Yeast wash

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yegnal

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This is what I got, one looks better than the other.

Looks like yeast layer is sandwiched between beer and trub....

Plan is to chill overnight, decant top layer, wash and repeat if necessary .

Am I on the right track ?

I honestly expected a cleaner result... Is it normal for it to look the way mine does ?
 

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that seems like the right thing to do but its not, check out some you tube videos, you'll see how it will be better me telling you
 
Heck some of my saved starters have that much trub in them lol:p. Second Ozarks on doing the youtube search but i know hes got a pretty snazzy yeast clearing process...
 
I have been using the method from this episode of Chop and Brew. http://chopandbrew.com/episodes/chop-brew-episode-04-washing-yeast-with-don-o/ Once I have put the carboy on its side, I wait until I can see a thin white line of yeast forming on top of the settled trub. When I see this line, I then pour off the cloudy liquid, and leave all of the settled material in the carboy. I use enough water so that the liquid I pour off will fill a 1 gallon glass jar, and when the suspended yeast in the water settles, I end up with about 100ml of really clean yeast, which I then transfer to a pint mason jar for storage. this is what my results look like.

yeast copy.jpg
 
boil 4-6 pint sized mason jars in distilled water the night before you rack the beer out. pour the hot distilled water into the mason jars, seal, and let cool overnight. they are now sanitary.

rack your beer off, then prepare your fermenter. pour the sanitary water from the mason jars into the fermenter and really give the fermenter a good shake. shake well, and a lot for at least 60 seconds, get everything in suspension.

I then put some foil over the opening, and carefully tip the carboy on its side. lay it flat for 2 hours. Come back and you should see some separation of trub, wort, and yeast.

sanitize your mason jars again. Carefully lift your carboy up and pour into the mason jars. I've found the first mason jar gets nothing but wort and water, whatever. Your other jars should be good to go. Put them in the fridge for longevity.

To use those, decant the gross liquid on top, pour yeast into a fresh starter wort, let it wake up, and pitch.
 
thunderwagn said:
Put me in the 'never wash' camp. I save yeast from the fermenter, trub and all. Your yeast looks fine.
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I never use the same yeast often enough in a row to save yeast. If I were to do so, I'd ferment in buckets and skim from the top to avoid trub. Just seems simpler and more sanitary to me.
 
Nosybear said:
I never use the same yeast often enough in a row to save yeast. If I were to do so, I'd ferment in buckets and skim from the top to avoid trub. Just seems simpler and more sanitary to me.
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Everyone is certainly able to choose the methods that they feel work best for them.
 
I've heard rinsing with water is less healthy for the yeast than just storing it with the beer (which is also easier) so when I've saved I don't rinse. So far so good:)
 
I think it depends on how long your planning on storing it.
 
This post peaked my curiosity so I decided to make it dive in a little more. In case anyone else is interested I found some great info from this thread on the AHA forums (I acknowledge forum posts can be unreliable sources of info but I do know a little about the OP of the thread and he's known to be a reputable source on all things yeast):

"Just say "no" to yeast rinsing"
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=19850.0

My Takeaways:
- Top cropping is ideal when possible
- Rinsing yeast will raise pH and lower ethanol levels which lowers the cultures defense against microbes.
- Rinsing yeast depletes the yeast's glycogen stores faster leading to reduced viability over time compared to storing under beer.
- If you do rinse, it's best to rinse before pitching, not for storage (pg 4 of replies)
- Yeast rinsing came about from research by the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) >20yrs ago which was done only with centrifuge separating and aseptic technique in lab conditions which are impractical at a homebrew level (reply #92 & #95)
- Harvest/repitch may be more effective than overbuilding starters (reply #119)

Definitely use whatever works best for you but this was worth a read if you like to reuse yeast :)
 
I just made my first Oktoberfest and since I plan on doing other lagers, I didn't want to pour the trub and yeast down the drain. I've been trying to figure out what I'd like to do in order to save the yeast for another brew day. I've never saved yeast and always bought a new pack. However I'd like to save this 34/70. I think I'll just collect in a sanitized mason jar.
 
PutnamBrew said:
I just made my first Oktoberfest and since I plan on doing other lagers, I didn't want to pour the trub and yeast down the drain. I've been trying to figure out what I'd like to do in order to save the yeast for another brew day. I've never saved yeast and always bought a new pack. However I'd like to save this 34/70. I think I'll just collect in a sanitized mason jar.
Click to expand...
You can do worse than using that method, just cover the yeast with boiled, cool distilled water or better, the beer it just made, non-carbonated, of course.
 
The cleanest yeast I have been able to produce comes off the starter, and it never goes through fermentation.
 
White Haus Brews said:
This post peaked my curiosity so I decided to make it dive in a little more. In case anyone else is interested I found some great info from this thread on the AHA forums (I acknowledge forum posts can be unreliable sources of info but I do know a little about the OP of the thread and he's known to be a reputable source on all things yeast):

"Just say "no" to yeast rinsing"
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=19850.0

My Takeaways:
- Top cropping is ideal when possible
- Rinsing yeast will raise pH and lower ethanol levels which lowers the cultures defense against microbes.
- Rinsing yeast depletes the yeast's glycogen stores faster leading to reduced viability over time compared to storing under beer.
- If you do rinse, it's best to rinse before pitching, not for storage (pg 4 of replies)
- Yeast rinsing came about from research by the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) >20yrs ago which was done only with centrifuge separating and aseptic technique in lab conditions which are impractical at a homebrew level (reply #92 & #95)
- Harvest/repitch may be more effective than overbuilding starters (reply #119)

Definitely use whatever works best for you but this was worth a read if you like to reuse yeast :)
Click to expand...
Just read this, I like the idea.
So just a thought, what if you make a batch of weak DME and used it to rince? I realize it would ferment again but if the jars are have full and lids loose......what would you end up with?
 
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