Dopplebock and re-using a yeast cake

I'm currently brewing a Dopplebock. The OG for this was lighter than expected due to low efficiency (1.072). I'm considering trying again with another batch, and just pitching up top of the yeast cake after I rack the first batch to a secondary.

Would anyone else recommend this? I'm worrying about losing any ester production.

Regards,
Ed

Edit: Yeast used is Wyeast 2206

I wouldn't be looking for esters in the first place. That aside...

...I re-pitched slurry from a bock to ferment a doppelbock last year and it turned out great. Use the pitching rate calculator at www.mrmalty.com to determine how many cells you need and how much slurry it will take to make sure you pitch that number. Pay attention to how your fermentation goes with this batch to determine whether your yeast are in good condition to pitch into the next batch.

Most people underpitch their lagers. Make sure your pitch rate is high and give the little yeasty bastages lots of O2 at the start. Good luck!

Thanks! I'm still going through the styles, trying to feel my way around which styles require ester production from the yeast. For example, I know that Saisons and Hefes need ester production, so doing another batch on the slurry would not be a good idea. It sounds like pitching on a Dopplebock slurry will be a safe bet.

BugLaden said:

Thanks! I'm still going through the styles, trying to feel my way around which styles require ester production from the yeast. For example, I know that Saisons and Hefes need ester production, so doing another batch on the slurry would not be a good idea. It sounds like pitching on a Dopplebock slurry will be a safe bet.

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I'd "repitch slurry" (i.e. re-use slurry from a previous batch; this is your best source of sufficient numbers of healthy, viable yeast [assuming the previous batch was properly fermented, etc]) but never "pitch on a cake" (i.e. simply dump one batch onto the previous without cleaning my fermenter or ensuring that I was only pitching enough cells for the job rather than the whole cake, which often will have many times more cells than you need).

Take good care of your fermentation planning and your beer will be better--guaranteed.

Good luck!