Yeast Washing Illustrated

[magnj]

Here are a couple shots I took during a washing session a few weeks back.

 

[Bulls Beers]

Can I wash yeast right from my primary? I usually rack to a keg after the primary is finished. The only problem I see is that there's a bunch of crap at the bottom of my primary. A little different than a nice and clean secondary.

 

[mikeysab]

the point of washing yeast is to clean the bunch of crap from it. Primary yeast is what you want to wash. Its a long thread but if you read the whole thing they go through the differences between washing primary versus secondary yeast.

 

[northernlad]

I am giving this a go right now. Thanks Bernie.

Magnj: that second shot ^^ looks like a Ball Jar Advertisement.

 

[motobrewer]

nevermind...

 

[Doc Robinson]

Just attempted my first washing last night. It looks like it turned out well.

After about an hour sitting in the fridge, a nice little layer of yeast is visible...

 

[ruffdeezy]

Just did my first yeast washing. The lid from the big jar I used was previously used for pickles and still smelled like pickles after a thorough washing, hopefully I don't have pickle beer/yeast.

 

[motobrewer]

what's the point of putting everything in the big jar first? do you let the big jar settle then decant some of the liquid before filling the smaller?

 

[Palefire]

what's the point of putting everything in the big jar first? do you let the big jar settle then decant some of the liquid before filling the smaller?

yes - putting everything in the big jar lets the trub settle out, so you're only putting yeast in the smaller jars.

 

[Beavdowg]

I think I'm getting confused here. Here's my understanding so far:

1) Either leave some beer in the carboy or after kegging or bottling pour in some sterile water into the carboy.

2) Slosh the carboy around to mix up the trub again.

3) Pour this solution into a big jar.

4) Let sit in fridge over night.

5) In morning will have a layer of trub at bottom of jar.

Now here's where I get a little confused.

If I understand correctly, the yeast is actually in the liquid, NOT the trub. Right?

6) Then pour(decant) the liquid (without disturbing the sediment) into other smaller jars.

So, now the smaller jars end up with a sediment. Is the yeast in this sediment or in the liquid above the sediment?

 

[DanPoch]

Yes, the yeast is still suspended in the liquid. The trub is heavier and settles out faster.

Also you only have to let it sit for 30-60 minutes. If it sits for a long time, the yeast will settle out also.

Oh... and after step 2 remember to let the carboy sit for 30-60 to settle the trub to the bottom. It is the yeast that you want in suspension.
3) carefully decant the liquid into a big jar

 

[Beavdowg]

So the last picture with the caption "After about an hour sitting in the fridge, a nice little layer of yeast is visible..." is actually incorrect, right? As you said the yeast is in the solution (for the most part) not in the sediment.

Thanks again for clarifying!

 

[motobrewer]

yes - putting everything in the big jar lets the trub settle out, so you're only putting yeast in the smaller jars.

wait, so do you decant and throw away the top liquid, or is the top liquid what you want?

as in, the opposite of pitching a starter?

 

[Palefire]

wait, so do you decant and throw away the top liquid, or is the top liquid what you want?

as in, the opposite of pitching a starter?

The top liquid is basically what you want, though it depends on how long you let it sit before you transfer into smaller jars. If you let the big jar sit for 30 minutes or so, most of the yeast should still be in suspension, so you would just pour the liquid at the top into the smaller jars. If you let the big jar sit longer than that (I usually let it sit overnight), then you'll probably need to swirl things up a little bit first. But only a little bit - you basically just want to put the yeast back into suspension without disturbing the trub that's settled to the bottom.

And yes, it's exactly the opposite of pitching a starter. When you cold crash a starter, the goal is to have the yeast (which is what you want) settle at the bottom. When you wash yeast in this case, the goal is to let the trub (which you don't want) settle at the bottom, then have the yeast above that.

 

[Palefire]

So the last picture with the caption "After about an hour sitting in the fridge, a nice little layer of yeast is visible..." is actually incorrect, right? As you said the yeast is in the solution (for the most part) not in the sediment.

Yes, the yeast is in the solution, but after an hour or so you can see it settling. In other words, the liquid at the very top of the jar gets a lot clearer, and the liquid just above the layer of trub gets a lot more milky. That milky liquid is the layer of yeast.

Seriously, it sounds and looks a little complicated, but once you do this even one time, you'll see how ridiculously easy the whole process is!

 

[duffman2]

Yes, the yeast is in the solution, but after an hour or so you can see it settling. In other words, the liquid at the very top of the jar gets a lot clearer, and the liquid just above the layer of trub gets a lot more milky. That milky liquid is the layer of yeast.

Seriously, it sounds and looks a little complicated, but once you do this even one time, you'll see how ridiculously easy the whole process is!

Hey guys, I'm about to give this a go tomorrow but I had 2 questions

1. I got a lot of mason pint jars from my grandmother but the lids are pretty old and corroded. Can I wash, sanitize and reuse or should I just try to find new lids. And if so, where can I find new jar lids?

2. And I know this has been tossed around a lot, and I've read some of it, but has there been any real consensus on whether to wash primary or secondary? Or does it not make any real discernible difference?

Thanks for the tips, I'm really looking forward to this!

 

[Rick500]

You should get new lids. You won't be able to sanitize them effectively if they're not first visibly clean.

You can get lids pretty cheaply at Walmart, etc.

Wash yeast from the primary. If you use yeast from the secondary, you're selecting for the more poorly-flocculating yeast cells (since the well-flocculating cells have already dropped to the bottom of the primary and don't make it to the secondary).

 

[duffman2]

Thanks rick, I'll be doing this tomorrow if I find some lids and I'll let everyone know how it goes

 

[C2H5OH]

Great job!

Jamaican Red Stripe in the fridge?

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Great job!

Jamaican Red Stripe in the fridge?

Haha, almost 600 posts in this thread and you're the first one to comment on the Red Stripe (I think).

I bought it for a Buffett concert and could only drink one. Horrible stuff.

 

[Doc Robinson]

After 1 week in the fridge:

 

[duffman2]

Anyway, to save room in the fridge, I first used 2 quart-sized jars, let them sit for about 24 hours, then decanted into 4 4-oz jelly jars. As the pic shows, it's pretty much all yeast in there, no trub. But my question is: since these jars are pretty small, is the yeast in one of them enough for a regular-sized starter? Or should I combine the yeast into 2 jars? I'm honestly not interested in having to start with a smaller starter, then step it up (at least for a normal OG beer), since, well, that's more work than I wanna do. If that's the case, I'd rather just combine them.

Palefire, I don't know if you figured out your amounts yet, but I am wondering the same thing. If I'm making a starter out of my 16 oz jars this won't be enough liquid for a 1000ml starter and I'm hoping to avoid using 2 jars if I can. So, for any medium gravity beer (1.050 range) will this be enough yeast cells without stepping it up?

And also, how much DME should I use for this amount starter? Thanks guys!

P.S Also I'm wondering how close the ale styles can be to use for other ales. I'll probably have to read up on yeasts to get that answer though

 

[duffman2]

I typically make my starters for medium gravity beers with 4 cups of water to 1 cup of light dme.
I boil that that for 15 minutes and cool.
I add 3 turkey baster pulls of washed yeast and let it rip.

Sorry guys, I'm reading this thread backwards and just saw this. So, does this sound right? don't worry about using the whole jar of washed yeast, but instead only a small (about 3 baster pulls) amount with the flask? And if so, how many yeast cells can we approximately be using?

Thanks again

 

[Stuntman]

Thanks Bernie Brewer,
Read whole thread. First page says it all, great work. Brewing over six years now, you guys are going to make a good homebrewer out of me yet!

 

[FxdGrMind]

Just spent 3 hours reading this thread....

Now I'm going to try my hand at this. Washing and saving bit.

I did a re-pitch after racking off a yeast, taking a few table spoons of the yeast cake and pitching that into the next primary (similar beer, aeromatic difference only). As that worked so well, I'm going to take that first secondary and save that yeast.

Wish me luck.

Cheers

 

[Palefire]

Palefire, I don't know if you figured out your amounts yet, but I am wondering the same thing. If I'm making a starter out of my 16 oz jars this won't be enough liquid for a 1000ml starter and I'm hoping to avoid using 2 jars if I can. So, for any medium gravity beer (1.050 range) will this be enough yeast cells without stepping it up?

And also, how much DME should I use for this amount starter? Thanks guys!

P.S Also I'm wondering how close the ale styles can be to use for other ales. I'll probably have to read up on yeasts to get that answer though

Well, I've used my washed yeast for 3 brews since then, and every time I used just one my jelly jars' worth of yeast in a starter. Just made an appropriate sized starter (according to Mr. Malty), let it run on the stir plate for ~48 hours, and either pitched (for the 1L starters) or cold crashed, decanted and pitched (for larger starters). Went great every time.

Oh, and I just used the rule of 10 (from Mr. Malty, too): 1 g of DME for every 10 ml of water. So for a 1000ml starter you use 100 g of DME. (I'm remembering those numbers off the top of my head, so someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

As far as ale styles, yeah, read up. There's a lot of information here!

 

[BigB]

Probably a silly question, but if you let the water cool in the fridge over night, do you let it warm back up a little prior to dumping into the fermentor so as to not shock the yeast with 35 degree water?

Also, I tried this on a batch yesterday and had a hell of a time trying to pour off the top, the trub and all wanted to stay in suspension. I looked at my jars this morning and there is about a 1/2 inch layer of trub, but there is also a distinct yeast layer on top (the batch was a stout, so the color bands were quite apparent). I'm thinking of getting a mini auto siphon and using a bottling wand. Thoughts?

 

[fiat84]

Used a plastic turkey baster to siphon off the top liquid which worked well although slow for wash #2 as someone had suggested. Filled up clear beer bottles to the very top and capped for long term storage.

FYI, the four week old Wyeast 3944 Hoegaarden strain washed yeast started faster than the original smack pack(which did not swell up since I did not break the nutrient pack inside). No starter, just poured the washed yeast in the kit wort(79F) after letting it warm up to room temp.

 

[BigB]

Ok, I tried this again with another batch. This time it was a blonde ale. The major difference between this and my first batch was that the first batch was in an ale pale and the second was in a carbory. It is by far monumentally easier to do this from a carboy. I laid the carboy on its side while it settled. Then it was an easy matter to pour off the top. All said and done, for my second batch I have a beautiful and super clean batch of Abbey Ale yeast in some mason jars.

 

[mclane2003]

After 1 week in the fridge:

mine came out looking about the same