Can I existing yeast cake for a new batch

Can I just use my yeast (WLP380) from the last batch a Hefe for my next brew a Wit beer?

You can but the flavor profile of a wit and a hefe are different so that is something to consider. Also pitching on an entire cake is too much yeast IMHO, so I like to remove some of the cake before pitching on it. I usually remove about half of the cake, but I pretty much eyeball the amount.

@ brewmaster I have ED Worts Dunkel Weizen kit plus some rye grain any way to tewk it into a rye/wheat beer?

I agree with BMW here, don't use the whole cake. There's a sticky somewhere around here about pitching onto a cake, most of the time it's unadvised, since it's such an over pitch.

And this style especially you don't want to over-pitch as the yeast character defines so much of the style. Pour it out into another sanitized container, measure it, estimate cell count, etc...pitch accordingly.

Use Mr malty to see how much slurry you need and go from there. I have tried to pitch on a whole cake twice (just because I like to experiment).

The first time it was over attenuated.

The second time it was a high gravity beer, so I needed most if it anyway (and I was too lazy to remove only a fairly small portion)

ChuckCollins said:

@ brewmaster I have ED Worts Dunkel Weizen kit plus some rye grain any way to tewk it into a rye/wheat beer?

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Sure just sub out some of the pale wheat for some rye. A couple of pounds of rye gives a good spicy character that is still somewhat subtle. More increases the spicy character, so if you want it to be really spicy you can use 3 lbs.

I've done it with success, where I moved one batch to secondary and brewed a second immediately thereafter. Both batches were of the same style, though. You obviously can't do this if you need a different yeast strain for the second batch.

thepartsmancometh said:

Use Mr malty to see how much slurry you need and go from there. I have tried to pitch on a whole cake twice (just because I like to experiment).

The first time it was over attenuated.

The second time it was a high gravity beer, so I needed most if it anyway (and I was too lazy to remove only a fairly small portion)

Click to expand...

How high of a gravity?
I'm planning on pitching an 8% old ale onto the yeast cake of a 4% blonde, do you think using the whole cake is a good idea?

Yeast MFG do not recommend reusing yeast from batches that are over 6.5% FYI... So if your going from low to high your fine but not other way around.

From Wyeast
"Previous Fermentation: Always harvest from a low gravity and low hopped beer. High gravity and/or highly hopped beers can stress the yeast and have detrimental affects on future fermentations. Do not harvest yeast from beers with alcohol contents greater than 6.5% AB"

CKing said:

How high of a gravity?
I'm planning on pitching an 8% old ale onto the yeast cake of a 4% blonde, do you think using the whole cake is a good idea?

Click to expand...

Probably not...probably still an overpitch. Cell counts & pitch rates are important - worth the extra time to calculate/estimate, IMO. Many brewers are so detailed & precise on everything else...slaving away over grain bills, hop schedules, etc, then pitch any ol' amount of yeast. Take care of your yeast, have good beer.

The cake was from a Saison (og 1.056 or so). The second beer was actually my experimental (imperial?) graff (og 1.086 target)

The yeast was wyeast3711.

Yes, this is still overpitched.