Happy medium between yeast cake and starter?

So I've been wondering something after reading the multitudinous threads on yeast starters and racking on yeast cakes....

I like the idea of reusing my yeastcake, which I've done twice with great success. However, I don't like to leave the cake sitting there for an extended period of time unprotected, so I usually bottle or rack to a secondary the same day as I brew a batch to use the yeast cake. This of course makes for a long day, but mostly I'd like to bottle or rack to secondary weeks before I'm ready to brew again.

Enter yeast washing....I've read the moby "yeast washing illustrated" thread and have followed those steps with success. The problem is that with this process, you still need to make a starter. The thing I love about using a yeast cake is that I can reuse yeast but don't have to make a starter.

Therein lies my question...If I just wanted to save/wash the yeast from a previous batch and use it to feed just a single new batch, can I simply wash the yeast and keep it in just one container until my next batch?

It seems like sort of a no-brainer, but I'm wondering if there is a reason I should make a starter even though I have enough yeast from the previous batch. It seems like through reading the various threads on yeast starters I recall that some have said it helps to "wake up" the yeast. I do have one yeast cake that takes 2 days to wake up and other that wakes up in about 4 hours....weird. But perhaps creating a starter even though you have enough yeast may help reduce lag by waking it up in advance....???

I'm not overly worried about collecting several samples to use for various batches down the road, but I would like to reuse yeast from one batch to feed one other batch and do so without bottling/brewing the same day (so yeast doesn't sit unprotected) or making a starter. Is that too much to ask?

beowulf said:

If I just wanted to save/wash the yeast from a previous batch and use it to feed just a single new batch, can I simply wash the yeast and keep it in just one container until my next batch?

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That's what I usually do. I try to reuse it within a week or so though.

944play - thanks for the feedback. I'd probably use it within the month if I were to try this, but doubtful within a week. I'm impatient to get my IPA on to some dry hopping so I may try this soon.

If I know I'm going to use that same yeast in the next couple of weeks, I will just pour a healthy portion of the yeast cake into a Sanitized mason jar & then pop it in the fridge. I just try to be sure and save about twice what I think I'll need since the viability rate drops quickly. Then on brew day I'll pull it out to warm up and dump the whole thing in the new batch.

Thanks for the reply, Yankeehillbrewer. That begs the question....does reduction in viability differ if the yeast is sitting in the fridge vs. in the primary (with beer still sitting on it)?

beowulf said:

Thanks for the reply, Yankeehillbrewer. That begs the question....does reduction in viability differ if the yeast is sitting in the fridge vs. in the primary (with beer still sitting on it)?

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I can't say for sure, but if you use the Mr.Malty calculator they go off of the harvest date, which would lead me to believe that yeast will stay viable longer when still in primary with beer on it. All within a reasonable span of time though.