Re-pitching Cider Yeast

[HerotBrewer]

I racked most of my first batch of cider out of my carboy. The yeast never really compacted into a firm cake. It settled out with some cold crashing, but the slightest disturbance of the carboy stirred it up. After racking the cider off I just poured 2 gallons of preservative-free apple juice on top of the pint of cider/yeast left in the carboy, and added a can of juice concentrate. Within hours I had active fermentation.

 

[Justibone]

If it were beer, an entire cake for only 2 gallons of fermentable liquid would be considered overpitching. Many people re-use the cake, but it's not recommended to re-use an entire cake more than once. If you wash your yeast (search the forums for it) then you can re-use them several times, I believe.

Either way, that 2 gallons is going to be done pretty darn quick.

 

[HerotBrewer]

If it were beer, an entire cake for only 2 gallons of fermentable liquid would be considered overpitching. Many people re-use the cake, but it's not recommended to re-use an entire cake more than once. If you wash your yeast (search the forums for it) then you can re-use them several times, I believe.

Either way, that 2 gallons is going to be done pretty darn quick.

Actually I'm planning on throwing another couple of gallons on top of it in a day or two. And there was significantly less yeast then I have seen in my beers.

 

[Justibone]

And there was significantly less yeast then I have seen in my beers.

Less yeast + trub, or really less yeast?

Also, you can't really judge the number of yeast by the volume of the cake. You can estimate that way, but the only really accurate way is with a hemocytometer + microscope.

 

[HerotBrewer]

I've washed the yeasts from my beers, so I have a general idea of how much yeast there is, and there really seemed to be less yeast by volume in the cider, not counting trub.

Plus I topped it off to 5 gallons of juice today.

 

[Justibone]

I've washed the yeasts from my beers, so I have a general idea of how much yeast there is, and there really seemed to be less yeast by volume in the cider, not counting trub.

Awesome to know, thanks!