Chop & Brew - Episode 04: Washing Yeast with Don O.
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- Опубликовано: 29 мар 2013
- We've had a lot of requests for a how-to on washing yeast. Your wish is our command. In this episode, Chip and his buddy Don Osborn walk through the steps of washing yeast for the purpose of reusing it for brewing more beer at home. This easy process should yield healthy, clean yeast that's ready to rip into your next batch of wort. It's a great way to save a few bucks and, more importantly, keep a unique yeast strain around for a few generations. [Original postdate: March 30, 2013]
Related Links:
Don Osborn website including his awesome Homebrew Log
donosborn.com/
Don Osborn's epic RUclips page
/ donosborn
C&B Lagniappe: Portico Tasting Notes (mentioned in outro)
• Tasting Notes: Portica... 
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I used Don O's method to wash the yeast from my patersbier and used the yeast in my tripel. Everything turned out great. Probably the best yeast washing method presented on RUclips. Excellent work, gentlemen!
This video couldn't of come at a better time. Thanks to you and homebrewing legend Don O. for this video. I'm going to try my first yeast wash next Sunday and you both made it look soooooo easy that it may be part of my regular routine. Thanks again!!!
Learnin bout yeast washing at 30,000 ft somewhere in the middle of Australia. Yeow
Safe travels!
Cheers chip, keep up the great work! Love the humour and the show!!!!
Welcome back to the interwebs Chip! Love the video.
Great video guys! Glad to see you two back on camera together! I will be doing this with my next batch. You guys rock!
Tried this this morning for the first time. It didn't look quite the same as what you guys had going, so we'll see. Thanks for the how-to help!
I did this just today using your video. I have been brewing for and have thought about washing my yeast for awhile but just never got around to it. It worked great! (I think) Love the keeping the carboy on its side tip! Thanks Chip and Don O!
P.S. I've watched almost all of you and Don O's vids, they are sweet! Please keep producing my dudes!
Great video. I will definitely be trying this with some 3711 to ensure I have some on hand for the whole summer brewing season.
Glad to have you back Chip. I like where you're going with C&B, maybe even more than I liked BTV (which is saying a lot). Keep 'em coming!
Thank you for giving the full description on what to do with it from start to starting all over. Every other video just shows up to bottling the yeast. So thank you for clearing up the questions i had.
Jon Valdivia We got you, JonO!
Great how-to video. I will have to give it a try soon. thanks!
Great info... will be referring back to this vid once I progress a bit in my homebrewing. Cheers.
Best of the Yeast Washing Videos!:
I am still using kits, but always watching vids to learn 'next' steps... Months ago, I spent an afternoon watching vids on yeast washing. Then I watched 'em all again today... It all makes much more sense now, but this video also puts ALL the best points together and has several points one won't even see in other vids. Nice work gentlemen.
Robert Albert w
That lace on the beer. Oh damn :D
Thanks for the video!
Awesome vid. I watched Don's other video about making a yeast starter and that helped a lot too. The method I used now is with 2x 1/2 gallon mason jars: I boil some water, let it cool, and dump it into one jar; then I swirl the dregs of the primary and dump that into the other jar; then I fill that jar up with water from the other jar. Next brew day I put it in the freezer for about 25 minutes, decant off most of the beer, then spoon out the pure yeast band and make a starter with it.
Can't wait to try this tomorrow! Great video boys
Hey guys, great video per usual. I always use a similar method to yours, although I may incorporate the first step (carboy side settling). I just wanted to say I read awhile back and tried an approach where you do a yeast starter, split it (2-3 jars), then propagate again from one of the jars into another starter for the beer. This method allows you to avoid rinsing the yeast and is a good alternative. I can say, this method involves more resources (DME) and time so it does have its drawbacks.
I've been doing this for years. If your brewing on a budget like most of us this is s great way to save some money. I just brewed a pale ale yesterday with yeast that I saved and washed from a IPA I brewed a week or so earlier. Fermentation typically takes off within 2 hours wham I use washed yeast.
Cheers
As always awesome job chip. Your the man! I'd also like to see you guys make a starter with that yeast.
Chip, so glad I found your channel. I used to love BrewingTV. I stop washing yeast a long time ago. I am to anal about my pitch rates. And its hard to know how many live cells you are getting from washing or what your cell count is. When I get a new strain I just make a bigger starter than I need by 100 billion cells. and pour that off the starter into a mason jar before I pitch. Then I have yeast for next time. Easier for me than washing. But gets you the same results. Keep up the good work bro
Loving chop and brew :-) keep the episode coming
Good Stuff! Especially for saving something special like the Strain you washed in the Video, or maybe 1217 which isn't for sale anymore. Cheers!
Hey Don, thanks for the tip on this vid. cca 2013....sort of feels like watching an old Friends episode and wonder that the characters have chamged so much. Thanks for the info, K
Great episode. Thanks!
Best brewing channel on youtube.
Chips hair has grown in lol !! :) Awesome vid guys!!
Thanks for your information, Derek! Freezer - smart!
Great video! Thank you!
I think it depends on how larger the starter is and if you literally have room in (or want to fill) your carboy/bucket. I generally give the whole thing a good swirl off the stir plate and just pitch it all in. However, I think you could also let it sit and settle for a while... then pour off a good bit of liquid, leaving enough in the flask/vessel to get what yeast is in there into solution and pitch the smaller amount.
Very helpful. Thanks!
Great video guys...best yeast washing vid on the 'tube :)
Thanks for great video.
Two dudes I want to share a homebrew with are definitely Chip and DonO. Been looking into washing yeast. Imperial yeast is great yeast but gosh darn it is it expensive. Also, I have noticed English strains like my favorite Nottingham and Imperial G03 Dieter taste better in the second, third and even fourth generation. Also, I kick myself because I got the Tasmanian Devil kit from Northern Brewer this summer but didn't save the yeast and it's a White Labs limited release. Been just doing slurry but I think washing the yeast will give me a chance to keep strains longer in the fridge and keep a more pure strain. Cheers guys! Chip, I'm still bummed that you let those hops go.
Just one of those things where I can get all the hops I need from other sources so my heart just wasn't in it. But I appreciate the rest of your comment here too!
Thanks for this info. I appreciate it. It looks like it will save me some money. :)
Thank you for this video! I saved my Vermont IPA Giga Yeast with this technique. I can't source the yeast locally, and I am not a fan of having liquid yeast shipped from online stores. You guys rock :D
Hahaha Guys, it's always good to see you : ) - Doing THa ThinG! :)
I recently stumbled upon sort of 'reverse' yeast washing. The whole idea, is to do washing of the starter (from 1st gen from smack pack / vial) yeast. It's free of trub & old, mutated yeasties.
Other way is to make starters from yeast slants, stabs etc. But that's really whole different story :)
Cheers!!! Thanks again and...... WE (the crowd) WANT MOOOOAARRR !! :)
7 years later, I'm just seeing this comment... and it makes a lot of sense to me. Good lookin' out.
excellent washing video!
thanks for the vídeo... I've made it once, and it happend just as expected. but the last two tryies, there is no dark yeast layer at the botton. It all look the same. would you have any idea what happend?
Great tutorial guys!
We actually posted an 18-month tasting notes video on this RUclips channel. Go check out the second video in the list. Cheers!
Hi Chip,
For the right yeast, I prefer to top crop my yeast.
Thanks for the video
Cheers
Excellent, good his guys Ty
Wort temp and aeration play a big part in kick starting the yeast. Give it a day, it should find it's stride soon. FYI I've had yeast that fires up in 6-8 hours and others that took 48.
I just did this myself. Now I'm looking for recipe for Irish yeast.
Have you guys ever top harvested? I wonder how that would work versus washing. Working with liquid yeast I want to pitch the whole starter, but now that I have this washed yeast I'll build it up and pitch half to avoid washing.
Last try! Thanks for the videos, real people talking about their passion. Very refreshing! ..... F-ing iPads
Question: if you don't make a starter and don't mind the lag time, would there be any other differences? like the starter one turns out with a lower fg than the one without a starter?
When you make a starter do you dump the whole thing while it's at peak activity or do you let it finish out, then decant?
cheers chip and don o
Would it be possible(and easier) to make big starters and save a portion of it instead of having to wash it each time?
Hey chip thanks for this video I love the series, but I do have a question. Should I pull the yeast off my primary or secondary? Or does it not matter? Thanks
why do you replay your videos on a loop??put them in assending order for a binge nite of videos???
Does this select for less flocculant yeast?
Found it! Thanks Chip! Subbed.
HELP!! if my yeast doesn't seem like it's working right off is it dead or am I not waiting long enough? Today was my first batch ever. After an hour not much yeast action. It's a stout...oh, and it's 20 miles away now that I'm back home. Should or could we pitch more yeast in the morning if it isn't alive?? thanks for any help.
Any opinions on using the ~viability=e^-t/150 while under refrigeration to ensure a viable sample for a starter. 3 months should be conservative, depending on the conditions of course. I have just started in freezing yeast. I took a small amount from a pure pitch and built a small starter in a 250ml mason jar beside my main starter for a batch. I let the yeast do its wondrous and beautiful thing. But the mason jar gets special treatment. It was split into two jars for freezing. A mixture of nutrient, and vegetable glycerin for a 30% solution and stored for freezing. The way I see it, that is atleast 12-15 batches off of the original smackpack/purepitch 35ml with 4-5 generations per sample, and if taken care of could be stretched to 7. So from $7.99+dme for starter to $0.67-0.53+$dme for starter per 5G batch. I am hoping it all works out. Frozen yeast should last years, vs months and you can find vegetable glycerin at a convenient store for
What about creating a starter larger than you need and just pouring off some of it into one of these mason jars? I've tried this for a few of my yeasts, but I brewed with them only about a month or so later.
Hey chip, what is the size of the mason jars?
I've been storing my yeast in the cloud.
LULZ!
Nice stuff guyz ✌️
A bit long of a video, but good information worth watching to save a lil $. Just shook up a couple of my jars in the fridge since they settled too much. Didn't think about that.
Yeah, we like to let things breathe. In Norway, they call it Slow TV. Glad you stuck around for the whole things. Here's to healthy yeast for generations... cheers!
I love the channel Chip! I was wondering if you plan to do a follow up video on the Bad Ass Burton Ale you made with Bryon Adams. Or did you guys already drink it all?... :)
I believe they are a pint?
Good video, I would really like to start washing to save a little cash on yeast and buy other items
One suggestion would be to have some sanitised foil handy; and cover the neck of the carboy at all times - just in case.
I've often consolidated mason jars from say 4 down to 2 or even 1 to save room. You do the same steps here, but after the yeast has settled at the bottom of the jar:
1. I pour out 80% of the water from each jar.
2. Shake each jar to re-suspend the yeast in the remaining water.
3. Then pour the slurry into 1 or 2 jars. (Typically 1 jar)
This gives you a concentrated batch of yeast and will take off with a starter.
I have done a version of that when I use the bottom of 2 mason jars into one yeast starter. But your idea would work too, and save room like you say. :)
sborn
After say, a week, can I pour the clear liquid off and then pour the yeast at the bottom into yeast vials I've saved from liquid yeast purchases? In other words, do I really need to keep all the clear liquid on top? Does it do anything at all that just putting the bottom yeast into a full vial wouldn't do as well?
Always enjoy your videos guys!
Wow! Maybe I'm anal as far as cleanliness (no need to reply) but I wanted to whack some foil on those open bottles and put the funnel back in some sterilizer.
As far as washing and generations - I keep using it and washing it until the end product doesn't taste how I expected.
I like to store small amounts of hard to get yeasts in the freezer in a glycerin filled test tube.
They last for years that way. And as for refrigerator stored as you did - I've even used those after over a year with good results.
Love the ChopAndBrew my 2 faves together.
Cheers!
Tried this today, 4 pints Belgian wheat yeast in the fridge. Look up Brownian motion, the physics of why it works?
I read about a guy who decided no yeast washing for him. He just makes a much bigger starter and stores whatever he doesn't pitch. Thoughts???
If your gonna do yeast cultivation or washing a lot, your better off just investing into a large sep funnel and stand.
10:40 cool looking bottle
Washing yeast is one of those things that I find interesting in theory, but sadly I only brew about once every six months, so it's easier for me to just purchase new yeast each time. Cool vid, though.
Question. Will one of those mason jars do a 5 gallon 1060 IPA if I make a starter or should I use 2 mason jars. And can you really store it for 2 months? I've read 2 weeks is about the storage life ??? Great video !!!
Yes if you make a starter from one jar (assuming you have a fair amt of yeast at the bottom) should be plenty for a 1.060 beer. And yes you can store for a couple months. In that case you for sure want to make a starter (even though I usually do anyway).
I have the same amount in each of my 7 mason jars. How many jars do I need for a starter in my next 1.050 batch of Pilsner? I wonder how much I do have? 25 ml? 50?
The answer would be, it depends. It depends on how much yeast you have in each jar, how big the jars are, how old it is, etc. I usually try to get two quart jars that settle down to maybe 1cm or less of pretty clean-looking yeast. That amount of yeast would be more than enough for 5 gallons of 1.050 Pils. I usually make a starter just to get the yeast going. As for actual amounts (in ml or even cells of yeast), I have no idea how all that works. :) But using common sense and good brewing practices usually yields nice results.
Great video thanks!! How long do you have to wait to use the washed yeast is a week too soon?
You can tell by looking at it. It seems to settle in a few days and get really clear in like a week.
After you poured it into the 1 gallon container, and waited awhile. Then poured it into (4) 16 ounce containers. You left about a half a gallon of liquid, was that the trub (sediment) you left behind?
Essentially yes. And possibly some yeast but the goal here is trying to get a good amount of the healthy, clean yeast for saving.
Hey folks, could use some help here! I started this process, got my yeast cake swirled into my boiled/cooled gallon of water, and got it into my 1 gallon growler. At this point, I ran out of time and just tossed it into the fridge, where it has been for about a month. Now, I would like to finish the process, but could use some tips on how to proceed! My thoughts are to just to shake well and pick up where I left off, but why not poll the audience! Any thoughts? Thanks!
Brandon Bray DonO is out of pocket currently, but your plan sounds smart. Shake to reincorporate and give it a shot.
When I wash yeast, I just bottle it in clear 12 oz bottles (coke or corona) and put a regular cap on it. This fits better in the fridge. The day before my brew day, I dump out 70% of the water, swirl the yeast loose, add 5ish oz of starter wort (DME) and put a air lock right in top of the bottle. By the next day, yeast is ready to rock and roll.
One concern I saw in the video was the open carboy during wash 1 and the open (funneled) gallon jug during wash 2. Is this not risking contamination of your yeast?
Do you get enough yeast for a complete healthy fermentation with your method? Seems like it might not be enough. But if it works, it works. As for your question, naw. No concern of infection If you want you could put some foil or saran wrap over the mouth I suppose. I've been brewing long enough to not be concerned about something like that. :) cheers.
One thing I've never understood about using a yeast starter is how to know how much to pitch. I typically use dry yeast, which with cells per gram and cells per plato I know exactly how much to add, but how do I know how many cells are in a volume of starter?
Wolfie7873 You don't need a starter with dry yeast. I've poured a packet of dry yeast in to a 1.092 beer and it took off within a day. That's why I use almost entirely dry yeast for home brewing.
Do you have to feed the yeast you have washed? While its being stored I mean
+Grant Martin No. It goes dormant in a cool refrigerator (do not freeze, though!). You just feed it when you "wake it up" and bring it to room temperature to make a new starter.
Damnit...that Don O has some fantastic hair.
Are one of them small jars good for a 10 gal batch , or 5 gallon? Thanks
tom jefferson What size jar are you thinking of? It is really up to each person. I'm sure it can be done any number of ways. I usually wash yeast from a 5 gallon batch down into a couple quart jars and maybe a pint jar. You could use smaller jars but if you pour less liquid into them you will be ending up with less yeast. You probably would still have plenty of yeast to put into a starter and use, though.
+tom jefferson I have no problem using a small jar for a 5 gal even without a starter. I usually use a starter but in an emergency I've had to dump a jar in without a starter and it's been fine.
I wish I had watched this two days ago, before I racked my brown ale out of primary and poured my yeast down the drain.
4 years later... have you tried washing since then?
does washing yeast from ciders have less or more trob? I've got 2 ciders going right now and I want to saving the yeast from them, one is a cherry Apple cider (which i know will have a bit of trip from the cherries) the other is a basic cider with a little cinnomin and vanilla in it. I'm hoping the yeast picks up a hint of the added flavors and I can make something really interesting with them
Westward Smile I am not 100% sure. Seems to me, from limited past experience with ciders, that there is not as much trub. I haven't heard of anyone cleaning cider yeast personally; maybe someone else can weigh in here.
ChopAndBrew just a quick follow up there was very little washing needed and had a ton of yeast, probably 4 batches worth. I'll be making a batch with some of it as soon as I have an open fermenter.
Westward Smile Very cool to hear. Very little washing... because it bottoms up better than in beer? Interested to see how second generations work for you.
So lets say you use a WL 1056 in the original batch. After washing, are you still going to have those characteristics of that yeast for future beers? Just wondering so I can label in my fridge so I don't forget what yeast got washed. Thanks.
+Eric Hanson For the most part, yes. The only exceptions I have seen are with non-standard brewing yeast. So a situation where there are bug and critters as well , like in a wild or sour beer. If you wash that yeast, some of those things seem to get left behind. But in regular sacc yeasts (ale or lager) yes you will get the same result from batch to batch.
+donosborn Hey Don O, so you find you get worse results from washing a sour? I'm thinking of doing an evolving wooden funk-barrel soon, I had heard you can grow your funk and evolve it over time like a sour bread culture
+Basil Wallace I am not an expert in this area, but I can say this, you might get a different beer from using the washed results of a sour than you do from the original beer, if that makes sense. My friend made a Sanctification beer (with those dregs) and it was tart and nice. Then he washed the yeast and sent me some. I made a beer with that, and while it was a perfectly good, clean, wild tasting beer, it was not sour at all. So something got lost in the washing, I guess. Or somewhere along the way. What some people do is keep adding fresh wort into their barrels or fermenters after they package out a sour. But like I said, I am not an expert on that.
+donosborn yeah that was the alternative idea, keep pitching wort onto the yeast cake and evolve it that way. I know that bret will sink into the wood, and can survive off the carbs in the wood for many more than a year, after a while I think you would need to repitch some fresh yeast, but your bret and lacto cultures should be fine
I've been researching methods for washing yeast. This vid has been super helpful, but I'm still left with questions. For our last 7 brews I have dumped all the sediment from our fermenters into sanitized mason jars, then placed in fridge. We have like a 4 inch layer of sediment, and then the clear beer floating above, like an inch deep. From these jars, is it possible to wash yeast from them? They have been in fridge for 2-4 weeks. All info is much appreciated! Also, we have another channel we are working on with homebrew, hiking, and sailing vids. Hopefully will turn out well when we go live with it. I primarily use this channel for viewing and saving liked videos only. Do you have an email that we(my wife and I) could be in contact with? Best, Cody
Just going through some of the comments on this vid... While I haven't tried it, I don't see why you couldn't wash a slurry/yeast cake that you had previously collected. What I'd do is boil and cool some water so it is "sanitized" or what not. You might need a bigger vessel, but I'd mix the water in with the slurry and swirl it all up. Then the settling should start and you should be able to pour off the yeast. The only way this would not work is if after that amount of time the yeast and slurry are sort of "joined" and don't settle out separately. But I'm not sure if that happens or not. You could give it a try.
I've heard of people freezing yeast too...Have you tried that Chip?
I never have and not sure what I think about it. Seems like you could kill them as opposed to putting them into hibernation. Good question for Mr. Dawson for sure!
This is unnecessary tbh. And you are also selecting the least flocculate yeast cells. Just dump the cake in a jar with some of the beer on it.Store at -1c - 0c. Pitch it cold directly into the fermenter when time comes.
Primary, there will be much more yeast than secondary
Never do this to save money. ( Do Not Reuse Yeast !! ) When you are
ready to brew make a yeast starter split into 3rds pitch 1 and put the
other two in the refrigerator. No need to wash or clean yeast.( will
last 3 months in refrigerator ) or drain off beer and add sanitized
water then freeze.( will last 2 years + )
P.S. Always make a yeast starter when you brew !!
What Would Bob Do? Make a Starter!
Chip, Can I send you some money to buy some lights?
I'm saving $25 by washing some WL-001 tonight. F
Chap Wilton! lol
Drunk post! J
I quit!