Can I use this rinsed yeast?

[byronyasgur]

My next beer is going to be a wheat beer. My last beer was supposed to be a hoppy IPA but I made a mistake and to cut a long story short it ended up being a braggot ( bit of a disaster really I suppose). Anyway when bottling that I had rinsed the yeast ( US05 ) so I have a couple of jars of that in the fridge - that was 4 weeks ago. It was my first effort at rinsing yeast - I think I did it properly and it all looks good but now for my wheat beer I'm wondering whether it will be OK to use because a) it was a month ago now b) it's a wheat beer and I don't want any possibility of off flavours coming across from the IPA/braggot c)I never rinsed a yeast before and I'm not 100% sure how to determine if the yeast was OK ie how would I know for sure if it wasn't infected ( do starter I suppose ) .... anyway what think ye?

 

[brewshki]

My next beer is going to be a wheat beer. My last beer was supposed to be a hoppy IPA but I made a mistake and to cut a long story short it ended up being a braggot ( bit of a disaster really I suppose). Anyway when bottling that I had rinsed the yeast ( US05 ) so I have a couple of jars of that in the fridge - that was 4 weeks ago. It was my first effort at rinsing yeast - I think I did it properly and it all looks good but now for my wheat beer I'm wondering whether it will be OK to use because a) it was a month ago now b) it's a wheat beer and I don't want any possibility of off flavours coming across from the IPA/braggot c)I never rinsed a yeast before and I'm not 100% sure how to determine if the yeast was OK ie how would I know for sure if it wasn't infected ( do starter I suppose ) .... anyway what think ye?

I have used rinsed Hefe yeast that was about a month old before. I would definitely do a starter if I was you and then take a sniff and see if it seems okay. If it just looks like yeast, my guess would be that it is fine. Any particular reason for not grabbing a new packet? You might want to have one around just in case.

 

[byronyasgur]

Any particular reason for not grabbing a new packet? You might want to have one around just in case.

I think I had shelf life of the packet in mind but I just did a check on the fermentis site now and it's 24 months from production date; so probably it would last at least few weeks after I buy it - not that it's expensive anyway but I didn't want to buy buying it and chucking it either I suppose

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

A month is nothing. As long as you were sanitary, fire up a starter and brew on...

 

[byronyasgur]

If it just looks like yeast, my guess would be that it is fine.

would you be at all concerned using a yeast that had been used in a hoppier stronger beer ( and one that went wrong I suppose ) in a light beer like a wheat beer.

 

[brewshki]

would you be at all concerned using a yeast that had been used in a hoppier stronger beer ( and one that went wrong I suppose ) in a light beer like a wheat beer.

I have never done it, so take what I say however you will. I think I saw a Brulospohy experiment that showed it didn't end up mattering.

I would think that it may factor into my decision based on how high a gravity the IPA was. The hoppiness does not really scare me as you will probably be able to pitch a bunch of really healthy cells if you use a starter. I mean, there are probably more than enough in what you rinsed. I would go for it as long as it doesn't appear to be infected. It's a fun experiment no matter what.

 

[Boise1024]

I would be concerned more about the remaining bitterness/hoppiness on the yeast than viability. I've had a problem in a porter before (stuck fermentation) where I had to add US-05 slurry from an IPA, it gave it a subtle hoppiness that I didn't much care for...

I would think the problem would be negated if you did thouroughtly wash the yeast, which I didn't do in my case.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

For the record washing /rinsing yeast is unnecessary. Just dump the yeast in a jar and dump it in the wort on brew day. Assuming your not making a starter. I split a 5 gallon cake into 2 jars and never made a starter