Washed Yeast Color

[evandy]

Usually when I wash yeast it comes out a creamy near-white. I just washed some wyeast 1882 (Thames Valley 2) and it's a deep tan, with shades of grey. Very odd. Anyone seen this before?

 

[TimTrone]

Usually when I wash yeast it comes out a creamy near-white. I just washed some wyeast 1882 (Thames Valley 2) and it's a deep tan, with shades of grey. Very odd. Anyone seen this before?

Did you get that yeast out of a dark beer? Also, not every yeast is the same color, so it's probably fine as long as you had good sanitation practices.

 

[evandy]

It's from a best bitter, so not particularly dark. Only reason I worry was that the starter yeast was the normal color, so these guys must have picked up some color somewhere I guess.

 

[TimTrone]

Hmmm, that is a little strange. I've never used that strain, so I'm not sure if the different generations change color. It's probably fine, but if it really worries you just get some new yeast. Good luck dude

 

[evandy]

The strain is listed as "highly flocculant"... If I've got clumps of yeast instead of single cells, that might do it. I am running a repitiching series, so I don't want to dump it unless I have to. Since I have two jars of yeast, maybe I'll make a starter with one before Saturday. Should give me a good double check.

 

[evandy]

Well, the starter seems to be fermenting away nicely. So either the 3 weeks in primary was a little long, or the wort made it darker than usual. Original fermentation was a 36-hour race; fastest I've ever had. Now I'll just need to decide whether to use the starter yeast, or the other jar of washed yeast. Decisions, decisions....

 

[evandy]

Starter's done. This is a very odd yeast. There are some HUGE clumps of nice, creamy off-white yeast. They settle out as fast as trub, they are so big. Then the suspended yeast is this dark tan color that looks nearly unusable. Very odd behavior on this 18823

 

[trumpetbeard]

Hopefully I can resurrect this thread instead of starting a new one.

I have 32oz of harvested wy 1882 that is exactly the color you described.

How did this turn out for you? My yeast still smell like beer and everything seems to be in order except the funky color.

Planning on making a starter to check viability, but I figured I'd be worth inquiring as to how it worked for others as well.

edit: the liquid on top of the slurry (left over dry stout) smells like beer and all signs point to no infections. I REALLY liked this yeast and would love to get it back in the pipline.

 

[evandy]

I ended up keeping some of both the dark-grey yeast as well as the creamer "throw-away" jar. After 18 hours and no activity with the dark-grey yeast I pitched the "throw-away" jar, and got activity within 4 hours after that. My assumption is that this yeast is so highly flocculant (clumping) that the "good" yeast settles out differently from normal. I washed it a second time for a 3rd batch of beer, kept the yeast-colored creamy stuff, and all was well.

 

[trumpetbeard]

Awesome, thanks for the quick reply. I'll pitch 4ish oz into a starter but I'm glad it works.