I washed yeast from my last batch (W1056) per the method shown on the Billybrew website. I ended up with 3 pints of "yeast" But. Looking at the pint jars 4 days later i only have about 3/16" of yeast cake in each. Is this enough to pitch for a 1.040 beer or should I make a starter?
My back of the envelope calculation says 3/16th inches of yeast in a pint jar is about 13 mL. I can't find confirmed estimates of the size of a White Labs vial right now, but it is at least 3x this amount, by my estimation, possibly even 6 times? A starter seems prudent. Edit: The Mr Malty calculator suggests you want 72 mL of this yeast, if I am using the yeast slurry section correctly Double Edit: I was assuming a 5.25 gallon batch of 1.040 wort.
Make a starter. No question. Even if you had half a pint jar full of yeast it would still be in your best interest to make a starter and get the yeast active again before pitching it into the beer you want to drink and enjoy later.
Thats what I figured. I will have to look at what I possibly could have done differently to get more yeast next time I do this.
Maybe it would be ok if you pitched the slurry from all three jars. Makes more sense to just make a starter using one jar, especially if the yeast has been in your fridge for more than a few days so the yeast is ready to get to work. Often when you pitch washed yeast right out of the fridge or without a starter you will see some lag in fermentation. Lag plus underpitching is a great way to get some stressed yeast flavor in your beer.
I've been rinsing and reusing yeast every beer now and love it. Your picture shows about what I get in my jar(s). I always do a yeast starter and when pitched starts working in less than 12 hours. Yeast starters are a good practice and really simple, more people should do them. Definitely take all your jars, minus the excess liquid slush them up and combine em and do a yeast starter. Your next beer is going to be awesome! Even do yeast starters for white labs and wyeast packs too.
Solid advice here. I have no reference, but it sure seems more efficient to combine/start/pitch/re-wash. This has the advantage of using the yeast sooner rather than later. Instead of using yeast from one jar for your next brew, use them all (when you re-wash you get it back). I guess this is the broadside approach. Your only limit in quantity is how many jars you have and shelf space in your fridge. I normally pour off five 1/2 pint bottles and it looks exactly like your photo. In my experience the yeast will always be the tiny sliver at the bottom. Most of the yeasties still end up going down the drain in the excess rinse water. For storage convenience, after a week or two I combine my jars (you will notice the liquid really clearing up). You didn't ask, but here's some tech data from Wyeast on Harvesting/Storage that I found helpful: http://www.wyeastlab.com/com-yeast-harvest.cfm http://www.wyeastlab.com/com-yeast-storage.cfm
Good news. I DID plan on doing a starter anyway and since I only brew one batch at a time using each of the 3 jars I have in the starter makes sense. I am sure the yeast won't keep "months" in the fridge.
yeast can keep for very long periods in the fridge. Ive heard that 6 months it is still pretty viable, but can be used up to 10 months after first being collected It needs a starter after a week of captivity in the fridge.
Underptiching can cause lots of nastiness. But I don't think I've ever heard of lagtime causing off flavors, unless the lag facilitates infection. Any links/references on this?
Because after that time the yeast has ceased to be active. If you pitch it into a beer without making a starter, many off flavors will be created as the yeast goes back into activity and starts to consume sugars again.
Been washing yeast for my last few batches and I love it. Barely any extra work and it can save $5 - 10 a batch, plus you can start blending and developing a house yeast strain, which I just started working on. Just got a few jars of Conan (Heady Topper yeast) from my recent batch and it looked the same as yours, only a small amount of yeast collects at the bottom but the water/beer will keep it viable for at least 3 months, although I would definitely make a starter regardless of how long it's been in the fridge
I just built up a culture of Conan myself that I'm hoping is about 600 billion cells after four stir plate starter feedings. I'm going to store it in 2 mason jars for 2 weeks in the fridge. Then I'll make a large starter with one jar the day before I brew an 11 gallon batch with it.
