Comments on: Yeast Washing 101

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:05:41 +0000

Thx Larry for the prompt/detailed reply & sounds good. BTW the yeast I washed last night look great and sound asleep today!

By: Larry

Larry — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 05:54:50 +0000

Yes, once the yeast is activated, it can be stored again in a jar in the fridge for 3-6 months, (starter+brew+ferment+rewash) as you put it. In theory, you could brew every three to six months off the same strain for a year or more.

Many new yeast cells are spawned during fermenation. There will be a very high concentration of healthy yeast cells at the end of the fermentation, and these are the ones that get saved. I would not push storing the yeast past 6 months. A sniff test can confirm if your yeast has gone bad, it should not smell rotten, or like dung.

Ather thing that comes into play is the number of generations the yeast have cycled through. I have gone as high as 3 generations without any trouble. I have heard/read it is possible to go a lot longer. Normally I get tired of the same strain and want something new. With yeast re-use it can be hit or miss, so only store yeast you know came from a healthy fermenation.

Another way to save yeast is to freeze it. That makes it last a lot longer, but requires more effort. We will have an article on long term yeast storage, or yeast banks, sometime in the future.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 05:18:04 +0000

You mention the yeast will last for “months”, would this be “per rewash”? IE, does reuse #2-4/5 need to all happen within these “months” or on the flip side, once you move on to wash/reuse #2, you get “months” again for that jar? Meaning every time you used the yeast (starter+brew+ferment+rewash), you’d get more “months” out of that particular jar? FYI I just washed for the first time today.

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:24:09 +0000

I use one jar to kick off a yeast starter.

By: zepeda

zepeda — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:57:45 +0000

You said you get about 2-4 jars of yeast. When it’s time for re-use and make a starter do you use all jars or just one.

By: Using yeast at the bottom of the bottles. - Home Brew Forums

Using yeast at the bottom of the bottles. - Home Brew Forums — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:56:20 +0000

[...] as needed to fill the container. Store in the fridge until needed. That's the condensed version. Here's a pretty good guide. You can search this board or google for yeast washing. I read that the yeast shouldn't be stored [...]

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:08:04 +0000

Thanks for the info! I am definitely going to try this!

By: Larry

Larry — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 23:23:58 +0000

The yeast is much more active in the primary. I harvest yeast from the primary. You could still harvest from the secondary, but you will get less yeast and they might not be as potent.

Thanks for the question and the feedback!

By: Thomas

Thomas — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:25:05 +0000

Hello

So what do you think about harvesting after the secondary rather than the primary, as John Palmer alludes to (howtobrew)? – Otherwise with the same process as described above.

Thank you for the resource

By: noob yeast starter question - Page 2 - Home Brew Forums

noob yeast starter question - Page 2 - Home Brew Forums — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:50:15 +0000

[...] Here's a pretty good link related to item #3… cheers. http://www.brewersfriend.com/2010/01/30/yeast-washing-101/ [...]