re-using a yeast cake...

I pitch on cakes all the time. If you use the whole cake, you will almost certainly be over-pitching. I usually swirl the cake and dump most of it out. If you have a second bucket, I would use that vs. reusing the first bucket without cleaning. But, I have just dumped into a "dirty" bucket without any problems.

 

You'll get three opinions:

1. It works great! This will come from people who have done exactly what you're proposing and have had great results.
2. If you only care that you get 'beer', but don't care if it tastes like crap. This is from people who have never tried it and don't believe in experimantation.
3. Do it, but follow these PITA procedures. This is from people who have never tried it, but are open-minded, or have tried it and just feel guilty about how easy it was.

FWIW, I'm in the first group.

 

Did it once a couple of years ago...full cake...Barleywine with a Session IPA cake (WLP-Burton)...explosive fermentation...great Barleywine

Timing is everything...1 week between batches seemed perfect for me without any hassle at all.

 

It will work, but harvesting a small amount and building a starter is good. You ultimately will be over pitching.

The only time this is a good idea is when making a small ale with neutral yeast then pitching a huge beer like a barley wine.

 

I have pitched on full cakes and with a pint of slurry and have not noticed a difference.

 

That's a #3

A solid #1

#1

I'm surprised we haven't seen a #2 yet. They usually come down hard and fast on this topic. (you know who you are)

 

I'll give this post a 10 for smugness and a 9.5 for sarcasm. You might have even won gold, except the Russian judge dogged ya.

 

Sorry, beerbully, if my response seemed a bit irreverent. Do a search on this topic and you'll see that it's among the top 5 in terms of rabid controversy. It's right up there with dry versus liquid, rehydrating or not, and, the grand-daddy of them all, how much Crystal malt is too much! It's good to keep a sense of humor when the flames begin to fly or, in this case, in anticipation.

 

I think the other side is afraid!

 

Don't forget Aluminium vs Stainless Steel

 

I just did an ipa then washed the yeast from that before I dry hopped and put the top of the liquid portion of said wash in the fridge to decant.

After that I made a 2 liter starter to get things happy again.

I finished brewing around 3pm and had a pretty happy fermentation kicking up at 7pm.

Next day around lunch I had to change out my blow off jug, though the carboy was fairly full.

I will try to remember to check back when all is said and done...

[edit] Not sure what to do with the leftovers since they dont look very nasty...

 

Just Did #1
First time ever, end up measuring OG with the yeast cake .
Did I mention it's my first shot ?

 

I do it a lot and don't notice problems. Here's general guidelines I follow: I don't pitch on top of a whole yeast cake. I will either dump some out, collect some for rinsing and storing, or brew 2 batches and split the cake in 2. I only pitch on top of a cake once, then I'll collect the yeast for rinsing and build it back up again with a starter. I don't reuse a cake from high gravity beer or smoke beer.

 

I thinking about using the cake from my last all citra pale for my next pale, I'm a noob as well, but it looks like the general consensus is only use half the cake? Any special procedures here, or just get about half out of the carboy and pour the new brew in?

Sidebar: sorry op, not trying threadjack.

 

"I'm surprised we haven't seen a #2 yet. They usually come down hard and fast on this topic. (you know who you are)"

Well, I don't think I'm quite a #2, but I do think it's worth adding that the #1s ("it will work great!") should probably add a caveat. Maybe something like "it will work great for many styles of beer, particularly those in which esters and other aspects of fermentation character don't play a big role in the flavor profile of the finished beer and a highly attenuated malt character is desired. It may not work so well for other styles."

I think pitching onto a full yeast cake is a good way to go with 'bigger' lagers, so I've done things like fermented a pilsner and then dropped doppelbock wort on the cake. Worked great, definitely more economical and easy than making a humongous doppelbock starter, and I've had no issues with sanitation. But I can imagine that if you wanted, say, a barleywine with a lot of english ale yeast character, you might not want to go this route.

 

I think that goes without saying. Yeast selection, either new or used, is critical to many styles, and pitching on a cake doesn't change that.

 

Or FWH

 

It seems I wasn't being clear: My point is not about yeast selection per se. What I'm trying to say is that when you pitch onto a yeast cake, which in most situations is going to mean overpitching, you will not get the yeast growth you would have in a normal fermentation and thus may not get the esters that are important to certain styles. An American IPA of German lager in which you're looking for a clean fermentation character will not be affected; something like a belgian dubbel might wind up lacking the spiciness you'd want.

 

I think the point of Mlucky's post is to point out the pitch amount, not the type of yeast. If I were brewing a belgian beer, I would never pitch onto a yeast cake from a previous belgian beer because I want more ester production. Ester production will result from pitching lower amounts of yeast.

However in something like a pale ale, pitching onto a yeast cake may be more appropriate. I still wouldn't advocate for it, though.