Re-pitching Flanders

[zendog]

I have a Flanders Red that I pitched a year ago with WLP665 Flemish Ale blend (supposed to be similar to Roselare). I'm going to transfer it onto cherries pretty soon. When I initially pitched a year ago, I transferred it after one week to a secondary along with an ounce of oak cubes.

I want to make another Flanders. So I'm wondering if after I transfer the beer to another carboy with the cherries, if I should add my new wort directly into that old carboy, leaving the oak cubes and small cake on the bottom? Or should I do a primary with a saccharomyces strain first, then transfer to the funked-up carboy. Can I assume that any amount of sacc that was transferred after primary fermentation has been consumed by the other bugs in the blend after a year?

Any experiences or thoughts are appreciated!

 

[TNGabe]

I've reptiched a few different blends including WLP665. I feel like I've gotten the best results by fermenting clean and then pitching a small amount of slurry from the previous batch or pitching those together. Either way, I only like to use 50-100mL of the slurry depending on OG. I wouldn't use the whole yeast cake. Especially with sour beers, over pitching is worse than underpitching.

 

[blizzard]

I agree with Gabe. I would use some of the slurry, but not all.

 

[zendog]

Great, I will pitch just a little slurry then.

Wondering if I should transfer the oak cubes to the new batch? I liked the subtle complexity the oak provided for this Red Flanders, but the oak aromatics have probably diminished by now. Any other reasons to keep them?