. I've also tried syringes (I also smoke meat and have injected pork butts, so I already had these on hand), but I always come back to the method that works best for me.

From all of my research/reading, MOST brewers do not recommend using the yeast from a secondary. It's too worn out.

NOTE: One thing I may have left out of the washing instructions is to use a sanitized funnel in the mouth of the receiving receptacle.

 

I've had the best luck with top-cropping, but I don't always collect it in time. When I pitch yeast collected from the secondary, I grossly overpitch it and it seems to work just fine. But maybe I shouldn't try storing it for more than a couple of months.

 

Just wondering if you're washing/rinsing yeast for a specific purpose. Many of us that harvest yeast simply collect slurry from primary after fermentation is complete (trub and all), store in jars and then reuse. There aren't any noticeable side effects and you have the added benefit of reducing yeast handling and therefore risk of contamination/drift. If you haven't checked it out yet, there's a sticky at the top of the Yeast Section describing the how-to's of simple yeast storage.

 

@ryhs333 No not storing, re-using a few weeks later same brew or recipe. Thought I needed to wash it so I did not get off flavors from the trub for 1, I did not wash the whole batch because I am leaving it under the beer for contamination reasons which is why I only used 1/3 and thought to wash it to make a starter not to stress it if under pitched, where I am still wondering if I have enough for a batch (another thread created) from the 1/3 washed and now started 30 hours now