Yeast Wash Pitching

[Sonnyjim]

Hey guys,

I will be doing my first batch with a yeast wash and I have two pint size jars half full of the wash. They have both seperated into two layers. The bottom part is the whiter yeasty looking stuff, and the upper layer is the 'beer' looking kind of stuff. WHICH part is the stuff I pitch? Upper or lower or both?

As well, how much will I need for a healthy fermentation? Should I pitch the whole thing?

 

[Germelli1]

The white stuff settled to the bottom is what you want. You can decant half of the water up top, shake up and pitch the rest.

With some of my yeast washing jars there are three layers (from top to bottom): clear water/beery stuff, a thin white layer or live yeast, a peanut buttery looking layer of trub.

Now, being able to say if it is enough to pitch into a batch depends on the gravity of the batch. I ALWAYS make a starter with washed yeast, even if I am pitching into a 1.035 session beer. The starter both wakes the yeast up from their nap in the deoxygenated water as well as increases cell counts.

 

[JakeFegely]

Definitely discard most of the beer-looking stuff on top. The yeast is the white stuff on the bottom. I leave a little of the liquid on top and shake that around with the yeast to help get it out.

How much to pitch depends on a number of things - ale or lager yeast, and OG primarily. www.mrmalty.com has a calculator that will tell you how many cells you need for your specific brew. You may need to make an estimate of the volume you have. If you typically use White Labs vials, maybe you can estimate your volume compared to the white yeast volume in one of those vials. The white labs amount is about 100 billion cells.

 

[JakeFegely]

+1 on the starter

 

[Sonnyjim]

AWSOME(in the Peter Griffin Voice). Ok so I will leave a little of the stuff on top. It is an ale yeast, Irish Ale Yeast for my Honey Basil Ale. Should be interesting, it's not the standard 1056 which I'm sure is what most people use across the board. I have never made a starter but I will use this calculator at mr.malty and see where it goes from there. I know some people are huge on starters, others just don't see the need.

I did post something on yeast washing before when I was about to try it and had mixed reviews on wether or not there would be enough yeast cells to go without a starter and many said yes. So I'll give this calc. a go. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Germelli1]

AWSOME(in the Peter Griffin Voice). Ok so I will leave a little of the stuff on top. It is an ale yeast, Irish Ale Yeast for my Honey Basil Ale. Should be interesting, it's not the standard 1056 which I'm sure is what most people use across the board. I have never made a starter but I will use this calculator at mr.malty and see where it goes from there. I know some people are huge on starters, others just don't see the need.

I did post something on yeast washing before when I was about to try it and had mixed reviews on wether or not there would be enough yeast cells to go without a starter and many said yes. So I'll give this calc. a go. Thanks for the tips.

You very well may have enough cells for a batch, but it all depends on the original gravity! What is the OG of you honey basil ale? (by the way that sounds delicious)

 

[Sonnyjim]

The OG for the batch is suppose to be around 1.056.