Harvested yeast from a porter is quite dark. Okay to use?

[darkrabbit]

Hey all, I harvested this yeast from the slurry of a porter I just finished and it is quite dark in colour. I chalked it up to the dark beer however also read that harvested yeast should always be light in colour. I just want to verify that this yeast is okay to use in another pitch even though it is dark and, from what I read, potentially dead.

I could always create a starter from it I suppose to test the viability...

 

[Miraculix]

Mate, it's from a dark porter, what did you expect?!

Decant the beer, maybe wash the yeast and if you really need it to feel secure make a starter as well.

 

[darkrabbit]

I figured it was fine but I read some posts on the forum that said it should “always” be light coloured. Clearly not always it would seem. I didn’t think the yeast in contact with the beer would be light but perhaps the yeast at the bottom would be?

First time harvesting yeast from a dark so just wanted to check.

 

[Miraculix]

I just wouldnt use it, as it is, in a light style. Too much porter taste in it for my liking. I would wash it or decant the beer, make a starter, decant again and then use it. But from my limited experience (did harvest yeasts only about 5 times, but almost each time from a stout), it should be fine.

 

[darkrabbit]

Yep I'll definitely wash it again and I'll make a starter with light DME as I will likely need more viable cells for the next batch I plan on doing.

 

[flars]

I harvested two jars of yeast from a stout. The yeast after compaction was fairly dark. I decanted the stout that was over the yeast in one of the jars and refilled the jar with some vintage Bud Light. After doing this once again the yeast was very light colored.

 

[Miraculix]

I harvested two jars of yeast from a stout. The yeast after compaction was fairly dark. I decanted the stout that was over the yeast in one of the jars and refilled the jar with some vintage Bud Light. After doing this once again the yeast was very light colored.

This sounds like a really good and easy to do solution to me.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Perfectly fine to use in a lighter beer. Decant some of the dark beer sitting on top if you can, otherwise don't worry about it.