Yeast Washing Illustrated

[portlandbeergeek]

I washed my first yeast last night and everything seems to be going good so far. Many thanks to the author and other helpful comments in this thread. I used half pint jars, so I yeilded 8 of those instead of 4 pint jars. Is the full pint's worth of cleaned (top dumped off) yeast nessary for 5 gallons, or can i get away with just one of my half pint jars per batch? In the future, after i wash different kinds of yeast, I'll be playing around with mixing yeast strains and don't want to over pitch if i put in say two half pints of one and one half pint of the other.

 

[dp69_2001]

That sounds interesting. I don't think most homebrewers need to worry about over pitching. Is mixing strains a common practice?

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

I've never done it but I don't think I'd say its common practice. Though I have read articles and have seen recipes using 2 different strains before; sometimes both strains at once and sometimes only one strain for the first half of fermentation and then adding the other later in the fermentation process. I think it would be nice to start experiment with stuff like that when I can step up to 10 gallon batches.

This is a great tutorial. I was only harvesting yeast before and not washing because I didn't really understand the process. I didn't really get how easy it was until I found this thread. I've already harvested/washed 3 strains and I bought a case of 8oz jars for when my LHBS gets me the Pacman I ordered.

 

[dp69_2001]

I've only harvested 1 Yeast. I used 2 jars and for some reason my 2 year old pulled the other two out of the fridge and left them in the hot sun all day. I'll be washing WLP001 here in a couple days though. It is extremely easy. It's even better with a pressure cooker because you can make cans of starter wort. Then starters are a breeze. 2 minutes versus 20. perfect.

 

[portlandbeergeek]

Hey that's a great idea! Do you just fill the jar with wort, close it and steralize in the pressure cooker? If so, can this be done without a pressure cooker?

 

[dp69_2001]

Pretty much. You can even take some DME put it in the mason jar top it up with water. Then pressure cook it. I would imagine if you sanitize really well you could do it without one. But using one nearly eliminates chance of infection. The high temps achieved with the cooker will kill everything. Then the airtight seal ensures nothing will get in until you open the jar to pour in your yeast. That way you can bottle as much as your cooker can hold. Then have starters to last you months.

 

[nostalgia]

Thanks for this, Bernie. I just prepared my Mason jars and will be washing tonight.

One thing I learned that may be of use to someone else: if the jars are boiled standing up, they can develop air pockets under them. This means there is no water to absorb heat from the burner and your pot will burn.

I just scrubbed three brown spots off the bottom of my S/S pot. Bon Ami (or Barkeeper's Friend) works wonders on stainless.

-Joe

 

[Chriso]

The question was raised about 100 posts back, and I didn't see an answer to it, so I'll ask in a different context....

On their site, White Labs recommends using washed yeast within 3 weeks of washing it. What is a realistic timeframe? Are they being uber-conservative? Or is it really only worth it 3 weeks out?

I ask because I had never read or planned around that part until just now... I've got my Edinburgh ale yeast in the fridge from Feb 08... and I just made a 1.5L starter of Cry Havoc to go straight into mason jars, but not planning on using them for at least a month... and then there's my Kolsch yeast that I don't want to have to keep rebuying....

Should I pretty much plan on making the jump to freezing yeast slants, if I want to keep going with these longer, looser time frames? Or is washing alone still a viable option?

(I plan to make a 1.5L starter for each of these when I get to pitching them in a batch of beer. Washing, in my case, is simply to avoid re-buying tubes of yeast that just sit around.)

 

[waterse]

A question was raised several pages back that I hoped would get answered. Once the yeast has settled in the pint jars, can it be drawn off into vials and stored in the fridge instead of the pint jars?

 

[beerthirty]

Chriso- page 2. ten months, but he has successfully used 12 month old yeast.
waterse- no reason why you cant. the important things seem to be sanitizing and boil the O2 out of the water that you wash and store in, which keeps them in a dormant state.

 

[Chriso]

OK - So I'm guessing when White Labs is talking about reusing w/in 3 weeks, they're probably implying without proper preparation of a starter? I just wanted to make sure. After all, I'm trying to split, harvest, and store yeast *before* using it a first time, when possible, to get the maximum 'bang' from my buck. Don't want to inadvertently ruin a vial of yeast *before* it even makes it into a full batch. Thanks much for the reference.

 

[Damonic]

Wow... lot's of great info in this thread. Thanks!

 

[beerthirty]

OK - So I'm guessing when White Labs is talking about reusing w/in 3 weeks, they're probably implying without proper preparation of a starter? I just wanted to make sure. After all, I'm trying to split, harvest, and store yeast *before* using it a first time, when possible, to get the maximum 'bang' from my buck. Don't want to inadvertently ruin a vial of yeast *before* it even makes it into a full batch. Thanks much for the reference.

I thought of that also but decided to go with yeast harvested from the fermenter simply because of the extra volume( more to work with, hence more washed yeast and more to save) it will also give me the yeast to make several frozen samples for long term storage. this way it should be a lifetime before I had to rebuy a strain. My strategy is to use the jars of dormant 1st gen washed yeast first then break out 1 frozen sample and repeat from step one including freezing more samples of the 2nd gen. After all 1st gen frozen samples are used, each of which would make many jars of washed yeast, move on to the 2nd gen frozen samples. If I have thought this through correctly the frozen bank will get larger and larger until I hit 4th or 5th gen where I would stop. With so many washed jars from beer production I really cant see ever hitting 5th gen.

 

[Haterade]

I washed and refrigerated a trappist yeast for 3 weeks using the instructions in this thread. Pitched it into a starter an HOUR ago and it's already fermenting like crazy. Good info!!

 

[Aubie Stout]

Has anyone washed a wheat yeast like WLP320? I tried getting some from a crash cooled secondary. I have three layers in my Mason jar: beer, yeast, and something else?

 

[Revvy]

Has anyone washed a wheat yeast like WLP320? I tried getting some from a crash cooled secondary. I have three layers in my Mason jar: beer, yeast, and something else?

I assume you are referring to the bottom thickest layer, the layers are all the same regardless of the yeast strain.

If you are referring to the tub...that is hops/wasteproducts from the yeast, etc.

 

[beerthirty]

I just saw a post from flyguy about wheat yeasts but cant seem to find it. I'm pretty sure he said that yeast was finicky and difficult to store or freeze. perhaps a PM to him will answer your question.
oops misread the post

 

[Revvy]

I just saw a post from flyguy about wheat yeasts but cant seem to find it. I'm pretty sure he said that yeast was finicky and difficult to store or freeze. perhaps a PM to him will answer your question.
oops misread the post

I think he's just washing and not freezing....maybe...

 

[Aubie Stout]

Just washing....


The Cali yeast I got looks great. My concern was to off flavors if I was to use the wheat yeast in a new brew.

 

[Revvy]

Just washing....


The Cali yeast I got looks great. My concern was to off flavors if I was to use the wheat yeast in a new brew.

So then were you reffering to the trub layer?

 

[Aubie Stout]

Yes.


The wheat yeast I washed, WLP320, has three layers to it. The thin watery layer, a yeast layer, and then another layer. I'm assuming the third layer is the trub or suspension materials that a wheat typically leaves (crash cooling may have settled them out of suspension). I had planned on pitching the entire jar of material into a starter and then into another wheat beer. The concern I had was the extra "trub" layer causing some off flavors or worse some contamination.

Has anyone had any success with the washing and reuse of wheat strains of liquid yeast?

 

[stever]

I will be trying it with my WLP300 as soon as it's done fermenting. Thanks to the OP for the illustrated guide.

 

[portlandbeergeek]

yeah, that pic of the different layers was helpful. I thought everything below the clear beer layer was good pitchable yeast. i've used wased yeast with the trub for my last two batches. will have to look for that thin layer of goodness and keep the mud behind.

 

[Bombo80]

Chriso ...... Just a thought here, why not just brew up an extract batch close to what the yeast will be ultimately used in. Then wash the whole yeast cake, and get the full benefits of washing the yeast. I am planning on a really experimental brew, and was planning on needing several fresh inoculations of yeast.

Just a thought.

Good luck

 

[dp69_2001]

I washed WLP300 with excellent results.

 

[beerme70]

Did my first starter today with washed yeast (W1084 Irish Ale yeast), and I was pleased to see that the starter took off after about 15 min!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was a little concerned at first , 'cause we're doing a double batch of Scotch Ale on Sun., and if the starter didn't work, we have no plan "B".

 

[aryiman]

Do I just the auto siphon to get the yeast into the bigger mason jar or do I just pour? Also when it gets into the bigger mason jar, do I just another siphon or can I just pour? Let me know what everyone else does, thank you.

 

[pickles]

pour (decant) from both. Just leave a bit of the trub behind each time to get as little as possible.

 

[aryiman]

Thank you. I am sanitizing tonight and then doing this tomorrow.

 

[ChuckMoney]

Thanks to this thread, I've had a batch of WLP008/WLP051 that has been kickin for about 6 months now. I started out by accidentally pitching both into a 10g batch, but then found out that its a unique blend and I actually kind of liked it. So then I washed that cake, filled 10 baby soda bottles with it and pitched a new batch with what was left. Have made one batch a week for the last 6 months and washed a new cake at about 3 months and haven't seen a problem with slow starts or stuck ferments yet. I'm thinking about changing over to all wlp001 though in another month when I run out of starters.