Yeast Cake...How Long?

How long have folks waited to pitch over a cake? I have one that has been sitting in the primary for two weeks now. I've got a clean airlock on it and it's been sitting at 55F the whole time in my sanitized chest freezer.

Any reason I shouldn't pitch over it?

You can transfer the beer out and transfer wort in and it will take right off. No waiting required. Be sure to be sanitary with everything you touch so as not to infect it. Lots of brewers do this all the time.

I think he's saying the beer was transfered two weeks ago and the cake is still there. As long as it hasn't dried out, I don't see why you couldn't put some fresh wort on top of it.

I concur that, if the cake isn't too dry, you'll be all right.

In future, know that yeast is best stored under beer. If there's still a centimeter or two of beer covering the yeast cake, I shouldn't worry - nor should I muck about in it until I'm ready cast onto it! The only thing you need to consider at that point is autolysis from the length of time it spends sitting around. I don't like to keep it sitting around for more than 10 days.

I would do two things: stir that couple cm of beer into the cake to make a slurry, and let the yeast warm up to pitching temperature. Giving the yeast too much of a temperature shock is a bad thing.

Of course, if the yeast is from stout and you're brewing a kolsch...But you've probably figured that out already.

Cheers,

Bob

I've waited 2 weeks.
I made sure I left a layer of wort over the yeast cake to "Protect" it.
All was fine.

OK--Do you guys mean to literally pour the 'new wort' onto the cake/slurry that has been sitting in a 'used' fermentor?

I guess my question is:
How/ do I clean the "gunk" (off the sides of the primary without contaminating the cake/slurry that is in the bottom of the bucket?

newbrewoob said:

OK--Do you guys mean to literally pour the 'new wort' onto the cake/slurry that has been sitting in a 'used' fermentor?

I guess my question is:
How/ do I clean the "gunk" (off the sides of the primary without contaminating the cake/slurry that is in the bottom of the bucket?

Click to expand...

You don't. You wait till after the batch that is being poured onto it is done then clean it as you usually do. You don't want to risk contaminating anything! that gunk isn't harmful to beer.

OK That makes sense now...thanks!

Get ready for a fast ferment! I transfered a batch of Edwort's Haus Pale Ale to secondary and pitched a fresh batch onto that yeast cake and it started rattling the airlock in ten minutes. I quickly rigged a blow off hose for that one.

I agree with the above posts that your yeast is likely fine. I would recommend you calculate an appropriate pitch though. Much of the flavour imparted by yeast is done during the growth phase - you won't get that with an overpitch of yeast as they go right into fermentation. Check out:

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

GT

It should be fine since you have pretty much everything going for it that you can. I have spoken with someone at my LHBS about this, and their opinion is to get that new wort directly onto the cake. The thought behind it being that as you siphon the beer out of the primary, you are drawing air and possible contaminants into the carboy. If this were then left at room temp any bacteria that snuck in could start eating the dextrins that the yeast left behind and start building up their numbers. Since it's been sitting at 55F since then, I'd think that nobody in there had much of a chance to eat anything.

In the future I would try to brew on racking/bottling day. Sitting on the yeast those extra two weeks would do the beer good and you wouldn't have a cake sitting around, pleading to have some delicious wort dumped on it.

Thanks for the replys guys. I ended up just throwing out this cake as it ended up that I wasn't able to brew for some time. I'm going to plan on washing in the future and getting some nice starters going.

Just pitched a VCCA though...woot!

mrk305 said:

Get ready for a fast ferment! I transfered a batch of Edwort's Haus Pale Ale to secondary and pitched a fresh batch onto that yeast cake and it started rattling the airlock in ten minutes. I quickly rigged a blow off hose for that one.

Click to expand...

+1 on the blowoff tube. It will blow over.

bigjohnmilford said:

+1 on the blowoff tube. It will blow over.

Click to expand...

I gathered that yeah. I just put all my airlocks away (except the ones I use for my secondaries)