Yeast Washing for Slackers

I kegged a batch last week and meant to try yeast washing/harvesting for the first time, but I got busy and didn’t actually get around to doing it. The carboy with the 1028 yeast cake has been sitting in my basement with about 1/2 of 5.4% beer on it for a week at 66-68 deg with an airlock installed.

Too late? Should I dump it and be more proactive next time?

never really understood why people “wash” yeast. What I do is rack the finished beer to keg, then pour out or scoop out as much yeast as needed into sanitized mason jar. Let it set a few days, then when you brew your next batch you can pour off the top few inches, use the middle (creamy) part, and discard the last few inches.

Why doesn’t this method, which is SO easy, work as well as “washing?”

I’m a no washer. Dump the slurry in qt jar. Keep for a year or so. Make a starter and use 3-4 spoonfuls of the slurry.

So–washing or no washing–no problem saving and reusing the yeast that has been stored in these conditions?

No washing here. After racking/kegging, I pour yeast into sanitized mason jar and store it in my kegerator. I don’t make a starter from it as long as it hasn’t been sitting for more than 4 weeks or so. I don’t see a need to wash. Some breweries wash, but it’s an acid wash to eliminate some of the bacterial contaminants. As long as you’re sanitary, you should be fine.

So–washing or no washing–no problem saving and reusing the yeast that has been stored in these conditions?[/quote]

It works for me. No one has complained about weird flavors attributed to “old” yeast.

I think the OP is concerned because it is in a big container with a shallow covering of beer at room temps?

Another “No-washer” here; just empty slurry into mason jar & use as much slurry as Mr. Malty says. I usually use within a month.

[quote=“kcbeersnob”]…no problem saving and reusing the yeast that has been stored in these conditions?[/quote]Shouldn’t be - temp wasn’t high enough to damage the yeast and it’s sitting under beer and an air-lock which limits contamination. I would harvest and use with no reservations.

So–washing or no washing–no problem saving and reusing the yeast that has been stored in these conditions?[/quote]

It works for me. No one has complained about weird flavors attributed to “old” yeast.[/quote]

Same here. No need to ‘wash’ or even ‘rinse’. Maybe it ultimately depends on the yeast strain. But generally, I’ve never had a problem with off tastes or yeast performance, even when repitching through multiple batches.

Wash or rinse if it makes you feel better…but in my experience, it makes no difference whatsoever.

I like the idea, but I am washing yeast today to get rid of the hop material.

Bingo.

[quote=“kcbeersnob”][quote=“560sdl”]I think the OP is concerned because it is in a big container with a shallow covering of beer at room temps?[/quote]Bingo.[/quote]You good now? Or need more reassurance?

[/quote]

LOL. I’m good. Thanks.

Another easy way to store the yeast is in a ziplock plastic bag. I put a few bags in a bucket in my lager chest at 49F and try to use them within a few weeks of harvest straight up or longer by making a starter.

I’ll go a step further. I split my starter to a sanitized mason jar before i pitch. No trub, no hop residue. Then the remain half I build again to another starter. No post fermentation harvesting of yeast, all pre fermentation.

as long as it was covered and no air can get to your yeast cake, you are fine/good to go. :wink:

This is something I had not considered before. I think I’ll try this.

So you build your starters twice as big as needed to pitch for each beer? Not sure how this is easier than using your current batch to create yeast for your next 2 or 3 batches.