Is my washed yeast still good?

[ne0t0ky0]

I've washed a couple batches of yeast from my first couple of brews.

The first one was washed in Sept 2010, the second in Oct, 2010. A couple of the jars have some funky looking floaties; I've heard this is "the mother." What I want to know is if I've got some sort of contamination, or if that's just normal and when I make a starter with the yeast for the next brew, all will be Ok.

 

[Revvy]

The only way you'll know is to make a starter. Bobby M did a test on year old stored yeast here; https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/testing-limits-yeast-viability-126707/

And my LHBS cells outdated tubes and packs of yeast dirt cheap 2-3 dollars each and I usually grab a couple tubes of belgian or other interesting yeast when I am there and shove it in my fridge. and I have never had a problem with one of those tubes.

I usually make a starter but I once pitched a year old tube of Belgian High Gravity yeast directly into a 2.5 gallon batch of a Belgian Dark Strong, and after about 4 days it took off beautifully.
The purpose of a starter is to reproduce any viable cells in a batch of yeast....that;s how we can grow a starter form the dregs in a bottle of beer incrementally...and that beer may be months old.

Even if you have a few still living cells, you can grow them....That's how we can harvest a huge starter (incrementally) from the dregs in a bottle of some commercial beers. You take those few living cells and grow them into more.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

If in doubt, throw it out.

 

[Golddiggie]

I agree with Revvy on the point that making a starter is the only way to be sure if it's good or not. Once you have the starter going, and it does well, then use it. If not, build in enough time so that you can get fresh yeast (and make a starter for that, depending on the brew's OG)...

I made a starter for some yeast I had in the fridge for almost two months. The starter took off within 6-12 hours and I pitched in after 24 hours (closer to 30-36)... That was Thursday early morning/late evening (around 2am)... As of last night it was burping in the airlock. As of this morning, airlock is going about one movement per second. So it was active within 12 hours, and rocking within 24 hours of pitching... About normal I find when using a starter.

If the starter hadn't show any activity within 12-18 hours, I was going to hit the LHBS and get a fresh package of yeast. Luckily, I didn't need to do that at all. I do love the savings we get from washing liquid yeast...

 

[DannPM]

I've washed a couple batches of yeast from my first couple of brews.

The first one was washed in Sept 2010, the second in Oct, 2010. A couple of the jars have some funky looking floaties; I've heard this is "the mother." What I want to know is if I've got some sort of contamination, or if that's just normal and when I make a starter with the yeast for the next brew, all will be Ok.

"a mother" in something like this is pelicile like thing that is from the bacteria that turns alcoholic beverages into vinegar. Make a starter like Revvy mentioned and not only test the viability but if that really is a mother, it'll smell like vinegar.

If it is vinegar you're in luck, add some good finished homebrew to it wait until next year this time and use it for Lenten friday dinners