Yeast Washing Question

[MrMista]

Hi guys. So I decided to try washing my yeast to save some money in the future. I am following these instructions to wash my yeast: http://home.comcast.net/~wnevits/wizards/yeast_washing_rev_5.pdf

I am a bit confused where the suspended yeast is. In that guide it says that the top layer is water, the second layer is yeast, and the bottom layer is trub that I should not want. This is a picture of my second washing: http://i.imgur.com/tMml1.jpg

The reason I am a bit confused is because I remember when I made a starter the bottom "trub" portion of that mason jar is what my pitching yeast looked like. Is that not the case when washing yeast? Should I just pour off the darker water and only store the middle layer? After doing that third wash I plan on putting them into old Wyeast vials for future storage.

Also, I seem to have so much more yeast than the person in this guide, maybe my starter worked really well. After the first wash I could not even fit all the yeast into the second wash.

 

[kh54s10]

Your picture is labeled correctly. If you let it settle longer the milky yeast layer will settle into a more compact layer above the trub layer. Sometimes it is very obvious which the layers are and sometimes they are not so distinct.

 

[MrMista]

Ok cool, thanks. I guess I should transfer now then. I don't want it to compact down too much, its been in the fridge for about 6 hours.

 

[tedclev]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/

This is awesome and should clear up the process for you