First Yeast Wash and Starter

[jmward21]

I've been homebrewing for 2 months now and I've recently learned the importance of proper yeast pitching. So last week I washed and saved a Wyeast 1272 from an Irish Red. I saved it from the secondary which I'm not sure was right but I've seen from this forum where people wash from both primary and secondary.

Sanitizing the mason jars:

Washing the yeast:

Settled Yeast:

I made a simple stir plate that I copied from a fellow HBT member:

Boiled and cooled 2/3 cup LME with 2 cups water. I used LME because it is what I had. Everyone always used DME, so hopefully this was ok.

Pitched the yeast and started up the stir plate

I let it run for 26 hours or so and it was still fermenting. I turned off the stir plate and let the yeast settle. I ended up pitching the entire starter since I didn;t want to waste any of the yeast.

Lessons Learned:
1) I need smaller flask. I have bought a variety pack off amazon (250ml up to 1000ml)
2) Make starters in advance to allow yeast to fully ferment.
3) Buy DME.

Does anybody have any feedback that can help my process? I'm trying to make the best beer I can so I am open to criticism.

Cheers

 

[kombat]

Comments: I never bother making starters for washed yeast. The only purpose of a starter is to build up the yeast count to the appropriate number. Since each 5 gallon batch I brew yields 4 mason jars' worth of yeast (each roughly 1/3 to 1/2 full of pure yeast), I just decant the liquid from a single jar, swirl up the yeast, and pitch it. This amounts to more than a cup of yeast slurry, which is plenty for a 5 gallon batch of even higher-gravity ales. I do this with yeast that's less than 2 months old. Yeast older than that just gets dumped.

As for starters, you'll also want bigger flasks. I never use anything smaller than my 2000 mL flask, and often use my 5000 mL one (usually for lagers or 10g batches of ales). A helpful shortcut for starters is to get a pressure canner and can some starter wort, so when you need to make a starter, it's simply a matter of swirling some Starsan in a flask, pouring in some canned starter wort (made from DME), pitching the yeast, and putting it all on the stir plate. Prepping starters becomes a 5 minute process.

 

[Sippin37]

Starters are very helpful to increase yeast cell count but they can also be helpful if you have some washed yeast that's been in the fridge for over a month, to wake it back up and ensure its viability. If I have a slurry with enough yeast that's only a week or two old then I usually just pitch that directly and I'll see it start working just as fast. Just have to make sure you take it out of the fridge a few hours before pitching so they wake up and are ready to work!

 

[jmward21]

Starters are very helpful to increase yeast cell count but they can also be helpful if you have some washed yeast that's been in the fridge for over a month, to wake it back up and ensure its viability. If I have a slurry with enough yeast that's only a week or two old then I usually just pitch that directly and I'll see it start working just as fast. Just have to make sure you take it out of the fridge a few hours before pitching so they wake up and are ready to work!

Would you pitch all 4 of my jars at once? If you look at the first post, my jars are not that full since I harvested from a secondary. I also filled a growler (which is what I pitch this yesterday). I will collect from the primary for now on.

I still trying to figure all this out. I had planned on making 2 cup starter out of it, then stepping it up once with another 2 cup starter.

 

[Sippin37]

Would you pitch all 4 of my jars at once? If you look at the first post, my jars are not that full since I harvested from a secondary. I also filled a growler (which is what I pitch this yesterday). I will collect from the primary for now on.

I still trying to figure all this out. I had planned on making 2 cup starter out of it, then stepping it up once with another 2 cup starter.

I would take all of those jars, decant all the clear liquid off the top (except for just a little), and then shake & mix them up to get all the yeast back into suspension. Combine them all into one jar, preferably something with ml markings on it where you can get a good idea of how many ml of yeast sludge there really is in there. Toss that jar back into the fridge for a day or so until it all settles at the bottom. Then you'll be able to see how many ml of yeast slurry you truly have.

Then when it comes time to brew go to Mr Malty's Yeast Calculator - http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html, punch in your beer's OG, Gallons, Harvest Date and then click on the "Repitching from Slurry" tab. I normally drag the Yeast Concentration all the way over to the Thick Slurry side and Non-Yeast Percentage closer to 0. Once you do that you can look where it says # ml of yeast needed. That is what you should be targeting for your pitch rate.

I hope that all makes sense.

 

[MaxDixon]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1422301426.717137.jpg
This will be my first time pitching a yeast starter. I'm planning on decanting most of the liquid. Does this look like enough yeast for a 1.060OG IPA? Thanks.

 

[Sippin37]

View attachment 251719
This will be my first time pitching a yeast starter. I'm planning on decanting most of the liquid. Does this look like enough yeast for a 1.060OG IPA? Thanks.

Depends on how many gallons you are brewing and when you harvested that yeast slurry. Go to Mr Malty's Yeast Calculator - http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html. Go to "Repitching from Slurry" tab and enter your numbers to see how many ml's it says you should pitch.

Also, I can't tell from the picture you provide what that first marking says on the mason jar.

 

[jmward21]

I hope that all makes sense.

This is great. From taking your approach, I would need 59ml of thick yeast slurry. That equals a 1/4 cup or 1/8 of a pint (mason jar).

Being more conservative with the thickness and non-yeast percentage, I get around 107ml or 1/4 of a pint.

Thank you for the help.