Can I wash yeast from my primary if I started with a dry yeast?

I am a newbie but I would like to try to salvage some yeast from my primary. I was wondering if I could wash the yeast from a batch of caribou slobber which is in my primary. I have been reading that washing yeast from a primary if a dry yeast packet was used is really not recommended. Any input is appreciated

You certainly can harvest the yeast. The only difference is that you now have liquid yeast based on the dry yeast used. Read through this topic for more info on rinsing, or not rinsing to maximize the yeast harvested.

Not recommended? By who?

OK, so dry yeast, being cheaper than liquid, many say “It’s not worth the bother” but that’s not a technical reason. Go ahead and reuse!

That said, I usually just save part of the cake from the previous batch, and don’t do all the multi-step “washing” process. Regardless of dry or liquid.

I never heard that either. I always save my yeast wether started from dry or liquid. Can’t get any fresher than off the cake.

Years ago dry yeast was not the quality that it is now. Most serious brewers I knew would not even use it. The thought was that dry yeast was so bad that reusing it was a huge risk.

Today dry yeast is excellent. I bet most of us here use it. I use it often and have harvested it for reuse. In most cases it is a little more that half the cost of liquid but that is not why I use it. No popping the inner packet and waiting for the package to blow up. Not much worry about the date because dry yeast lasts a long time. In my case no fuss at all since I almost always just open the dry yeast packet and sprinkle it right in the fermenter. Some will argue the latter one though.

So long story short. Go ahead and harvest it.

Iv heard that treated often was it true the yeast was no good or they just didn’t have the variety

Definitely more variety of liquid yeasts. I went through my “liquid yeast is better” phase, but I got over it. Over the last year, most of my batches have been S-04 or US-05.

You can make a ton of beers with those two yeasts.