Yeast washing - no time - Bad idea?

I racked off of a Mild Ale yesterday. I'd like to reuse the yeast but will not get round to brewing for a week or so.
I ran out of time so I've left the trub under a half gallon of beer and refitted the airlock.
How long do you think I will have before I need to take action?

It's only a Nottingham yeast but if I get 4 brews out of it then it's a saving of $10.

I'm interested too because I did just about the same thing today. I decanted the liquid off of the trub (after mixing water and agitating) and put it in a spare gallon jug I had until I could get some smaller vials for long term storage.

Personally, I would dump it if I couldn't brew for a week. Three batches? Nottingham? I'd say you got your moneys worth. Why take a chance.

I'm not an expert on yeast, but I would think it should be fine. I As long as the yeast is covered it's protected from bacteria and anything nasty that would get to it. It's seems like when there is 5 gallons there is just a larger layer, and I don't see why that would matter...

As long as you left beer on top of it, re-covered it and it has an airlock...I wouldn't hesitate using it again.

I think it will be fine. I've harvested, refridgerated for 10 days, then pitched the whole thing into a 10 gallon batch, then reused THAT cake for another 10 gallon batch. I swore I was sensing an off flavor associated to autolysis in that last batch but it cleared up. I was drinking it far too soon and it still had yeast in suspension (the poured head was like yeast whip).

I've repitched ale yeast up to three times with good results each time. The longer time between use means more time to wake up the yeast but it still works. If you repitch too many times, the yeast loses its ability to eat diacetyl after the primary fermentation and you get butterscotch beer. I've noticed this to be true with some lager yeasts that I don't bother repitching any more. There are also the problems of wild yeast mutations and infection.

I left it a week and it did me proud.
Now.....do I use it again, it's been another week

I've gotten four batches out of Nottingham without a problem. I've found that after the first re-pitch, removing about 2/3rds of the yeast is a good idea. Otherwise the cake gets too thick.

Go for it. I see no difference between beer on top of a yeast cake and starter wort on top of a tiny yeast cake in a starter and I've had great success with the latter.

I'd say your chance of infection is higher, but I also assume that with as much brewing experience as you have that chance went from nim to negligible.

I put 3 gallons of stout on top of a yeast cake of WLP 013 from 5 gallons of an ESB that sat for a week. I scooped out about 2 big spoonfuls of the yeast to wash first. It did me proud.

The little bits of krausen ring from the 5 gallon batch did get all nasty and gunked up from sitting for 2 weeks. A little Oxyclean took care of them after the stout was done.

I just bottled a winter warmer which was pitched ontop of a healthy Nottingham cake...I did not remove any of the original cake, so THIS cake was huge, and interfered with the siphon.

Next time, I will remove some of that cake before repitching...

I've been fermenting cool so the yeast cake is no larger than some of my single batches.

Yes the kruasen gunk is building up.

Just a quick note, healthy yeast never looses the ability to "reabsorb" diacetyl.

From wikipedia, they can explain it better than I can!

It is produced during fermentation as a byproduct of valine synthesis. During this synthesis yeast produces α-acetolactate, which escapes the cell and is spontaneously decarboxylated into diacetyl. The yeast then adsorbs the diacetyl, and reduces the ketone groups to form acetoin and 2,3-butanediol, relatively flavorless compounds.

Beer sometimes undergoes a diacetyl rest, which entails elevating temperature slightly for two or three days after fermentation is complete, to allow the yeast to absorb the diacetyl it produced earlier in the fermentation cycle.

Kinda embarrassed, but I've never washed my yeast. I've a cake of Wyeast 1469 (the Tim Taylor strain) that I've used a couple of times and have just dumped the crap from the bottom of the primary and stuck it in a mason jar in the fridge. Bought the smack pack in april or june. Also did that with 2124 bo pislner. I've had no problems with either. Made a great landlord clone, IPA, and mild so far eith the 1469, and a stella clone (I made the recipe, didnt taste anything like Stella) and Jamilz Schwarzbier, which tastes frackn' awsome!

Kinda embarrassed, but I've never washed my yeast.

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Me either, I always use each whitelabs tube about 3-4 times. After shaking up my starter, I refill the vial and refridgerate it, then use that to make my next starter for that type.

Bobby_M said:

I think it will be fine. I've harvested, refridgerated for 10 days, then pitched the whole thing into a 10 gallon batch, then reused THAT cake for another 10 gallon batch. I swore I was sensing an off flavor associated to autolysis in that last batch but it cleared up. I was drinking it far too soon and it still had yeast in suspension (the poured head was like yeast whip).

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Dessert just isn't dessert with out Yeast Whip.