Yeast washing illustrated

[Gil Breau]

Best tutorial I've found

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index. ... hing_yeast

Discussion thread on the subject:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/yeast- ... ted-41768/

[Richard]

Small world - I used the wiki version of those pages to wash some S05 from my IIPA. Used bottles + a capper instead of the jars; worked fine (i think).

[DandyMason]

So is it necessary to boil the water you use to wash the yeast?

[Richard]

Yeah for two reasons - first it sterilises it, second it de-oxygenates it. Both are double good++ for yeast washing/storage.

[DandyMason]

So if I just used sanitizer and tap water... the yeast could possibly start working in the mason jars?

[pliny]

A suggestion if you want to increase your success for future batches - boil the water and then cool it.

[DandyMason]

Okay sounds good... I will boil then... Might just get the boiling done all at once and fill up a bunch of mason jars then use them when I need.

Can I skip the big mason jar step and just fill the small mason jars with the washed yeast from the carboy? Only because I dont have a big mason jar... Suppose I could buy one hahah...

[pliny]

Yes, small mason jars are fine in my opinion. Use three, then you can store in the fridge and have it for three batches.
You should probably:
- document the date on them (when it was washed);
- document the yeast ex: 1084, 1056 etc.;
- document how many times this has been reused (souldn`t go for more than five times);
- make a starter when you plan to use the yeast for a batch.

[DandyMason]

Oh okay, So you dont recommend just dumping the mason jar into my next batch?

[pliny]

Um well I always make a starter something like 2 days before to make sure the yeast is healthy and to try to make more cells.

[Richard]

Definitely do a starter - you have no way of knowing you have a pitchable quantity otherwise.

[brew]

Ok so I'm washing the 3787 trappist from my primary. One thing I wanted to be sure I understand is where the yeast is. So, when you first add the water to the trub in the primary, shake it up and let it sit for 20 minutes. The stuff that settles, that is all trub, not yeast - right? The yeast is still suspended in the liquid? So then basically we're racking off suspended yeast into the mason jar? Which we then let settle again, and rack off into a smaller mason jar? This basically is removing trub - kind of the purpose correct?

[Richard]

Mostly trub, it's not an exact process, but the trub settles faster than the yeast and is of a different colour: trub is darker, whereas viable yeast is off-white.

So yeah, that's the jist of it.

[fakr]

Hey Brew, I had the same questions too.  I looked at several articles showing a trub line at the bottom and suspended yeast on top.  The articles did mention that the solution was put in the fridge for 20 minutes to 1 hour before pouring off the suspended yeast and leaving the trub behind.

I made the mistake of putting the slurry in the fridge for over 24 hours.  At that point, the suspended yeast settled on top of the trub, and I just had water and left over beer floating on top.  If you pour off the liquid thinking it's suspended yeast, you probably won't have much.

The past couple of times I've washed yeast, I've done what the article says.  put the slury in the fridge for 20+ minutes, allow trub to form on the bottom of the container but still having a slurry looking liquid on top.  Pour the slurry looking liquid off into another jar for storage.

The articles also mention, when you go to make a starter from one of these jars, you pour off the liquid on top, and pitch the yeast at the bottom.

Make sense?

[brew]

Yeah makes perfect sense - thanks for that - just wanted to be sure I knew where the yeast was!