Reusing Washed Yeast

[Tal Orbach]

Hi.
A couple of days ago I bottled my second batch. I harvested and washed the yeast.
I just finished brewing the wart for my next batch, and I want to reuse the harvested yeast.
Thing is - I'm not sure how to do it.
There are layers in both jars of harvested yeast - one jar seems to have 3 layers, and the other seems to have four (see attached picture). Should I use all of it or only some of the layers? If some - which ones?
Do I need to make a starter, or can I just use them as is (seeing as they were harvested only two days ago)
Don't know if relevant, but they were in the fermenter for 18 days, they are Nottingham yeast, and the fermentation was done any 17C.

Thanks!

Tal

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

the yeast is always the top layer and or the whitest

 

[Tal Orbach]

So do I pour out the beer (most of the stuff filling the far), and only pour this thin, white layer into the new wort?
What about the need for a starter? Do I need it or can I just put it in there?

 

[KC]

The starter isn't mandatory but helps ensure a healthy pitch, and works a lot better if you're brewing more than 2 gallons.

Here's a trick to take the yeast off the trub: pour out the excess beer from on top, mix the remaining sediment with fresh water into a smaller jar, let that sit at room temperature. When the non-yeast layers settle out (B3 is hops, A4 is break) the yeast is still in suspension. Pour that off and you have your (diluted) yeast. That's usable as-is or you can thicken the slurry by letting that settle out again and concentrating it in an even smaller jar.

 

[Tal Orbach]

Thanks for the detailed explanation, and for referencing my numbering - really helps me to understand things!

 

[Hawkbox]

Yeah really you could just pour off most of the beer on top and then swirl it to dump it in. Won't hurt anything. But if you make a starter you can put some of it back in the jar for next time directly and not worry about washing it.

 

[Tal Orbach]

I already pitched it into both of my worts. They seem to form a very nice krausen.