[klickitat jim]

Personally, it's all good. Let's not develop a style guide for yeast handling with yeast handling style guide Nazis to keep us all in line. I was just pointing out how smart I am lol. Or, how I recently discovered BN.

[gymrat]

Would it work just to drop the trub out from under my current beer, refridgerate it for a couple of weeks, then drop that trub into my next beer without all this washing?

[pinnah]

I was just pointing out how smart I am lol.

 , it really is these kinds of trials and experiments that make you a better brewer! 

[hubie]

I was just pointing out how smart I am lol.

 , it really is these kinds of trials and experiments that make you a better brewer!

I really appreciate all the pictures.  It is one thing to read about what the steps are, but it really helps (me, at least) to see it as well.

[tommymorris]

Would it work just to drop the trub out from under my current beer, refridgerate it for a couple of weeks, then drop that trub into my next beer without all this washing?

That works. You can use the Mr Malty calculator to estimate how much of the old slurry you need. Use the slurry tab.

[breweite]

I just did some yeast washing this morning!  My only question is about head space:  My mason jars aren't filled to the top, will this be a problem?

[fistfullofhops]

Great report. I love the pictures. Thanks for posting.

[reverseapachemaster]

I just did some yeast washing this morning!  My only question is about head space:  My mason jars aren't filled to the top, will this be a problem?

Not necessarily but if you are concerned you can always top them up with boiled (and cooled) water.

[gymrat]

I captured these two jars of trub from my conical. I am guessing the one on the left is mostly just yeast poop. But the jar on the right is a stratus of good yeast and a strata of beer. I am thinking in two weeks all I should have to do is decant the beer off of the yeast and dump it in my new beer. Does that sound right? The styles will be very similar so I don't see any reason to "wash" the yeast. Also how tight should I have the lids on?

[klickitat jim]

Do it as tight as you would when canning. Turn the band lightly with thumb and finger tips till you feel it start to grip. That about x inch pounds of torque. In other words I have no clue. Tight enough so stuff won't crawl in, loose enough that it won't hold pressure. Once it's nice n cold that doesn't matter as much.

[klickitat jim]

I might get a few half gallon jars and try this again with freshly harvested yeast. It might be that it works better with more water...

[klickitat jim]

I picked up a case of half gallon mason jars. My new method is to sterilize a half gallon jar, cool to~ 50°, decant all beer of the yeast cake, pour enough of the sterile water onto the yeast to equal a half gallon, swirl slurry and dump into the 1/2 jar. Refirgerate.

On brew day I decant the water, swirl into a homogeneous slurry, then measure and pitch. Yes I get a little trube that way, but I also get some of all of the yeast, not just early flocculators, or late...

[klickitat jim]

I captured these two jars of trub from my conical. I am guessing the one on the left is mostly just yeast poop. But the jar on the right is a stratus of good yeast and a strata of beer. I am thinking in two weeks all I should have to do is decant the beer off of the yeast and dump it in my new beer. Does that sound right? The styles will be very similar so I don't see any reason to "wash" the yeast. Also how tight should I have the lids on?

Another backdoor way of checking your harvest is to use a good pitch calculator. For instance if you pitch 100ml into 2000ml of 1.035, lets say you should end up with 300ml. Well if you have 400 then it's probably 25% trube.

Looking at your picture, regarding the jar on the right... yes the light colored layer at the top is probably the freshest cleanest yeast, but it's also the last to drop out of solution. If one was to continually repitch only that layer, you would eventually change the character of your yeast. It would probably be more attenuative and less flocculant than the mother pitch. (Or great grandmother as the case may be)  This is why I swirl, to try to keep the same traits as the parents.