planning a 3-brew series based on Wyeast 2112 CA Lager

I am planning ahead to my next 2 or 3 brews. Since we are in the "Cold" part of the year here, I thought I would take advantage and cook up some pseudo-lagers. I don't yet have temperature control in the form of refrigeration. My fermentation room sits in the very low 60's (sometimes high 50's) and I have an aquarium heater to bring my ales up to target temp.

So I was checking out this strain which seems to have originated around Anchor Steam
http://www.wyeastlab.com/com_b_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=131
And I see Northern Brewer suggests its use in a number of other kits, like the Baltic Porter http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...ain-ale-kits/baltic-porter-all-grain-kit.html
and Cream Ale.

I would start from the lowest OG recipe, and work up to the Baltic Porter

I was planning on starting batch 1 with an appropriate starter, then harvesting and washing for the subsequent brews.

So what do you think of this plan?

What temperatures should I be targeting? Am I hampered by not having long-term lagering capability?

Are all my beers going to end up tasting the same? OR will those varied grain bills maintain some differentiation?

I stumbled on this post because I have a similar plan and some questions. It is over two months old now with no replies, so I am curious how this turned out.

My plan is to do the cream ale or california common, rack it to secondary after 2-3 weeks, then brew and pitch the baltic porter directly on top of the cake in the same carboy (meaning, I won't wash the yeast first). I've never re-used yeast before so am curious if there is any downside to this. My goal is a dry, high abv porter (is that a contradiction?) I'm going to use the NB kit, but bump up the fermentables a bit using a recipe found on this board as a guide.

Is there any downside to racking the smaller gravity beer off the trub in the morning, covering the carboy with something and then pitching the higher gravity beer directly onto the same yeast cake later that day? The carboy would have some residual residue and there'd be some leftover hops and other trub nasties in the cake I'd think. My goal is simplicity in getting a big starter, but I don't want any risk - will do a starter with new yeast for my porter if that is preferable.

thanks

I tend to be paranoid about infections, and hate leaving anything open for more than a few seconds. If it were my process, I would start by brewing batch#2. Then, after the boil and while it was cooling or basically cool, I would rack batch #1 into the bottling bucket or secondary, then pour batch #2 into the carboy. The cake would only be exposed for a minute or so. But I've never done this, so don't take my word for it! Good luck.

I have a somewhat different reply, I am much more lax on sanitation than many here, but it has always worked fine for me. I basically dump some boiled water into the fermentor, then swirl it around and harvest the sludge. You only need a couple hundred mL based on the pitching rate calculator. I leave it in the fridge if I'm not brewing the next batch that same day.

I plan to rinse the yeast between the two batches. I have been told (though never tried it myself to confirm) that it is not a good idea to pitch on top of an entire yeast cake. The yeast need to multiply in order to produce the correct flavors, so pitching on top of trillions of healthy cells will not give you the results you're looking for. I have also heard of people doing it with good results, but I don't think pitching on top of a yeast cake will result in the best beer possible.

twd000 said:

I have a somewhat different reply, I am much more lax on sanitation than many here, but it has always worked fine for me. I basically dump some boiled water into the fermentor, then swirl it around and harvest the sludge. You only need a couple hundred mL based on the pitching rate calculator. I leave it in the fridge if I'm not brewing the next batch that same day.

I plan to rinse the yeast between the two batches. I have been told (though never tried it myself to confirm) that it is not a good idea to pitch on top of an entire yeast cake. The yeast need to multiply in order to produce the correct flavors, so pitching on top of trillions of healthy cells will not give you the results you're looking for. I have also heard of people doing it with good results, but I don't think pitching on top of a yeast cake will result in the best beer possible.

Click to expand...

What is your process for rinsing between batches after it's been in the fridge?

richbrew99 said:

What is your process for rinsing between batches after it's been in the fridge?

Click to expand...

I basically dump out the "beer" on top of the yeast cake, then collect a couple hundred mL of yeast sludge. I add that to a cooled, boiled starter mixture (10g DME per 100mL water) and let the starter do its thing for a day or two. If everything looks and smells decent, pitch the starter into the new wort and put my feet up.