Yeast rinsing has been covered countless times inpodcasts, YouTube videos, and a number of websites. I have been rinsing yeast with very good success for several years. I seem to follow the same practices as shown in all of the above outlets.
Over the last year, I have started to switch out my glass carboys for the Better Bottles due to the weight saving and the safety of plastic over glass. I haul my carboys to the basement to ferment in the fridge I have set up with temp control. Overall, I have been happy with the Better Bottles even though they are a little on the small side. One of the advantages I have just figured out is the use of the Better Bottle racking adapter to harvest rinsed yeast.
As with most instructions out there I prep one gallon of water for 10 minutes, cover, and allow to cool to room temperature. Rack your beer from the Better Bottle as close to the bottom as possible. If you have never used the racking adapter you are missing out. It takes all the siphoning issues out of the picture.
Once your beer is out, pour the water you boiled and cooled into the fermenter and swirl until all the trub, yeast, and water are thoroughly mixed. Allow the mixture to sit undisturbed for about 20 minutes. You should start to see different layers starting to form.
At this point, you need to rotate the indicator to the middle of the center layer that holds all the good, clean yeast that we are looking for. You can see in the above pic that the racking adapter will be pulling yeast from the middle layer.
Yeast that have a high flocculation will not require a lot of time to settle. It is a matter of practice makes perfect (if there is such a thing in homebrewing). Just keep an eye on the layers and if you don't like the way it has settled just swirl it up again before you rack and try again.
I use pint jars that I sanitize with Star-San or Iodophor to rack the clean yeast in to. I fill four jars approximately 3/4 full.
Now that I have the yeast into the pint jars, I refrigerate until it is time to brew.
This is 30minutesafter racking. As you can see, the clean, white yeast is already starting to settle out. I also make sure to label the jars with the yeast number and date rinsed to keep things straight.
The yeast strain will dictate the time it takes for the yeast to completely settle out. The more flocculant the yeast, the faster it will settle out and sometimes requires a little different process.
I will normally decant the water/wort off the top of the yeast and use two jars in a 2L starter for ales and all four jars in a 5L starter for lagers. I will usually only keep the yeast in the form for 4-6 weeks. If I have not used them by this time I just discard and start with a fresh yeast vile.
It sure seems easier then trying to decant from the carboy while trying not to "stir up" the gunk that settled at the bottom. As with most processes in homebrewing, you need to do what works for you, but if you are on the fence regarding Better Bottle I hope this has been helpful.
Over the last year, I have started to switch out my glass carboys for the Better Bottles due to the weight saving and the safety of plastic over glass. I haul my carboys to the basement to ferment in the fridge I have set up with temp control. Overall, I have been happy with the Better Bottles even though they are a little on the small side. One of the advantages I have just figured out is the use of the Better Bottle racking adapter to harvest rinsed yeast.
As with most instructions out there I prep one gallon of water for 10 minutes, cover, and allow to cool to room temperature. Rack your beer from the Better Bottle as close to the bottom as possible. If you have never used the racking adapter you are missing out. It takes all the siphoning issues out of the picture.
Once your beer is out, pour the water you boiled and cooled into the fermenter and swirl until all the trub, yeast, and water are thoroughly mixed. Allow the mixture to sit undisturbed for about 20 minutes. You should start to see different layers starting to form.
At this point, you need to rotate the indicator to the middle of the center layer that holds all the good, clean yeast that we are looking for. You can see in the above pic that the racking adapter will be pulling yeast from the middle layer.
Yeast that have a high flocculation will not require a lot of time to settle. It is a matter of practice makes perfect (if there is such a thing in homebrewing). Just keep an eye on the layers and if you don't like the way it has settled just swirl it up again before you rack and try again.
I use pint jars that I sanitize with Star-San or Iodophor to rack the clean yeast in to. I fill four jars approximately 3/4 full.
Now that I have the yeast into the pint jars, I refrigerate until it is time to brew.
This is 30minutesafter racking. As you can see, the clean, white yeast is already starting to settle out. I also make sure to label the jars with the yeast number and date rinsed to keep things straight.
The yeast strain will dictate the time it takes for the yeast to completely settle out. The more flocculant the yeast, the faster it will settle out and sometimes requires a little different process.
I will normally decant the water/wort off the top of the yeast and use two jars in a 2L starter for ales and all four jars in a 5L starter for lagers. I will usually only keep the yeast in the form for 4-6 weeks. If I have not used them by this time I just discard and start with a fresh yeast vile.
It sure seems easier then trying to decant from the carboy while trying not to "stir up" the gunk that settled at the bottom. As with most processes in homebrewing, you need to do what works for you, but if you are on the fence regarding Better Bottle I hope this has been helpful.
