Hey all. Just joined and this is my first post. I tried washing some yeast for my last extract brew. I pitched it and expected it to start fermenting quicker than the dry yeast i usually use. After 12 hrs, no action. The only thing i did different is sterilize the jars in star san before i put the yeast in them. I did boil but wanted to make sure they were sterile. do you think the star san effected the yeast?
The StarSan did not affect the yeast…at least not in a negative way. And for the record, StarSan sanitizes, it does not sterilize.
Yep, shouldn’t be the Starsan.
How long has it been sense that yeast was active in the previous beer?
sorry its been so long but i been workin non stop…it was 2 weeks from pitching until I washed…sterilize or sanitize…must admit i dont no what the difference is…Thanks for the replys
Sanitizing is killing off MOST nasties for safe handing. Sterilizing is killing off ALL nasties.
Is everything going well with your beer now?
I sterilize ball jars with foil on top of them in a canning sized pressure cooker. Its very handy I sterilize the plate chiller in there too.
I put mine in the dishwasher to clean them and dunk the jars, lids and rings in starsan just before I fill them with rinsed yeast. I would think that’s sufficient. Haven’t had a problem yet.
I fill two mason jars with water and put them in the pressure canner with the weight equal to five pounds and boil for ten minutes. When finished I have sterile water in sterile jars, just store in the closet or in a dark area.When ready to use I pop open the lid, spray the lip with star-san and pour one jar in fermenter and swirl, pour that into a sanitized jug. Add the other jar of water swirl up good and put in the fridge for about twenty mins.Then pour into the two jars leaving as much of the crud and early floculating yeast in the jug as I can. Put a new lid on the jars with a spray of star-san. Place in the fridge and the next day you can see the rinsed yeast collecting on the bottom of the jars.
I make sure my jars are clean of debris, usually rinse out with water before I spray them with StarSan, let sit a bit, then pour yeast from carboy in. Works well for me. For extra security and to ease my mind, I put a piece of saran wrap over the top before I put the lid on.
After I pitch a jar of yeast, I usually rinse it out real well and put it in the dishwasher.
Update: Bottled the beer yesterday and all seems well. I did add a packet of dry yeast to the beer 1 day after pitching the washed yeast. Maybe I didnt give the washed yeast enough time? I also bottled a IPA and collected the yeast from that brew. Will try using the washed yeast again on my next brew. Do you think I should try making a starter, maybe put the washed yeast in a jar with water and corn sugar before pitching?
Thanks again for all the replies…
Definitely make a starter. Do it a few days before you plan to pitch. This way you will know your yeast is viable and also will give them a head start for fermenting the sugars in your wort. Don’t use corn sugar though as it is too easy for yeast to ferment and will make them lazy and no good to ferment your beer. Do a search on here on starter best practices.
If you judge the viability of the yeast by the quickness of the start of bubbling in the fermenter, you may be making an error. I am not sure, but I believe that the initial aerobic growth of the yeast while O2 is present doesn’t or shouldn’t produce CO2 bubbles, I think the switch from reproductive growth to the production of alcohol (and CO2) begins when the O2 is all used up and anaerobic action takes over. So, if I am correct (and I hope someone clarifies or corrects this if I am not correct) as long as there is O2 present, the yeast are reproducing and multiplying. Once the O2 is used up, the CO2 bubbles starts.
Actually, the Crabtree Effect says that fermentation begins pretty much right away in the presence of a >.05% glucose solution. There really aren’t distinct phases.
Oh my! Had to google “the crabtree effect” after reading Denny’s post. Wish I didn’t. I feel stupider now.
Crabtree effect
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Named after the English biochemist Herbert Grace Crabtree, the Crabtree effect describes the phenomenon whereby the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, produces ethanol (alcohol) aerobically in the presence of high external glucose concentrations rather than producing biomass via the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the usual process occurring aerobically in most yeasts e.g. Kluyveromyces spp. Increasing concentrations of glucose accelerates glycolysis (the breakdown of glucose) which results in the production of appreciable amounts of ATP through substrate-level phosphorylation. This reduces the need of oxidative phosphorylation done by the TCA cycle via the electron transport chain and therefore decreases oxygen consumption. The phenomenon is believed to have evolved as a competition mechanism (due to the antiseptic nature of ethanol) around the time when the first fruits on Earth fell from the trees [1].
found a video on utube…they made the starter with some dry malt which i dont have. would the extract in my kit work? hope so, thats all i got besides corn sugar
