2 Week Old Yeast Cake. Pitch or toss?

[davidg410]

I've got a yeast cake that's been sitting in the fermenter for about 2 weeks at room temp.

I originally planned on washing the yeast, so it has a half gallon of sterilized water sitting on top.

Brewing another batch of the same beer (Gose) today and was wondering if anyone has pitched on a 2 week old cake before?

 

[Calder]

I'd dump it. Room temp and no alcohol to protect it.

 

[Armyofdrunkness]

I had the same issue, had a nice yeast cake from a Cream ale and left it expecting to brew that weekend, ass you know time got away from me and now 25 days later i just brewed an Oktoberfest style ale (no lager setup yet) and decided to toss it on the cream ale yeast and see what happens.

Now 24 hours later it's happily bubbling away, there is allot of action I'm guessing due to the shear size of the cake vs pitching fresh yeast.

I will keep you posted as to how it turns out, for science of course.

 

[A2HB]

This thread is right on time. I'm in the same boat, wanted to brew an RIS and use an 05 yeast cake from a batch I bottled last weekend however I never removed the dry hop sacks from the fermenter and I was wondering if I can still use the yeast? I did keep the airlock on the fermenter after I racked the beer, and also there's about a 1" layer of beer still sitting on top of the cake so I'm thinking it will still be ok to use. My only concern was the wet hops have been sitting partially submerged in the beer may be molding or something but even if they are the yeast under the beer should be ok. I hope.

Brewing tomorrow or Sunday so I guess I'll find out soon

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Nothing wrong with the dry hops.. in fact you could bitter your next batch with them.

 

[A2HB]

Wait so you reuse the wet dry hopping leftovers? That def sounds like a bad idea to me.

Can you explain why I would want to do that versus just adding fresh hops to a batch? Seems like all the good stuff would have already been removed from the first go at it, all the volatile oils and whatnot. Never heard of anyone reusing hops like that is that your normal process?

 

[davidg410]

Reporting back on this one. I ended up pitching on the cake and the beer turned out fantastic. It was actually better than the first batch I did. Yeast was crankin' away after 24 hours or so.

 

[Calder]

Wait so you reuse the wet dry hopping leftovers? That def sounds like a bad idea to me.

Can you explain why I would want to do that versus just adding fresh hops to a batch? Seems like all the good stuff would have already been removed from the first go at it, all the volatile oils and whatnot. Never heard of anyone reusing hops like that is that your normal process?

That's how some Breweries did it when hops were not as readily available as they are now. The bittering oils are different to those dissolved during dry hop.

 

[A2HB]

Ok yeah I just realized you said bitter with the used dry hops, not re-use them for dry hopping. I can see doing it that way since you would be boiling them in that case. Cool idea, if I'm ever short on hops I will give that a try

Hey OP glad to hear the beer turned out great for you, that is reassuring news.

I cleaned my carboy this evening and got about 2 cups of slurry and it smelled just fine so I think it'll be no big deal to reuse it.

The hop sacks even smelled good still

 

[ericbw]

I would totally pitch on a 2 week old yeast cake. Only concern is the amount of yeast. It's a lot for a batch.

 

[Armyofdrunkness]

Ok yeah I just realized you said bitter with the used dry hops, not re-use them for dry hopping. I can see doing it that way since you would be boiling them in that case. Cool idea, if I'm ever short on hops I will give that a try

Hey OP glad to hear the beer turned out great for you, that is reassuring news.

I cleaned my carboy this evening and got about 2 cups of slurry and it smelled just fine so I think it'll be no big deal to reuse it.

The hop sacks even smelled good still

Well if the sack smelled good then why not.. haha
:cross:

 

[davidg410]

I would totally pitch on a 2 week old yeast cake. Only concern is the amount of yeast. It's a lot for a batch.

Over pitch won't be an issue unless you are looking for certain esters caused by stressing out the yeast (under pitch)

 

[Jakeslipknot]

I made a cider a few weeks ago. I put the yeast cake in a sanitized Mason jar. And I planned on doing something with the yeast. I failed to put it in the fridge. It has been sitting in the pantry. How long do you guys think it is good for? I'm assuming it is no good. But hopefully I am.wrong.

 

[ericbw]

I made a cider a few weeks ago. I put the yeast cake in a sanitized Mason jar. And I planned on doing something with the yeast. I failed to put it in the fridge. It has been sitting in the pantry. How long do you guys think it is good for? I'm assuming it is no good. But hopefully I am.wrong.

Burp it. Check for mold. Use it.

 

[davidg410]

I made a cider a few weeks ago. I put the yeast cake in a sanitized Mason jar. And I planned on doing something with the yeast. I failed to put it in the fridge. It has been sitting in the pantry. How long do you guys think it is good for? I'm assuming it is no good. But hopefully I am.wrong.

Check for mold. Give it a go. Have a re-pitch handy if it doesn't take off.

 

[UncleRusty]

As long as it's still got some liquid it should be fine. It's probably fairly oxidized, but a new fermentation should scrub all that away anyways... I just usually go by if it looks weird or smells funky, then toss it.

 

[Jakeslipknot]

Thanks guys. I'm gonna use it as soon as I can get down to the homebrew store and get some stuff. I really appreciate the input.