Pouring onto previous yeast cake question

[BrewDoc1518]

So, I think that I might know the answer to this, but I will ask nonetheless. So I'm finishing up an IPA and I dry hopped with pellets without a bag (I know some will say this is less than ideal). I was wondering if I should avoid pouring a wheat onto this cake? Will there be lots of little hop flakes on the cake and would it give a grassy flavor to the new beer? Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[Canuck137]

Ok, I'll bite... Pouring a wheat onto a cake?

 

[flars]

I brewed an IPA recently, and harvested the yeast. The jar of yeast has such a strong hop aroma, I will only use it for another IPA.

Pouring a new beer on an entire yeast cake may be a massive over pitch, unless your next beer is high gravity.

 

[Thetonymartin]

Usually one would start with the "lighter", less hoppy beers and work your way up to the higher gravity more bitter beer.

If you don't mind a wheat beer with a high hop aroma/ flavor, go for it.

 

[normonster]

I have gone the other way there and poured an IPA on a s05/wheat beer cake and it was great. It was real low gravity wheat though and pretty high gravity IPA, so I figured it wouldn't be too much of an over pitch.

I wouldn't put any new beer on a nasty yeast cake with probably too much yeast along with a lot of dead yeast cells. You could wash it though and use one of those online calculators to get a pitch rate.

 

[BrewDoc1518]

Thanks everyone! Maybe I won't pitch on this yeast cake, hate to see the yeasties go but like you guys said, pretty hoppy, might over pitch since it's not high gravity, and even with washing it might still have the aroma. One of these days I will save some yeast, but not this time.

 

[flars]

Thanks everyone! Maybe I won't pitch on this yeast cake, hate to see the yeasties go but like you guys said, pretty hoppy, might over pitch since it's not high gravity, and even with washing it might still have the aroma. One of these days I will save some yeast, but not this time.

You can save this yeast for another IPA. The hops mixed with the yeast can also help prevent infection in storage.

 

[BrewDoc1518]

You can save this yeast for another IPA. The hops mixed with the yeast can also help prevent infection in storage.

Oh great point... I will be doing that then!

 

[flars]

Great way to harvest yeast in this thread, in case you haven't read it yet.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519995