Pour off excess water from stored harvested yeast?

[Tim Schmidt]

I am new to yeast harvesting and like to save money.
I have harvested yeast from a pale ale and have 3 quart jars in the fridge.
the yeast and trub have settled to the bottom third. if i was to use one of these on a new brew would it be right to pour off most of the water in the jar then pour the rest into the new wort?

 

[tll77]

the short answer is yes.
But this needs a longer answer.
Why is there water on your yeast? Beer is generally recommended to store yeast under, as it adds a layer of protection among other valid reasons. If you did use water to free up the yeast cake in the fermenter, it should be boiled and cooled first and you should use sterile jars(at the very least sanitized).

But, yes, pour off either the beer or water before using the yeast. If you will be brewing again soon enough safter harvesting, it would be fine to use a slurry right from the jar. If it has been in the fridge for a while you will benefit from making a starter, but will still want to pour off the liquid the yeast was stored under.

 

[Tim Schmidt]

i did use r.o. water pre boiled and cooled to mix in the trub to get it liquid enough to pour into the sanitized jars then after sitting for an hour transferred to 3 jars the upper portion and left most of the trub for disposal. I just did not want to add a pint of just water off the top of the stored yeast and lower the abv. i will need to make a starter to rouse the yeast before pitching. Thanks.

 

[Smellyglove]

i did use r.o. water pre boiled and cooled to mix in the trub to get it liquid enough to pour into the sanitized jars then after sitting for an hour transferred to 3 jars the upper portion and left most of the trub for disposal. I just did not want to add a pint of just water off the top of the stored yeast and lower the abv. i will need to make a starter to rouse the yeast before pitching. Thanks.

Use some of your wort you're making during brewday a few hours before pitching, unless the yeast has been sitting for a long time in the fridge. Saves you making a starter from scratch.

 

[ba-brewer]

If you plan to reuse your yeast I would limit the trub that makes it to the fermentor to limit what get stored later. I would also store the yeast with some of the beer it just fermented, then decant prior to repitching. The less you mess with thing reduces the chances for contaminations.

I believe I read straight RO water is not good for yeast there should be minerals in the water but I would need to dig to find the reason.