Another yeast harvesting question..

[Schikitar]

Hi all,

I'm new to harvesting and I have been reading through and everything makes sense but I just want to see what people think about what I have here (see attached)...

I have enhanced the colour here just to make it a bit easier to see the separation. This was basically a whole yeast cake I harvested from a brew a couple weeks ago (WL051). I've washed it once so far.

I just pulled this from the fridge as I want to make a starter from it but I'm not sure how exactly to get to the 'good stuff'..??

Can someone please hold my hand!?

 

[Hpal]

Just pour most of the liquid out, pour the yeast layer into your ready to go starter and that's it! Doesn't matter if you get some of the liquid and some of the trub as well. That's how I'd do it anyway. Boil up a starter of 100g dry malt and 1 litre of water and 'no chill' it into a 2L milk bottle, cool it, shake it and pitch the yeast.

 

[MitchD]

If you are ready to go I'd decant the top layer and pitch the middle layer, trying to avoid adding the bottom layer. Plenty of healthy yeast ready to go straight away.

 

[MitchD]

You want 0.5-0.7 million cells/millilitre/ degree Plato. For an ale. You had half a chance of getting your pitching rate correct the first pitch in, now the odds are not in your favour. With that amount of slurry you are more than over pitching but check Mr malty slurry pitching calculator to make sure, throwing a starter into it and who knows what you are pitching.

 

[Schikitar]

Thanks all. I'm going into a BIIPA so an overpitch is fine. So that second layer from the bottom is the layer that I need? Not sure how to separate it from the bottom layer of trub..