This article describes the process of washing yeast, according to the procedure recommended by [[[yeast]] culture company Wyeast. Washing yeast allows a homebrewer to recover yeast from a finished batch of beer for repitching or storage for future brewing.
Contents
Materials
- One primary fermenter from which the beer has been siphoned or removed.
- Three sanitized 1 quart mason jars with lids, filled half full of sterile or boiled water, then cooled to refrigerator temperature (38 F)
Procedures
- Sanitize the opening of the carboy.
- Pour the water from one of the quart jars into the carboy. Swirl to agitate the yeast, hop residual, and trub from the bottom.
- Pour carboy contents back into the empty jar and replace the cover.
- Agitate the jar to allow separation of the components. Continue to agitate periodically until obvious separation is noticeable.
- While the viable yeast remains in suspension, pour off this portion, into the second jar, being careful to leave as much of the hops and trub behind as possible.
- Agitate the second container to again get as much separation of yeast from particulate as possible. Allow contents to rest, then pour off any excess water from the surface.
- Pour off yeast fraction, which suspends above the particulate into the third container. Store this container up to 1 month refrigerated. Pour off liquid and add wort, 2 days before brewing or repitch into a new brew straight away
