Yeast separation issues

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

So far, I have successfully washed 3 batches of yeast.

A few days ago I tried to harvest yeast from my finished Irish red.

After a 2 stage washing, I came up with 4 layers - Beer, white yeast, light color yeast & trub mix and a very thin layer of dark trub.

Okay, so after letting it settle for a day, I shook er up again, decanted off the top layer after 20 - 30 mins and allowed to settle for a day or 2 with the same results. Usually, it works the first time and I have all white yeast with little to no dark trub.

Are some yeast harder than others to harvest? This is the darkest beer that I tried to harvest, perhaps that has something to do with it?

 

[kblankenship11]

It definitely varies based on the strain and the previous batch. If i made a big beer with lots of hops its a lot harder to separate. The last Irish Red I did was pretty easy, the Thames valley was even easier--so I'm guessing it just relates to your batch having loads of trub. Lager yeast is the hardest for me since the yeast like to sit on the bottom where the trub is...

If I'm having trouble I like to suck that white creamy layer up with a stainless turkey baster I have. I put that in a graduated cylinder that's taller and skinnier than my original separation vessel. Once it's in there its a lot easier to decant/suck up the layer that I want.