A rapid yeast cell-washing procedure was developed using a solution mix of 10 mM ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid and 0.2% (w/v) sodium tri-poly phosphate (EDTA/STPP solution). This solution removed inhibitors of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that are usually present in complex yeast broths used for beer production. This enables PCR to be performed on DNA isolated from yeast cells growing in wort fermentation broths without an additional overnight incubation step in yeast extract, peptone, and dextrose media. This washing procedure was found to be superior to other previously described methods. Parameters of PCR were further manipulated to be able to differentiate between closely related yeast lager strains.