Re-using yeast question

I just did a Belgian Blonde (OG 1.052) and am thinking about brewing a Dubbel and re-using the yeast from the blonde. The yeast is WY3522.

I usually bottle my beer while the boil is going on for the next batch. Can I just scoop out some of the yeast from the bucket, put in a sanitized bowl, clean out the fermenter and then put my wort in there and pitch some of the yeast I just took from my last batch?

I see the yeast washing sticky at the top of the page, but is it necessary to wash the yeast if you are going to reuse it in less than an hour?

You can rack right on top of the intact yeast cake. Bottle off the first batch, leave the fermenter covered, then rack the new batch in once it's cool. I have done this several times and have always been pleased with how quickly the new fermentation takes off.

I have racked on the entire yeast cake in the past and if you must do this, you will likely be okay. But I would never do this now that I have learned that doing so would be vastly overpitching.

Your plan is perfect--save one or two cups of the thick yeast slurry from your blond in a sterile vessel, clean your fermenter, and repitch. Some people wouldn't even clean it, they'd just remove all but one or two cups of slurry and rack their beer onto that.

Good luck!

osagedr-

That sounds good. I thought going on top of the yeast cake would be too much.

I do partial boil recipes so taking the yeast I need and then cleaning the fermenter sounds like the way to go. That way I can really mix my wort and top off water, aerate it and then just pitch the yeast. The recipe is on the low end for OG of a dubbel (1.064) so a cup or two sounds like plenty of yeast.

beergolf said:

osagedr-

That sounds good. I thought going on top of the yeast cake would be too much.

I do partial boil recipes so taking the yeast I need and then cleaning the fermenter sounds like the way to go. That way I can really mix my wort and top off water, aerate it and then just pitch the yeast. The recipe is on the low end for OG of a dubbel (1.064) so a cup or two sounds like plenty of yeast.

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Sounds good; that's a decent sized beer so 1-2 cups will be great.