Should I pitch all of this or decant? Harvested yeast pic

[earwig]

I harvested/washed this yeast on Friday night out of a wheat beer I made... it is WLP-300. Anyway, I am going to use it this evening in a Dunkelweizen I'm brewing now (Sunday afternoon/evening). Judging by this picture and the time since I harvested it; would you reccomend pitching all of it or decanting the liquid off the top? It has been in the refridgerator since Friday and I took it out today about 1/2 hour ago (2:30pm). I plan on pitching it around 7pm.

Thanks!

 

[Reelale]

I harvested/washed this yeast on Friday night out of a wheat beer I made... it is WLP-300. Anyway, I am going to use it this evening in a Dunkelweizen I'm brewing now (Sunday afternoon/evening). Judging by this picture and the time since I harvested it; would you reccomend pitching all of it or decanting the liquid off the top? It has been in the refridgerator since Friday and I took it out today about 1/2 hour ago (2:30pm). I plan on pitching it around 7pm.

Thanks!

That's a lot of yeast! Good job. I would definitely decant.

 

[Yooper]

There is still a lot of yeast in suspension. I'd pitch the whole thing. It doesn't look like there is that much liquid anyway, at least in the picture!

 

[earwig]

Thank you Reelale and Yooper... even though you both told me to do opposite things. My guess is I can flip a coin on this one? This was my first time washing/harvesting yeast and I'm pretty happy with how it came out. There is about 2 1/2 cups a water/yeast in that picture... I'm beginning to wonder if it should shake it up and only pitch part of it?

 

[Reelale]

And there you have it. Two diametrically opposed answers. I defer to Yooper. But that is still a lot of yeast.

 

[bob1852]

I'll post a third opinion...

Yes, Reel is right - that's a lot of yeast
Yes, Yooper is right - there's a lot of yeast in suspension

So, since there's already a lot of yeast that's dropped, and even though there's still yeast in suspension; you could either 1) pitch the whole thing, or 2) decant and pitch the cake.

Does that help?

 

[samc]

Pour off half the liquid.


also taste it and decide if you want that in your beer.

 

[earwig]

Pour off half the liquid.


also taste it and decide if you want that in your beer.

I read that WLP300 works nicely in Dunkelweizens and since I really wanted the experience of washing/reusing yeast I decided this was the way to go without brewing 2 back-to-back wheats.

samc, do you think there is a problem with using this yeast in a Dunkel?

Thank you too AZ...

 

[Yooper]

Well, obviously it really doesn't matter much! There's a lot of yeast.

But here was my thinking- it's a dunkelweizen and wlp300. That's a low flocculating strain, which means that much of the yeast stays in suspension. So, it's mostly the most flocculant yeast that are on the bottom. You probably want both- the early flocculators (is that a word?) and the late flocculators/non-flocculators.

But other than overthinking it, which I tend to do, I honestly think it really doesn't matter all that much.

 

[Yooper]

I read that WLP300 works nicely in Dunkelweizens and since I really wanted the experience of washing/reusing yeast I decided this was the way to go without brewing 2 back-to-back wheats.

samc, do you think there is a problem with using this yeast in a Dunkel?

Thank you too AZ...

I think what Samc is saying is that the spent wort is probably watered down/oxidized/not good, not that the yeast strain isn't good in a dunkelweizen.

 

[samc]

I think what Samc is saying is that the spent wort is probably watered down/oxidized/not good, not that the yeast strain isn't good in a dunkelweizen.

Exactly - sometimes the starter wort tastes like crap and decanting is ideal, other times it tastes pretty good and pitching it is fine. I usually just decant all my starters after 3-4 days in the fridge, leaving only 1/2 cup of wort to mix it up with.

 

[earwig]

That isn't really wort, it is just the water that I washed the yeast with on Friday. I used a bit too much water but kept all of it anyway. I am not making/using a starter because I just harvested the yeast less than 2 days ago

Thanks again!

 

[jbsg02]

I plan on trying to wash and reuse my white labs California ale yeast for my next batch. I feel like a sap paying 8 bucks for a vile. That's almost half my cost for a 2.5 gallon batch and I had just poured some down the drain last time.

 

[earwig]

I plan on trying to wash and reuse my white labs California ale yeast for my next batch. I feel like a sap paying 8 bucks for a vile. That's almost half my cost for a 2.5 gallon batch and I had just poured some down the drain last time.

This was my first time and it was so much easier than I expected it to be. I can't believe how much yeast I have wasted in the couple years that I have been brewing.