Cider Fermented on an Ale Yeast Cake

Someone suggested I reuse the yeast cake from a nut brown ale I'm currently fermenting. Basically just rack off the nut brown ale leaving the trub/sediment behind and just pour in the fresh cider. I used nottingham yeast.

Would the trub/sediment from the nut brown ale give the cider an off-flavor? Who knows, maybe it would even be a desirable taste change?

Has anybody done this that can comment? Thanks.

That is fine to do. I have done it with good results with low IBU beers, and I bet it will be great with the notty from the Brown Nut Ale.

If it was an IPA, APA or any other hoppy beer, you probably wouldn't want to. Especially if you don't strain out your hops and a lot ends up in the primary.

The only thing is, you will be overpitching for sure. Not a problem if you want to finish dry. However, if you plan on fermenting slow and cold crashing to give a desired sweetness, this will be hard to do with a large overpitch. I would only use 1/4 or so of the yeast cake. You can save the rest in mason jars.

Yeast washing is recommended, although some of us (myself included) never bother.

Thanks Wreck. I can't believe how well the cider goes over with family/friends from the BMC crowd. It's only last a couple weeks and people are begging me for more. Since it's so simple and now, even more cost effective since I can reuse the cake, I figured, why not make another batch.

I'm not too worried about it finishing dry. I backsweeten with one can of concentrate and add potassium sorbate to kill the yeast, then force carb in a keg so it's simple and works great.

Thanks for the fast reply.

are you using fresh pressed cider or store bought AJ? if it is store bought regular apple juice, your method is good.

however, if you are using good fresh pressed cider, you will have WAY better results stopping the fermentation around 1.010. no preservatives, no backsweetening. Just rack, cold crash, rack again. leaves it tasting way better and more natural.

thats my $.02

oh and +1 on cider being a crowd pleaser. people love it, and most have no idea how simple it is to make. everyone should be making this stuff!

I use store-bought AJ because it's so cheap. Like $2.99 a gallon at a local grocery store. I'll get around to using fresh cider at some point, probably next Fall. Thanks for the pointers.

No kidding on the easiness. If I had known it was this easy to make alcohol in high school I don't think I would have graduated...j/k.

I have done several hard ciders on yeast cakes and had pretty decent luck. I did one on a triple belgium and it was fantastic, and potent, vinometer said around 17%. On that one I did add sugar in the secondary, four cups as I recall. I also did a cider on a pale ale, can't remember the IBU's, and it had a bit of hoppiness that we felt added to the cider. I agree with you guys on how easy this is and a lot of fun to try so many different variants. We purchased a Correll cider press this fall and have pressed around 100 gals so far, nothing beats fresh sqeezed cider! We waited one year for that press and it was worth all the wait and every dollar!