Racking on a yeast cake.

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joshstokes122

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Do you really just rack right into a vessel that you just emptied and left the yeast cake?

No cleaning/sanitizing the vessel or moving the yeast to a different vessel?
 
Yes, the fementer had beer in it....so if the previous beer wasn't infected, this one will be fine.

What if your using the no chill method? Could the opposite be done by dumping the cake in the beer once it has cooled to pitching temps? I was thinking that on brew day during the mash process I could keg a beer, seal the container with the cake and put it back in the fermentation chamber and use it the next day once the new beer has cooled by pouring it in instead of pitching new yeast. Any thoughts about this? Thanks!
 
What if your using the no chill method? Could the opposite be done by dumping the cake in the beer once it has cooled to pitching temps? I was thinking that on brew day during the mash process I could keg a beer, seal the container with the cake and put it back in the fermentation chamber and use it the next day once the new beer has cooled by pouring it in instead of pitching new yeast. Any thoughts about this? Thanks!

That should work fine. A better method might be;

1. rack finished beer into keg/secondary
2. Wash the yeast cake, or just move it to a sanitized container like a jar or a soda bottle
3. wash/ sanitize fermenter
4. transfer new wort into fermenter, wait for it to cool if using "no chill" method
5. add yeast

Ive done it both ways and both have advantages. FWIW I do NOT do the "no chill" method.
 
That should work fine. A better method might be;

1. rack finished beer into keg/secondary
2. Wash the yeast cake, or just move it to a sanitized container like a jar or a soda bottle
3. wash/ sanitize fermenter
4. transfer new wort into fermenter, wait for it to cool if using "no chill" method
5. add yeast

Ive done it both ways and both have advantages. FWIW I do NOT do the "no chill" method.

Ok. I should be able to do this then right?. Flame out, cover pot, wait till the next day for pitching temps and then drain wort from pot onto yeast cake. Correct?

The main reason I do BIAB and no chill is for simplicity. Ok, I'm really just lazy but it does work well for me. Now I'm trying to make it even easier by not having to clean the container I racked from the day before is all. Not just to cut costs but time and effort as well.
 
Just did this today racked off the yeast cake prior to starting my brew then left about a cm of the old wort on the yeast than racked the new beer right on top of the cake. Didn't sanitize just pitched. Fermenting like crazy right now!
 
will there be any taste issues in doing this?

Also, some flavors will carry over from the original beer. Typically, it is advisable to pitch a darker wort on top of the cake from a lighter beer. Go from a blonde/pale to a brown/porter, for example.

Also, as mentioned, you'll certainly be overpitching, unless it's a bigger batch and/or a higher OG. This can have impact on the ester production during the yeasts' reproductive phase. MrMalty does have some calculations for figuring out pitching rates from a slurry. You can just make a rough estimate, pull out some of the cake with a sanitized measuring cup (which you can rinse and reuse if you like), and then pitch.
 
The main reason I do BIAB and no chill is for simplicity. Ok, I'm really just lazy but it does work well for me. Now I'm trying to make it even easier by not having to clean the container I racked from the day before is all. Not just to cut costs but time and effort as well.

I can one up this scenario for laziness and ease, recently I have no chilled in the lidded kettle, then the following day I pitch dry yeast or about 1/3 of the yeast cake from a prior batch to the kettle and ferment 7-10 days in the lidded kettle, then rack to keg...no issues to date. Sometimes I will keep the keg at ferm temps another 7 days as a secondary, before moving to the keezer. These are mid gravity ales, nothing too large.

Sometimes I will also seal the lid of the kettle w/ a plastic bag and string wrapped tightly around the kettle during fermentation, sometimes not, but will never open the kettle.

Easiest is to rack and pitch at the same time, but I also store slurry in the gallon zip lock bags as they are "sanitary" out of the box. Usually I rack a batch to a keg and store about a quart of the slurry in a zip lock, brew and repitch that yeast slurry to the next batch. lately I have only been using kettles and kegs in the brewery. Brew / ferment in kettle, rack to keg and save slurry in zip lock....repeat.
 
I can one up this scenario for laziness and ease, recently I have no chilled in the lidded kettle, then the following day I pitch dry yeast or about 1/3 of the yeast cake from a prior batch to the kettle and ferment 7-10 days in the lidded kettle, then rack to keg...no issues to date. Sometimes I will keep the keg at ferm temps another 7 days as a secondary, before moving to the keezer. These are mid gravity ales, nothing too large.

Sometimes I will also seal the lid of the kettle w/ a plastic bag and string wrapped tightly around the kettle during fermentation, sometimes not, but will never open the kettle.

Easiest is to rack and pitch at the same time, but I also store slurry in the gallon zip lock bags as they are "sanitary" out of the box. Usually I rack a batch to a keg and store about a quart of the slurry in a zip lock, brew and repitch that yeast slurry to the next batch. lately I have only been using kettles and kegs in the brewery. Brew / ferment in kettle, rack to keg and save slurry in zip lock....repeat.

I have been intrigued about pitching chilled wort onto a yeast cake but this sounds downright reckless!!:cross:
How many times have you done this successfully? What beer styles?
 
if your kettle is boiling for an hour and you seal it up, it will remain sanitary for quite some time. the better the seal, the longer it will last. it may seem strange, but theres nothing particularly bad about it. boiling kills (almost) all.

the only reason i dont like no-chilling is because of DMS levels. at high energy levels (high temperature), SMM and DMS coexist and are constantly being transmuted from one to the other and back again. they are never completely boiled off even if you boil for 6 hours. if you cut the boil, and seal the wort in a container, it will remain hot for a very long time. but the container is sealed so the DMS/SMM cant go anywhere. for every 1 hour the wort spends above 160-180 degrees, DMS levels are said to increase by 30% each hour. fermenting will remove some of it, but it has a very low flavor threshold, and if you are starting with a lot of it, the yeast wont remove it all.

ive done 3 no-chill batches and all had very noticable DMS levels, so i no longer do it.
 
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