First time washing yeast - help

[Augusto Sotero]

Hi guys.

This is my first time washing yeast but it doesn’t look like it should be I think. It is wlp004 Irish ale, which I ordered online from a store in another city.

I have made a starter but with no stir plate and fermented a low gravity dry stout (og 1.044). It ended up at 1.014. After primary and secondary I cold crashed for 4 days and bottled. Then a put some water in my fermentor, shake and transferred the sludge to a glass vessel.

After 6 hours in the fridge though I am not seeing something like the pictures people post when they wash yeast, the 3 phases. It seems like the beer have decanted but the rest is just mixed up.

What do you guys think? Is this looking bad? Should I try to throw that beer away and put more water and shake more to try to separet this dark brown stuff from the light brown yeast?

 

[kh54s10]

It doesn't look like the trub has settled much. I would at least let it settle more.

If it were me I would just save that as is then when you are ready to pitch in a new brew, pour off the liquid and use about a third of what's left.

 

[helterscelter]

I agree with kh54s10. Put that in the fridge and let it cold crash and settle some more before you do anything.

 

[Augusto Sotero]

Thanks for replying guys.
I did some more research and figure I used to little water for the washing. I divided that jar in two and added more water than is looking better now.

Should I now rack this milky layer into other jars letting the trub behind?

 

[flars]

Some good reading here. Start with post #4.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/simple-yeast-storage-procedure-with-photos.579350/

This is what you could harvest without rinsing/washing. I don't harvest yeast from high ABV beers so high alcohol content is not a concern. I swirl up the contents of the fermentor. Let the heavy hop debris settle and then pour.

 

[IslandLizard]

Thanks for replying guys.
I did some more research and figure I used to little water for the washing. I divided that jar in two and added more water than is looking better now.

Should I now rack this milky layer into other jars letting the trub behind?

First, listen to what @flars said and posted. ^

Your jar has a thin layer of yeast on top of a thick layer of yeasty trub. What's often forgotten is that trubby bottom layer contains a lot of yeast, much more than the little amount lying on top. The trub won't harm the yeast, it's mostly esthetics.

You can't really "rack" that thin layer on top and sucking it up with a turkey baster won't be sanitary. Keeping excellent sanitation is paramount, or your next batch from that yeast will be infected. Just use it as is, trub and all. It's all fine.

On a side note, yeast keeps better stored under beer than under water, so next time leave a little beer behind, swirl up the yeast cake, and pour into a jar. I use a half gallon glass pickle jar for that. Then divide into smaller jars. I never rinse yeast. Yeast washing is a whole different process, and involves an acid.

If you have little trub in your fermentor, your yeast will be cleaner, although trubby yeast will store and ferment equally well.

In your next batch, use about 1/4 of the total yeast cake from the previous batch. If it's older than 2-3 months make a new starter from some of it. Use a yeast calculator like Homebrew Dad's or Mr.Malty to calculate how much old slurry to use and how big a starter you'd need.

Also read up on yeast ranching. You would overbuild your yeast starters, then save some out, pitch the rest. For the next batch, you again overbuild the starter, save some out for the following batch, etc.

 

[Augusto Sotero]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I read the post @flars sent, really good info. Got what you mean @IslandLizard, I don’t have problems with trubby yeast, I am ok pouring everything in my next batch. My only concern is about pitching rates.

I do like to have more or less consistent pitching rates and reusing yeast I am afraid of losing control of the amount of yeast I am pitching as I don’t have a microscope for cell count.

So, for instance, in the pictures @flars post all the jars have a layer of something whiter and something more dark. I just consider everything as being yeast? How do you guys do to estimate the quantity of yeast cells in the jars?

My point is: I have seen some info online (like mr malty) about estimating the number of cells in the slurry, but I am not sure what to consider slurry or not.

 

[flars]

When it is all mixed up it is slurry. After a few days, to a week for some yeasts, of refrigeration you can estimate the percentage of hop debris by the layers that form or with some yeasts or how not creamy white it is throughout. I estimate 2 billion to 4 billion cells per milliliter. It helps to use the pint canning jars that have embossed milliliter marks. WY 3711 is the only yeast I estimate 4 billion cells per milliliter when it is very, very clean. Other yeasts I estimate 2 billion for fairly clean to clean.

You will not cause any damage to 5 gallon brews by over pitching unless you go to the extreme of pitching in gallons, or pretty close to a gallon.

I use this calculator for starters and pitch rates.
http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

 

[Augusto Sotero]

When it is all mixed up it is slurry. After a few days, to a week for some yeasts, of refrigeration you can estimate the percentage of hop debris by the layers that form or with some yeasts or how not creamy white it is throughout. I estimate 2 billion to 4 billion cells per milliliter. It helps to use the pint canning jars that have embossed milliliter marks. WY 3711 is the only yeast I estimate 4 billion cells per milliliter when it is very, very clean. Other yeasts I estimate 2 billion for fairly clean to clean.

You will not cause any damage to 5 gallon brews by over pitching unless you go to the extreme of pitching in gallons, or pretty close to a gallon.

I use this calculator for starters and pitch rates.
http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

Thanks @flars, think I got it.

So, to make sure, in this picture I am posting this darker layer at the bottom I consider as being trub and don’t account that as being yeast correct ? The white layer on top of that (which will probably get thicker as more yeast floculate) I consider as being clean yeast and estimate the cells from that right ?

 

[flars]

Thanks @flars, think I got it.

So, to make sure, in this picture I am posting this darker layer at the bottom I consider as being trub and don’t account that as being yeast correct ? The white layer on top of that (which will probably get thicker as more yeast floculate) I consider as being clean yeast and estimate the cells from that right ?

View attachment 568982

You can also call the bottom darker layer slurry. It does contain yeast. You are right. The highest concentration of yeast cells is above in the next layer and the cells that are still suspended. You can estimate the number of cells after the yeast has settled above the slurry layer (bottom layer) and still pitch the slurry layer as a few more bonus cells without harming the fermentation.

 

[Augusto Sotero]

You can also call the bottom darker layer slurry. It does contain yeast. You are right. The highest concentration of yeast cells is above in the next layer and the cells that are still suspended. You can estimate the number of cells after the yeast has settled above the slurry layer (bottom layer) and still pitch the slurry layer as a few more bonus cells without harming the fermentation.

Thank you! All sorted in my mind now =)