Pitching on a yeast cake

I'm looking at a few recipes that all use the same yeast. Wyeast American Ale if that makes a difference. What I would like to do is to pitch the one on top of the yeast cake of the previous. There are three recipes and they have OGs of 1.045, 1.072 and 1.086. I know that its ok to pitch a second batch on top of a first, but would a third be ok? Likewise, does the difference in OG matter? I haven't bought any materials yet so I'm not really in a hurry.

You should be fine - I think the recommended method is to pitch a darker beer over the cake of a lighter beer. And pitching a third time is also alright.

I almost always time my beers so I start with a lower gravity beer, then pitch a medium gravity onto the cake of the first, and follow with a really big beer. Great way of increasing cell count without dealing with starters.

Just remember, flavors from an earlier beer can carry over...so don't follow a hoppy beer with something you don't want hops in, same goes for other weird flavors or colors. I usually do a pale ale/bitter->IPA->IIPA or brown->porter->imperial stout.

I don't think the dark beer idea would apply here, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a lighter beer. What I'm looking at is a Pale Ale, IPA, and a Double IPA. I kind of thought that the Double would be a higher OG, but I'd at least like to try it. It will be my first of all three. As for the taste, I would imagine that the flavors would be rather similar and shouldn't be cause for concern. Yes? No?

Makes sense to me - go for it.

Pitching on the yeast cake is awesome! You just have to be organized in ensuring you schedule your recipes and brew days well in advance. Given your recipe lineup, you won't need to worry about flavor carrying over unless you use completely different types of hops in each recipe. Since you're starting with the Double IPA, the worst thing that'll happen is that you make your IPA or Pale Ale a little hoppier than the recipe called for. Sounds like you're a hophead, so I highly doubt that you'd have complaints about that! =D Definitely go for it!

pkpdogg said:

Since you're starting with the Double IPA, the worst thing that'll happen is that you make your IPA or Pale Ale a little hoppier than the recipe called for.

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Wouldn't I start with the lowest gravity (Pale Ale) and work my way up to the highest (Double IPA)?

jmendez29 said:

Wouldn't I start with the lowest gravity (Pale Ale) and work my way up to the highest (Double IPA)?

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Absolutey ... that's the safest way to go. But in msg #4 you mentioned the Double IPA would be your first of the three, so I just assumed you were set on a schedule already. Either way, you can't go wrong. Best part of pitching on the yeast cake is you know your yeast ain't dead and that fermentation will kick into high gear within a few hours.

This thread is tempting me to pitch an imperial stout onto the yeast cake from a Pliny the Elder clone just to see how much of the hops show in the stout. I need to buy more kegs to keep up with the ideas you guys give me.

I see it now. I meant that it will be the first time that I try brewing each of these styles of beer. Thanks everyone for your help. Everyone's assistance in even the most mundane of questions is really reassuring.

can you pitch the same recipe on top of a yeast cake. I have a cream ale fermenting now. Could I pitch another cream ale on top or should I move on to a darker beer?

After pitching a second batch ontop of the yeast cake is it nescesary to stir the yeast or just leave as is ?
Also - how long can the cake sit in the fermenter before it is reused ?

And is it necesary to use a blow-off tube, or will an airlock be enough?

Use a blow off, for sure. Pitching on the cake can make for some crazy fast and active ferments.

I aerate well once its in the fermenter, regardless if its on a cake or not. Dunno how others do it, but I have not had any issues related to stirring up the cake/trub.

shoebag22 said:

can you pitch the same recipe on top of a yeast cake. I have a cream ale fermenting now. Could I pitch another cream ale on top or should I move on to a darker beer?

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Yes you can.

Bru said:

After pitching a second batch ontop of the yeast cake is it nescesary to stir the yeast or just leave as is ?
Also - how long can the cake sit in the fermenter before it is reused ?

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I am also wondering how long a yeast cake can be in a fermenter before being reused, and is cleaning up the krauzen (?) stains from before a issue?

I have a IPA and a bitter fermenting now, and I would like to pitch a imperial stout into the IPA cake and a pale ale into the bitter cake. The IPA has been fermenting like crazy for the past three days and it looks like there is going to be a huge mess inside of the BB when its all done.

+1k on the Blow off! It goes crazy! Don't worry about any cleaning. You don't want to introduce any bugs by sticking something in the fermenter. Just dump your wort in.

I think I'm just going to do what they discuss here -

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/yeast-cake-expiry-138674/

Brewing Clamper said:

+1k on the Blow off! It goes crazy! Don't worry about any cleaning. You don't want to introduce any bugs by sticking something in the fermenter. Just dump your wort in.

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Thanks! Less cleaning is fine with me. Is the video of the fresh wort on a yeast cake fermenting yours? Is that what can be expected anytime you pitch onto a cake? That's crazy how fast it got going in the video.

I would not let my cake sit without beer on it more than absolutely necessary. Plan your brews so you rack one beer off, and pitch the other one as quickly as possible. When I do it, I usually get the brew underway, rack while the boil or IC chiller is going is going on, and then siphon from the kettle to the cake.