First time washing

[Steve3730]

This is my first time washing so i want to be sure which part is the yeast?

 

[sfgoat]

Technically there is yeast in all of it but the "concentrated" yeast is the white line between the trub and the liquid.

 

[Steve3730]

Here is what i got after first wash. Should i was again? And to confirm what I'm pointing to is the part I'd make the starter with or from the white part up? This was only a 1.5 gallon batch so thats why i got so little.

 

[flars]

You are pointing to a fairly clean layer of yeast. There is also yeast in the bottom trub layer, and a lot of yeast in suspension. I would not wash/rinse it again.
A few days of refrigeration will drop the yeast out of suspension and compact the yeast layer. Estimating yeast cells will be more accurate after the yeast layer is compacted.

 

[Steve3730]

You are pointing to a fairly clean layer of yeast. There is also yeast in the bottom trub layer, and a lot of yeast in suspension. I would not wash/rinse it again.
A few days of refrigeration will drop the yeast out of suspension and compact the yeast layer. Estimating yeast cells will be more accurate after the yeast layer is compacted.

Thanks I'll wait a few days and see what it looks like

 

[SpankyMcBee]

Hey! I have been harvesting yeast like this for some time, thought I would post the link for you to check out. I have never had any negative results and its a bit cleaner and faster. Food for thought!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/yeast-harvesting-novel-approach.html

 

[Steve3730]

Hey! I have been harvesting yeast like this for some time, thought I would post the link for you to check out. I have never had any negative results and its a bit cleaner and faster. Food for thought!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/yeast-harvesting-novel-approach.html

I will definitely do this with the next fresh yeast I buy.

When you make a starter off yeast you have jarred and stored once are you able to jar some again and repeat?

 

[SpankyMcBee]

I will definitely do this with the next fresh yeast I buy.

When you make a starter off yeast you have jarred and stored once are you able to jar some again and repeat?

Sure thing! When you make you next starter off of yeast you have jarred, just make a starter as you normally would but increase the volume by the 500ml you want to pour off to "harvest" before pitching. Every starter you make will always just need to be 500ml more than what you want to pitch and you can keep going for generations. BTW, I really don't do the whole clean water step described towards the end. I brew enough to where I have never seen it to be necessary to store yeast under water, its a fairly clean environment anyways!

 

[masonsjax]

Yeast washing as often described around here is actually yeast rinsing (washing involves acid) and is quite controversial. Evidence shows that there is just as much viable yeast, sometimes more, in the discarded "trub" and liquid layers as in the white layer. You're also displacing yeast from its happy home in the perfectly pH balanced and sanitary beer it created for itself, into a potentially hostile and infectious environment. For these reasons many of us choose to simply save raw yeast cakes, trub and all, under a little of the beer it was created in. It's easier, at least as reliable, and involves less effort.

 

[Steve3730]

Interesting read guys. Thanks a lot. Looks like harvesting the starter is the way to go. I'll have to invest in a stir plate and flask

 

[SpankyMcBee]

Interesting read guys. Thanks a lot. Looks like harvesting the starter is the way to go. I'll have to invest in a stir plate and flask

You won't regret buying a stir plate if that is what you decide to do. I would not be without one now that I have been using one for quite some time. If I remember correctly, this is what I went with.

https://bellsbeer.com/store/products/StirStarter-%2d-Yeast-Starter-Stir-Plate.html

Cheers!