McGarnigle

Recipes 

That's what I do. I brew in pairs, two in succession that can use the same yeast. If I want a Belgian, it's two in a row. The second is typically the bigger beer.

pezcraig

Recipes 

What happens is that you develop your own house blend of yeast.
To quote Martha, thats a good thing.

From what I have read, you can take a batch and split it into 4 units. Each unit can be used 4 times and split again. I have talked to some professional brewers and I am told that under the proper conditions, one can do this up to 14 times. Not recommended, but you can try. As far as I am concerned, I wouldn't do it more than 7. Its an exponential, and that should produce enough beer for the year. (haha-right)

I am just getting into saving yeast. I have pitched onto yeast cakes with dynamite results. The profile and depth evolves. Also I save $6-7 a batch on yeast and with Parti-gyle brewing techniques I can brew a batch for about $12-17 (and that makes the wife happy).

lx302

Recipes 

and with 2 fermentors and 2 styles of yeast, I get a ton of beer brewed. You need to Stagger the primaries ever other week. I usually will try one style of yeast, say a German Ale, brew an Kolsch, then an Altbeir, and so on. Same for then British ale yeast, brew a Mild, Bitter, Pale Ale, ESB, then an Old Ale, etc.

brewit2it

Recipes 

Since I've been using dry yeast the savings isn't a real issue but being able to avoid having to clean and sterilize the carboy seems like a pretty big advantage. Does it matter that there is break, dead yeast and old hops in the trub? From reading this one and the other linked thread, it seems like all the folks opposed to pouring the new batch right on top of the previous cake are talking about ending with an "inferior beer" in theory rather than from experience, and all the folks who said they've done it seem to say the results were good. It's pretty tempting, I must say.