so i'm about to do this for the first time today -and i've been reading the wiki (http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/wiki/doku.php?id=washing_yeast)
my question is regarding the santisation of the jars is it enough to sanitise or do I need to actually sterilise ?
I'll be transfering to secondary today so will have my vinegar and bleach sanitiser - will this do for the jars in step 3 ??
I remember readin a long in depth article on yeast washing bout a year ago and the dude had pics of jars being sterilised in a pot of boiling water -although to be fair he was using these as his end storage not just an intermedite - I have the vials from shane ( cheers dude !) - so thats where it will ultimatley live, i'm just wondering about those jars in step 3
thanks guys !
oh - as an aside - or follow up - any chance of a wiki article on creating a yeast starter ?? - does it merit one ? or is it too simple
- I've been wondering if I should be freezing some wort from a batch and use that the next time or if some dried malt extract is ok ?
( I do have @ a litre of frozen wort - taht and some frozen mashed grain - thinkin of making some beer bread soon ! but could for go taht for a starter !!)
an outline of the procedure would be great
thanks again !!! ( Happy Paddys Day hangover !!!)
Put simply,yeast are a bitch at getting infections so boiling the jars that will come in contact with the yeast is just good practise. If you ever watch a video clip of a lab,every time they plan to touch a yeast sample,they run a naked flame over the instrument to kill any little lurgeebeans that came from the air. :)
yeah - was thinking the boiling would be the only way really - trying to plan out the time it'll take and was hoping some one would say - I just sanitise - not sterilise !!!
thanks for the quick reply Dempsey - I'd better get cracking so !!
so I've done step 2 - seems like its taking more than 20 mins - have it in a 2 litre kilner jar - yanks call em mason jars - the ones with the grolsh style clip tops....
.. anyway - I wanna head off soon - am I right in thinking I could leave this until @ 9 o clock tonight and then put it into teh jam jars for teh week - have those sterilised and the lids on
I remember reading before .. and I think this might apply to what I am suggesting - If I leave it now for a few hours - I'll end up with 3 layers - 1 the water/beer mix - 2. the yeast 3. the trub
so come back later - pour off teh top liquid and harvest the middle layer of yeast - dump bottom layer
how does taht sound
and if I do this - should I put my 2 litre jar in top the fridge for the few hours ???
thanks !!
ok -cool - i'm guessing i dont actually need to care about refrigeration at this pint then ( which is just as well as I cant fit the large jar into the fridge anyway !! )
I recently came across this blog : http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.ie/2013/01/yeast-washing-revisited.html
It and another of his experiments suggest that the trub/slurry contains a vast amount of viable yeast. Also, the beer/water mixture on the top layer contains 100 times the bacteria per yeast tan the other layers.
Just something else to keep in mind.
I only saved yeast for the first time last week. I split the trub and have decanted the beer/water off. I'll see what happens.
Ah - bit beyond me at the minute shane - don't even know what slanting is yet !!!
What would be classed as long term storage?
Any thoughts on the yeast starter article ? Too simplistic to merit one ?
so.. I goit back to it a few mins ago - there was 3 layers - i threw off the top one - harvested the 2nd and dunped the trub - got 2 good sized jars in the fridge for the week now - and then I'll use the little tubey things
theres a no-knead bread recipie that I came across recently - dont have the link to hand - I'm thinking i may use one of teh yeast vials ( ah thats the word !)
combined with some frozen wort and the frozen grain to make some "beer bread " ;D
so.. me being me - the bloody jars are still in the fridge (since last post (March 18th - so @ 2 weeks ? )
Am I still ok to put these into those tube things and use it ?
Or would it be damaged - infected ?
there is the yeast at the bottom and the beer liquid on the top
washed yeast 3-4 weeks no probs
cool ! was worried there - thought I should dump it and wait till the next batch - nice one !!