Yeast Washing Fail..Maybe

[Bostrows128]

Today I went to bottle my Bourbon Barrel Porter which was a success and for the first time ever I washed yeast. There was a little bit of coagulated wheat protein and every time I swirled my fermenter ( it was a one-gallon batch) the wheat protein would catch some of the yeast but I proceeded anyway. I made sure to wash the yeast well as I wasn't sure if I would be brewing this beer again anytime soon. Now after it has been sitting in the pint jars for over five hours in the fridge the leftover liquid is almost completely clear with a very tiny yeast cake on the bottom. Did I mess it up or is it just the first time jitters? Thanks in advance!

 

[jtratcliff]

nah.. sound like you did it right...

It should settle into roughly 3 layers: a trubby layer at the bottom, a creamy white yeast layer in the middle, and clear-ish spent beer layer on top....

Often folks say to decant the spent beer and try to harvest the creamy layer while leaving the trub behind... @WoodlandBrew did some yeast counts a couple years ago and found viable yeast in all 3 layers. So now, I don't worry about it.

I swirl up the yeast cake and pour off into pint jars. Store in the fridge until needed. No rinsing/washing at all.

I do decant most of the spent beer before using, but leave it in place for storage. If stored for longer than a couple weeks, I'll make a starter.

 

[Calder]

I find yeast washing a lot of effort that is not required. I don't claim this to be a 'recommended' way to use yeast, but it works for me and I have had no problems in many years of doing it.

- I try and make sure the wort going into the fermenter is 'clean', by straining it through a paint straining bag. If I dry hop, I move to secondary so I can collect clean yeast.

- I rack the beer of the cake, swirl up the cake (I do not add any water to it) and pour into sanitized pint mason jars. I usually end up with about 2 pints of yeast/trub. Store in fridge.

- If using the yeast within a month, I'll use just one of the jars for a similar sized brew (volume and OG). I pour off the liquid and pitch the rest. If the yeast is between 1 and 2 months I'll use both jars.

- I have used older yeast successfully, but I would not recommend it to anyone; I will wash the yeast prior to use and often build a starter with the yeast before use.

 

[65C]

If you're worried - use some left over wort or some DME to give it a feed

I'm a big re-use advocate - partly because I'm a cheapskate - but also I don't like euthanising billions of little critters that just worked their arses off (literally) fermenting my last batch of beer - if I can avoid it

You've got bakers that still use yeast strains that their parents use - I've kept bread strains going years before

I get people who like to buy a new pack every time - but for me half the enjoyment is tipping that sludge back in to freshly filled carboy or filling a dirty fermenter and seeing it foam a few hours later (I usually back-to-back brew so don't leave it sitting around much)