yeast cake question

A few weeks ago I brewed a 1.053 or so fat tire clone with american ale II

on monday, I will be brewing a similar gravity IPA and would like to use the yeast cake to pitch directly onto. Im not worried about off flavors from the other beer, but im curious on the method. If I rack the current beer to secondary tonight or tomorrow, can the cake sit in the carboy with just a little liquid on top of it for a few days? It will be kept at around 64*F. If not, ill wash the yeast as I normally do, but I'd like to avoid it if possible and just rack the new beer right on top.

thanks!

I have done this before with no ill effects... I just made sure I had about an inch of the previous beer on top of the cake.

If the yeast are viable at the time of transfer, It'll more than likely be okay. I've never done that but I can't imagine a tragic yeast holocaust would occur... however, because you'd be adding an extra step or two to the process you'd increase the risk of infection slightly, but I can't think of a biological reason why this wouldn't work.

Thanks for the replies, the only fear I had was them "drying" out so i figured leave a little of the first beer in the fermenter to hold them over until monday

Strecker25 said:

Thanks for the replies, the only fear I had was them "drying" out so i figured leave a little of the first beer in the fermenter to hold them over until monday

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Yeah don't let them dry out... Keep it covered with a nice layer of liquid on top.

There would be a concern about overpitching here. The entire yeast cake for a beer of the same gravity would be serious overkill. Yeast washing is so easy. Why not just wash the cake, split it into quarters, pitch one of the quarters, and save yourself yeast for three future batches?

rebel80 said:

There would be a concern about overpitching here. The entire yeast cake for a beer of the same gravity would be serious overkill. Yeast washing is so easy. Why not just wash the cake, split it into quarters, pitch one of the quarters, and save yourself yeast for three future batches?

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Yeah i just thought the same thing after looking at the mr malty calc. I know the vigorous fermentation is cool and all, but the idea here is to make better beer. Its a TON of yeast, so like you said i'll probably just split it in quarters and pitch the correct amount.

Since itll only be a few days, should I even bother with a starter? I was thinking just keep it in the fridge and let it warm to pitch temps on brew day.

Strecker25 said:

If I rack the current beer to secondary tonight or tomorrow, can the cake sit in the carboy with just a little liquid on top of it for a few days?

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Is there a reason the current beer can't just be racked in a few days when the IPA is made?

eh not really, just wanted something to do today lol

im going to stick to the idea of properly pitching though, that way ill get a few harvested jars as well. From what i've read, most people dont do a starter with a slurry unless its older than a couple weeks

ha can't blame you.

definitely go with the proper pitch rate. as per mr malty 0.5-1cup of yeast slurry should be enough