Yeast Washing Illustrated

[Brulosopher]

Wouldn't using starsan in your yeast washing water have ill effects on the yeast, what with it being a sanitizer and all? Typically you just want to wash with plain water, boiled and cooled to sterilize and remove oxygen. I don't think the starsan addition is necessary or helpful in this case. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding your procedure.

A tiny amount is actually good for yeast (or so I've heard), as it's just phosphoric acid. Thing is, you don't need to sanitize water... haha. Boiling serves the purpose of deoxygenating the water, which is more hospitable for dormant yeast.

 

[brewski09]

A tiny amount is actually good for yeast (or so I've heard), as it's just phosphoric acid. Thing is, you don't need to sanitize water... haha. Boiling serves the purpose of deoxygenating the water, which is more hospitable for dormant yeast.

I'll admit I'm not the strictest person as far as the procedure of yeast washing is concerned. In fact, I may be about as far away as you can get from strict procedure following. With that said, why exactly is it you don't have to sanitize the water? That is one of the two major reasons for boiling it (deoxygenation being the other reason). If you have a sound reason for why the water doesn't need to be sanitized, please share it.

 

[Brulosopher]

I'll admit I'm not the strictest person as far as the procedure of yeast washing is concerned. In fact, I may be about as far away as you can get from strict procedure following. With that said, why exactly is it you don't have to sanitize the water? That is one of the two major reasons for boiling it (deoxygenation being the other reason). If you have a sound reason for why the water doesn't need to be sanitized, please share it.

. Back when I brewed with extract, I usually topped up with about 2-3 gallons of water... straight from the tap, no sanitation step. I've yet to have an (unintentionally) infected batch. And I've never heard of anyone using StarSan in their water to sanitize it, which I don't think would really work, as you need a certain amount to lower the pH enough to have a sanitizing effect.

 

[brewski09]

. Back when I brewed with extract, I usually topped up with about 2-3 gallons of water... straight from the tap, no sanitation step. I've yet to have an (unintentionally) infected batch. And I've never heard of anyone using StarSan in their water to sanitize it, which I don't think would really work, as you need a certain amount to lower the pH enough to have a sanitizing effect.

I agree that the small amount of starsan isn't doing much and that poster is asking for an infection. The thing about topping off with the I sanitized water in your beer is any organism is going to be overrun by the very active yeast and the alcohol production. For this application, the yeast is dormant and you have no preservatives (hops or alcohol). I think eventually that you will encounter an infection if you continue without sanitized water.

 

[unionrdr]

I used some 3-5 ounces in 1/2-2/3's jar of water. Yeah,there's still o2 dissolved in the water. You'd be surprised how much beer is soaked into the yeast. It still colors the water in the jars the same color as the beer it was used to ferment. After a couple weeks,no infections. The liquid yeast/water mix was filled up to just below the threads,just as in canning. So the yeast settles on the bottom,under a column of water/beer/sanitizer mix. The little bit of air in the head space can't get to the yeast through the liquid. Since the jars are stored in the fridge sealed,there's not much chance of infection.
Nasties need air,moisture & warm temps to thrive. They get none of these in a sealed jar in the fridge.
I did this with 2 batches of WY3056. Next,I have 2 batches of WL029 where as an experiment,I'll boil & cool some water & wash with that. We'll see there isn't going to be much difference under the same conditions otherwise. I also had a thought that since Starsan breaks down into yeast food,& I didn't aerate the water,what o2 is dissolved in it would work with the Starsan to help keep the yeast viable at fridge temps.

 

[MoreHops]

Just thought I'd throw this out there, particularly for the newbies worried about their washed yeast:

I made a 1.3L starter on Monday with washed yeast that was in the fridge since mid-Feb (5 months). Starter was on stir plate for 30h and then put in fridge overnight to settle. Warmed to room T the next day and pitched into 6 gal wort. Krauesen had started to form and fermentation was visibly active within 4h of pitching.

Moral: the yeasties can survive at least a few months in the fridge as long as a starter is made. However, as many have said, the sooner you can use washed yeast, the better...

 

[TangoHotel]

I have a stepped starter rolling right now with some 2308 that was washed from a Bock made in May. It is bubbling at a great rate now for use later this afternoon. Oktoberfest, here I come!

 

[unionrdr]

Mine will be in the fridge maybe 2 months till I get some brewery expansions done. Aaahhh,growing pains...:rockin:

 

[Xtant]

Last Friday I washed some Notty from BM's Centennial Blond. It was the first time I'd washed yeast.

I plan on brewing another batch this week.

So what do I do? Just pour the liquid off and pitch into my starter?

Is washing and reusing yeast that easy? If so, why am I just now doing so?

 

[mtnagel]

Yes, that's it.

If you were planning on brewing again so soon, I've heard you could have just grabbed some of the trub at the bottom and saved that in a sanitized contained and either added it to your beer or made a starter. I've never done that because either I brewed the same day I was transferring off the yeast cake and just scooped some out and used in my next beer directly or I washed the yeast.

Washing in general is for longer term storage (weeks up to a year).

 

[Xtant]

I wasn't planning on brewing this soon, but after SWMBO saw the keg cooler I made last week for an upcoming weekend getaway, she asked if I could throw together 5 more gallons of the blond for her to take to a trail day event in three weeks.

It just happened to work out that I decided to try my hand at yeast washing.

 

[MMJfan]

SIAP, but I didn't feel like reading thru the entire thread for my answer. I have always used liquid yeast and have been washing the yeast for quite some time now. Last weekend I brewed with dry yeast for the first time and was wondering if it is possible to wash this yeast?

 

[sfgoat]

SIAP, but I didn't feel like reading thru the entire thread for my answer. I have always used liquid yeast and have been washing the yeast for quite some time now. Last weekend I brewed with dry yeast for the first time and was wondering if it is possible to wash this yeast?

Yeah I do it all the time.

 

[Xtant]

SIAP, but I didn't feel like reading thru the entire thread for my answer. I have always used liquid yeast and have been washing the yeast for quite some time now. Last weekend I brewed with dry yeast for the first time and was wondering if it is possible to wash this yeast?

Yup... in case you haven't noticed, dry yeast doesn't stay very dry once you pitch it

 

[msa8967]

SIAP, but I didn't feel like reading thru the entire thread for my answer. I have always used liquid yeast and have been washing the yeast for quite some time now. Last weekend I brewed with dry yeast for the first time and was wondering if it is possible to wash this yeast?

Which strain of dry yeast did you use? I have washed both US-05 and Nottingham with good results.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Ive washed and pitched 3 generations of Notty for both hard ciders and beers. All good

 

[MMJfan]

Which strain of dry yeast did you use? I have washed both US-05 and Nottingham with good results.

US-05 is what I used.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

If its yeast, and you wash it (per the OP), and start it in a starter, it will grow.

 

[brewski09]

US-05 is what I used.

US-05 rocks in later generations. I think it has an off flavor from the dry packing process that goes away after washing

 

[DPBISME]

So now you have four (4) jars of pretty good yeast.

So that 1/2 to 3/4 in the bottom is enough for a five (5) gallon or ten (10) Gallon batch?

I guess most people make starters with it but I just want to cast it on the next batch... usually with-in a week of harvesting the yeast...

DPB

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Kinda what I want to do this time. I just washed a third generaion nottinham on Sunday from a cream ale and want to pitch it this upcoming saturday in a pumpkin ale. Should be fine, right?

 

[TheLudditeBrewer]

I'm not sure if someone has already posted this in the ~200 preceding pages, but if anyone who does small batches (1-gallon) wants to wash their yeast, I used a quart jar and two pint jars and the measures came out correct for my 1-gallon fermenter.

 

[MMJfan]

Kinda what I want to do this time. I just washed a third generaion nottinham on Sunday from a cream ale and want to pitch it this upcoming saturday in a pumpkin ale. Should be fine, right?

I don't see why not. I just harvested yeast from a sixer of Bells Oberon and made a starter (I had to step it up a couple of times throughout the week after I began the process). I brewed an Oberon clone a week after I started harvesting the yeast from the Oberon bottles and it was bubbling away within 8 hours after pitching it!

Are you making a starter from the yeast you just washed or are you just planning on pitching it straight from the mason jar? I've always thought about just pitching it straight from the jar, but it eases my apprehensions by making a starter and seeing it show signs of life before I pitch it...

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Pitchin it straight from the jar. First time ive tried that.

 

[markus2982]

Just tried washing yeast for the first time tonight thanks to this thread. It was Nottingham that we used for a red ale. Here's hoping I didn't mess up. Had some liquid left my large jar but not too worried about that.

 

[markus2982]

So I pulled one of the mason jars out of the fridge this morning to see how it is coming along. There defiantly seems to be large amount of trub left I the bottom of the mason jar. Maybe and inch or so. Any thoughts on if this is a normal amount? If it isn't, will it really matter when I go and make a starter?

 

[WissahickonBrew]

When you do the first yeast wash, do you utilize the primary fermenter solution or the secondary in the glass carboy? Does it matter?

 

[bzwyatt]

Theoretically, the yeast in the primary will be among the higher flocculating cells, because they have already settled out of the beer. Harvesting from secondary will get you yeast that stayed suspended longer, eating sugar more, so better attenuating. The ratio of better flocculating to better attenuating is pretty variable and not easy to measure, so hard to be more specific than that, and the amount you'd get from secondary will vary a lot based on how long you fermented in primary, the temp, the style, etc. So in general I'd say harvest from primary unless you have something specific you are looking for to harvest from secondary.

 

[WissahickonBrew]

The latest edition of Brew Your Own Mag might be worthy reading for anyone interested in this thread!

 

[brewski09]

The latest edition of Brew Your Own Mag might be worthy reading for anyone interested in this thread!

Seriously. Just got it in the mail today. Using some washed WLP862 Cry Havoc (3rd gen on this one, my other one was pretty mutated after about 15 gens) in an IIPA today