I'm brewing the Averagely Perfect American IPA with with US-05 sometime next week. A few days after pitching, I am thinking of brewing an Amber ale using some top-cropped US-05. I'm not sure it is the best strain to top crop with, and I never top cropped before so I wanted to run it up the flagpole. 1. Is it reasonable to top crop with this strain? 2. Should cropped yeast be used to make a starter or should it be added directly to the 2nd beer? Plan B is to use pick up a pack of Nottingham at the LHBS.
1. Yes. 2. No. This will be very healthy, fresh yeast with no trub in it. I would use the mrmalty calculator with thick yeast slurry and a low percentage of non-yeast material selected. Use a big enough spoon and you might only need one scoop. Just skim the thin layer of scum of the top then scoop away with a big spoon. Don't sweat it too much if you get some beer in the spoon too. It won't hurt nothin.
This is the cream of the crop for yeast. It'll depend on how much you skim off the top, but I think you'd be fine to take a healthy dose and just throw it into the amber. Even if you under pitch the yeast is very forgiving and should start a strong fermentation within a day and a half.
