Yeast harvesting/washing

[DrDance]

Always such good advice on here...

I use a conical for fermentation that I dry hop in. Can I still harvest the yeast to use again?
Will it matter if there are some (I use a hop bag) hop bits in it?
Thanks for your input in advance!

 

[Spivey24]

If you are dry hopping in a bag you will be fine. I’ve done that plenty of times. I do try to separate/settle out the yeast a little, but some hop matter has never been a problem for me.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I agree with @Spivey24. I dry hop loose. I have harvested yeast from lightly dry hopped pale ales without an issue. I harvested once from an NEIPA, and I try to avoid that moving forward. A bag should keep most of the hops out of your yeast.

 

[DrDance]

So far I’ve keep everything that’s come out of the first emptying of the collection ball. Should I keep the second (and final one) as well?
Then combine everything when I wash it?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Some people pretty knowledgeable about yeast have written that washing (really "rinsing") does more harm than good. I just collect the slurry and save it under a layer of beer. The sticky post on this forum is one of those sources. (Simple Yeast Storage Procedure with Photos)

I cannot say which harvest is the "better" yeast, but I would say to harvest as much as you think you will use in the next month or two. I tend to harvest 2 canning jars worth of slurry and, more often than not, at least one of them gets dumped.

Calculating yeast counts in harvested slurry is an inexact science. I have seen some evidence that a standard 5 gallon batch will end with around 800B cells, so I figure that about 1/4 of the slurry has the right pitch for another standard 5 gallon batch. For me this is roughly a 16 oz canning jar.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

Conicals make yeast harvesting a breeze! If you are planning to harvest yeast from a batch(if you don't do starters), try and dry hop in a bag to help reduce the amount of material that settles out. I wouldn't worry about rinsing/washing your yeast, just leave it under a layer of beer in your storage vessel. I use 8oz mason jars that I have calibrated with volume marking so I can better estimate the actual slurry volume, then I can have a more accurate calculation for my cell count.

 

[odie]

with a conical I would think the first dump is all settled trub. the last of the cake should be the yeast.

I use a bucket so I have to swirl the yeast layer to get it loose. I pour it thru a mesh strainer to catch any bits of hops or cacao nibs or whatever.