• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

Yeast Washing questions

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sematary

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2017
Messages
189
Reaction score
51
So, I followed some instructions I found to "wash" the yeast from my last beer. I now have a ball jar sitting in the fridge not quite full (left some head room). I can see the yeast in suspension (pretty sweet). But now what? I know they have to sit there for a bit and settle to the bottom. But when I want to use them, what do I need to do. I've read some stuff but none of it is really clear to me.
 
Most people will say to pour off the beer and make a starter with the yeast.
 
Most people will say to pour off the beer and make a starter with the yeast.
Ok, but what exactly does that mean? First I have to wait for the yeast to fall to the bottom of the jar, right? Then what?
 
Ok, but what exactly does that mean? First I have to wait for the yeast to fall to the bottom of the jar, right? Then what?

It only takes a few hours in the fridge for the yeast to fall out and leave the beer/water mix on top.

When you go to make a starter you decant the diluted beer off the top, swirl the slurry and dump it in your starter.
 
This thread will help answer some of your questions. Highly flocculant English yeast strains will settle quite rapidly. Some American yeast strains are less flocculant. These yeasts may take a few days to settle into a compact cake.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/simple-yeast-storage-procedure-with-photos.579350/

This is what the yeast will look like when it has settled. This is WY 1056 in the front.
resized479.jpg


Next step is estimating the number of yeast cells per milliliter. I estimate 1 to 4 billion cells depending upon the yeast. A good pitch rate/starter calculator helps.
http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php
 

Attachments

  • resized479.jpg
    resized479.jpg
    347.3 KB
Here's the short answer, although those links will probably help more.

A couple of days before you brew, pour off most of the beer on top of the yeast, then swirl the rest up so it's all mixed together. Add that to a liter or so of fresh wort. You can cover it loosely (it needs some air) and shake it or swirl it when you think of it. (Eventually, you'll want a stir plate and flask, but for now, a mason jar covered with foil will work.)

Make your beer and chill it to pitching temperature. Add the yeast slurry (the starter you just made) and ferment as normal.

You can use the calculators above to figure out how much you need, because you probably have more than enough for a batch. But you can also just add a cup of the slurry to your next batch and see what happens!

Sanitation is important when you collect the yeast, make your new starter, pitch yeast, etc. Sanitation!
 
Back
Top