racking to previous yeast cake

[kapbrew13]

First is this post showing under fermentation yeast? Doing this from my phone. Thanks.

I bottled about 4 weeks ago and the carboy with the cake has been sitting in my basement at 73°. The left over liquid is crystal clear and it smells fine. Can I toss a new batch in or should I toss it? Thanks in advance.

 

[erikhild59]

While I do reuse yeast cakes, I don't think I would after 4 weeks. The air that replaced your beer is obviously full of bad guys who've had a month to start a big old family inside your carboy.

 

[horseinmay]

I would wash that yeast first, and make sure it looks good. Decant the liquid, then add some clean water (pre-boiled and cooled). Agitate and pour off into a flask, and let it rest in the fridge. The trub will settle first, then a layer of clean white yeast. Once the yeast settles, pour off the liquid again, and you have yourself a clean, washed yeast cake. As long as you can do this without noticing anything weird or funky, you should be good to go. I assume this carboy has been tightly covered for the duration of the 4 weeks it's been sitting there? Go for it.

 

[kapbrew13]

Thanks. I put the stopper and airlock back on right after racking to a bottling bucket. I guess I'm pretty sanitary because I grew mold in a blow off bottle a while back but this carboy looks clean. I'll wash it and see what happens. Was planning to make a 2.5gallon batch for testing a recipe.