Rinsing Yeast as part of a Repitch

[Oktober]

After listening to Brew Strong's Repitching Yeast Show, I learned about Jamil's method for 'rinsing' the yeast before a repitch. It was an 'Ah Ha!' moment for me, as the method is so simple and effective, but I was clueless to it before. Needless to say, I went home and tried it out on a slug of Chico yeast I got from a local brewery, which is in my fridge.

I ended up boiling H2O for 5-10 minutes in the microwave using two separate pyrex measuring cups. After boiling, they were covered with foil and force cooled in an ice bath (fyi - borosilicate doesn't transfer heat well, so it took a lot longer than expected). Once cooled, I added 8 oz of sanitized water to the mason jar containing the yeast and shook the hell out of it to get everything into suspension. After sitting for 10-15 minutes, I decanted off 80-90% of the slurry into one of the now-empty sanitized measuring cups and covered it. The remaining 'gunk' in the mason jar was washed out with the second measuring cup of sanitized water to dispose of the unwanted stuff.

After everything was done, I poured the good slurry back into the mason jar, put the top on loosely, and its back in the fridge. As of this morning, the yeast has settled out and has a nice uniform, healthy look without specs of hops, etc.

I was curious to know if other BN'ers rinse their yeast before repitching as well, and if so, what's their process for doing so. I'm uber paranoid about contamination, so I'm trying to find ways to improve my ad-hoc method. Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks!

-Okt

[seanhagerty]

I pour it in with out rinsing. I guess I just like it easy and dirty.

Sean

[Sent From My iPhone]

When I do rinse I pretty much do what you describe. Sometimes I just use Coors Lite.

[brodie113]

I do pretty much what you describe too. I have a bunch of mason jars of chilled, preboiled water in the refrigerator.

But I am thinking of chilling out on all the rinsing since I normally do about 2-3 iterations of the process. If you listen to White-y talking on the Sunday Sessions, he seemed to think that the trub was less of a factor than the possible contamination. I don't know... I guess it depends on what beer it was coming from and where it's going. I do like to get all that shit out of the yeast though.

[Mylo]

I do pretty much what you describe too. I have a bunch of mason jars of chilled, preboiled water in the refrigerator.

But I am thinking of chilling out on all the rinsing since I normally do about 2-3 iterations of the process. If you listen to White-y talking on the Sunday Sessions, he seemed to think that the trub was less of a factor than the possible contamination. I don't know... I guess it depends on what beer it was coming from and where it's going. I do like to get all that shit out of the yeast though.

I listened live to that show, and I explicitly asked Whitey if "yeast washing" was necessary. He said no, but I believe that he makes a distinction in his mind regarding "washing" vs. "rinsing". Jamil practices rinsing. If anything, it gets rid of some of the more flocculant dead yeast.


Mylo

[brew_chica]

I've done washing all of... twice I think and it makes me really paranoid about contamination from all the handling. I try to keep the yest clean by letting the wort settle out in the carboy for several hours to overnight (in the fridge ideally) for all the proteins and hop sediment to settle out - rack off into another clean carboy and pitch. They yeast comes out really clean from the primary fermentation and I only have to handle it as much as it takes to get it into a snaitized mason jar or into the next brew. I re-use yeast about 4 times before tossing it and so far haven't seemed to get any off flavors from any dead yeasties hanging out in the slurrie.

Brew on!
~brew_chica~

[mattmacleod]

I want to try this method too, but I have a question..

If I used gelatin for example as a fining, would I still be able to "wash" the yeast? As I understand it the gelatin bonds with the yeast to form particles of a greater mass, hence they drop out quicker. Do they stay bonded, or will washing allow separation?

I'm guessing that without first transferring to secondary (which I'd rather not do) I'm not going to be able to re-pitch AND fine my beers.

As a footnote, I really don't give a shit if my beer isn't clear - I know why it's not clear and I know that it doesn't affect the taste. However, when offering my homebrew to less..... er... enlightened folks it certainly helps if it's nice and bright.

[texasturdburglar]

Does this technique work differently at different temperatures and with different styles of yeast? I recently tried this with cold water and White labs english Ale yeast, which is very clumpy. I didn't notice the stratification that I have seen with other yeasts or when I have done this with room temperature water and yeast. It was all one homogeneous mixture even after over half an hour of settling after an initial vigorous shake. Any thoughts?