Yeast Washing Attempt

[Justintoxicated]

first attempt yeast washing by Glamisduner, on Flickr

I got 3 of these jars, 2 looked like this and one has two or three times the yeast an no almost no trub.

So the question is, can I use this for the next batch? Or does the yeast to trub ratio kill it?

Second question. After transferring to the secondary for dry hopping (waited 2 weeks) I have about another inch of trub and yeast on the bottom. Mostly yeast, but is it had to try to get yeast from the secondary?

I don't know how you all do only a primary, seems like it would be hard to remove all the trub and yeast that falls off without a secondary (this is only my second batch though).

Planning to cold crash then keg this weekend (been 3 weeks and another week of carbonation before its ready).

I had a super aggressive fermentation that went very quickly with this black imperial IPA and WLP085. (Austin brew exclusive)

 

[DrawTap88]

You'll want to make a starter. Are you saving the yeast from the primary or secondary?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Don't save the yeast from secondary. I'm not sure what you're actually asking, but that yeast is fine to use, make a starter with it as you would from a smack pack or vial of yeast. And FWIW, beer will fall clear just fine in primary if given enough time, usually after two weeks I can package a clear beer without 'secondary'.

 

[Justintoxicated]

Don't save the yeast from secondary. I'm not sure what you're actually asking, but that yeast is fine to use, make a starter with it as you would from a smack pack or vial of yeast. And FWIW, beer will fall clear just fine in primary if given enough time, usually after two weeks I can package a clear beer without 'secondary'.

yea I left mine in the primary for 2 weeks then transferred tot he secondary and now I have a little tub but almost another inch of yeast....'

I did plan to make a starter with the washed yeast collected, I would dump the whole thing in trub and all right?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

yea I left mine in the primary for 2 weeks then transferred tot he secondary and now I have a little tub but almost another inch of yeast....'

I did plan to make a starter with the washed yeast collected, I would dump the whole thing in trub and all right?

You can decant the liquid and pitch just the slurry into the starter.

As you do it more, you'll get better at racking over clear beer. I also find that it depends on the yeast, some yeast compact quickly, others may take a few weeks. Don't get me wrong, secondary, or a 'bright tank', definitely helps with clarifying, especially in the sense that it can speed up the process. Check when you rack from secondary for bottling, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that 'inch' of yeast isn't more than a thin dusting on the bottom of the carboy that goes ~1" up the sides. Yeast will definitely fall in secondary, but after a 2 week primary there's doubtfully that much yeast left in suspension unless you swirled back up when you transferred.

 

[Justintoxicated]

You can decant the liquid and pitch just the slurry into the starter.

As you do it more, you'll get better at racking over clear beer. I also find that it depends on the yeast, some yeast compact quickly, others may take a few weeks. Don't get me wrong, secondary, or a 'bright tank', definitely helps with clarifying, especially in the sense that it can speed up the process. Check when you rack from secondary for bottling, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that 'inch' of yeast isn't more than a thin dusting on the bottom of the carboy that goes ~1" up the sides. Yeast will definitely fall in secondary, but after a 2 week primary there's doubtfully that much yeast left in suspension unless you swirled back up when you transferred.

I think I may cold crash it before I keg it this weekend.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Also, you will want to fill your mason jars close to the top. The less headspace in the jar you store washed yeast the better.

 

[DrawTap88]

Also, you will want to fill your mason jars close to the top. The less headspace in the jar you store washed yeast the better.

Can not agree more. Make sure you get it into the fridge quick or it could wind up breaking the jar you have it stored in.

 

[Justintoxicated]

Can not agree more. Make sure you get it into the fridge quick or it could wind up breaking the jar you have it stored in.

should I boil some more water and top them off then? They have been in the fridge since sat.

 

[DrawTap88]

No. If the head space is already there, opening it again before making a starter will only risk more infection.

 

[cgherrington3]

Here's what I'd do:

Pour the beer off the top of the 3 jars you have into a 2L soda bottle, carb it and drink it. -- No such thing as bad beer in my book

Add a little distilled water to the yeast at the bottom of the jars, swish it around, and combine the 3 into one.

Lable it and put it in the fridge.

Cheers

 

[Justintoxicated]

Here's what I'd do:

Pour the beer off the top of the 3 jars you have into a 2L soda bottle, carb it and drink it. -- No such thing as bad beer in my book

Add a little distilled water to the yeast at the bottom of the jars, swish it around, and combine the 3 into one.

Lable it and put it in the fridge.

Cheers

lol, that ain't beer! It was just boiled water that picked up some dark coloring from the trub, I washed an imperial black IPA.

The jars were more full, but the first to attempts left too much trub I had to transfer from jar to jar several times. Another thing I did that may not have been good, I washed the jars in starsan solution. Of course I wanted them sterile but I had to rinse out the heavy trub, and ran out of sterile jars to transfer, so I rinsed them out with tab water, then dunked them in starsan, before the last transfer.

 

[Justintoxicated]

Here is my second and 3rd attempt (right to left so order is reversed). I'm not getting that nice white top layer, but the density of this stuff isn't as great as the first one. it slushes around if I tilt the jars. This is WLP-051 (my 3rd attempt, left, and only cold crashed for 1 night), and the one on the right is Whyeast Greenbelt, its been crashed for a couple keeps now but isn't very dense. I also noticed with this particular yeast there was a lot of white yeast floating on top when I transferred to the secondary.

Does the lack of a white layer on top mean this was an unsuccessful wash or would I need to make a starter to find out?


I can still see white speckles throughout.

 

[Justintoxicated]

anyone? Is this yeast ok?

 

[jbaysurfer]

Looks healthy to me. I'd just decant and pitch on brew day. That (eyeball test) looks plenty to pitch to any high gravity 5 G batch.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Looks healthy to me. I'd just decant and pitch on brew day. That (eyeball test) looks plenty to pitch to any high gravity 5 G batch.

Agreed..... if you are gonna make starters , you can use much smaller jars and really stretch your yeast. I use vials ( like yeast vials) and make a starter. haven't bought yeast in a while lol.

 

[Justintoxicated]

Kinda hard for me to judge right now but I'm interested where in getting vials. I do make starters though.
I thought there was supposed to be that white layer on top like my first attempt. I guess it just depends on the weight and size of the yeaties?

 

[Beer-lord]

My first attempt was easy and successful. My 051 I used for my Red IPA which cost me $6.99 has now yielded me 4 more (could have made 7 but this is enough of 051 for me).
Here's what it looks like after only 12 hours in the fridge.

 

[Justintoxicated]

In my first attempt (first picture on page1), this was an English ale blend, is that why I have whiter yeast on top and and more gray color yeast on the bottom?

One of my jars is mostly full of the white yeast and no gray yeast. Should I not use this jar?

Is it bad practice in general to try and re-use a yeast blend?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

The white layer is healthy yeast, the darker gray area is dead yeast. Gray = bad, white = good. Also, fill the jars as close to the top as possible. Headspace is just room for bacteria and infections to grow.

 

[tre9er]

how much are you splitting up the cake? I think 4 jars from a 5g batch cake is great. You can direct pitch each into a 5g batch if it's just a few weeks old, just let it warm to room temp.

I typically just keep the whole cake in a quart-sized mason jar. Then I split it over my 9g. batch into two fermenters. I'll make a starter if it's been in there for a few months, but at times I haven't and still had good fermentation.

 

[Justintoxicated]

I'm only grabbing 3 jars worth due to space constraints.

 

[Justintoxicated]

I seem to be getting mixed information in this thread.

Attempt1 (2 jars have both light and darker yeast as can be seen in the picture, one has only the white part and a lot more white than the other 2).
Is this because it is a yeast blend or because only the white stuff on top is good?

Attemp2, I didn't get the same 2 layers of seperation. Most of the yeast is a cream color, although there is much more yeast total, there is only a very fine layer of white yest on the top.

Attemp3, the yeast seems pretty mixed up. Mostly cream color with splotches of white.

I'm going to make a 1.063 og beer this weekend so I am making a starter right now with yeast from attempt2.
Mr Malty is telling me I need about 2 liters since the yeast is over a month old. however I will more than likely only end up with a 1.5L starter.
I'm afraid to pitch directly due to differences in information (or my misunderstanding of it) in this thread.

 

[tre9er]

1. How old is the harvested yeast?
2. How many ml of mostly-solid colored yeast is there in container?
3. Use those factors on Mr. Malty to make recommended starter

 

[tre9er]

If I use your gravity for a 5.25g batch, assume you harvested this 9/14/12, MrMalty says you need 173ML of yeast. I don't know what size those jars are, but I'd say you have that much in the more compacted one on the right. Just make a 1L starter from that and you'll be fine.

Actually, the one on the right looks damn good. That thing will probably rock. I'd make the 1L starter and RDWHAHB

 

[Justintoxicated]

If I use your gravity for a 5.25g batch, assume you harvested this 9/14/12, MrMalty says you need 173ML of yeast. I don't know what size those jars are, but I'd say you have that much in the more compacted one on the right. Just make a 1L starter from that and you'll be fine.

Actually, the one on the right looks damn good. That thing will probably rock. I'd make the 1L starter and RDWHAHB

Starter ended up closer to 1.8L after I added the yeast (about 300/400ml apparently)

The starter almost needed a blow off tube! Luckily my stirplate threw the stirbar so it didn't try to overflow until I turned it back on in the morning. I re-built my stirplate need some minor adjustments.