Yeast cake or starter?

[Libertexian]

I am going to be racking my Black Ale tommorow to the secondary and am planning on making an IPA using the same yeast (WP001). Should I just toss my wort on top of the yeast cake? Or scoop some off the bottom and use a starter to get it going again? If option 2; how much should i scoop off the bottom to pitch in the starter?

 

[maida7]

Scoop and make a starter. OR just scoop and use those scoopings straight away. The yeast cake is too big for the next beer + you don't want all that old trub in your new batch.

Use the pitching calculator on mrmalty.com to decide how much to scoop and/or how big a starter.

 

[mtags]

check into washing/rinsing yeast. It basically gets rid of the beer and hops from the cake and leaves you with just the yeast.
After this you may want to create a starter to get the yeast going but not required.

 

[rsmith179]

Usually a 1 liter starter is enough for most batches. I would recommend racking your first batch off the bottom and then you can pour in about a gallon of pre-boiled, cooled water. Then, swirl this water around on the bottom to bring all of the yeast and trub into suspension.

You can then take this liquid, pour it into a sanitized container, and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Then, simply decant the top liquid out of the container. This liquid is going to contain the yeast wanted while leaving the heavier trub behind. This can then be used with some fresh wort to make a starter.

Definitely do a search for "Yeast Washing" as you'll find step-by-step instructions regarding that entire process.

 

[david_42]

Or just pitch on the cake. It works very well.

 

[kappclark]

Scoop and make a starter. OR just scoop and use those scoopings straight away. The yeast cake is too big for the next beer + you don't want all that old trub in your new batch.

Use the pitching calculator on mrmalty.com to decide how much to scoop and/or how big a starter.

I do not want to strat off topic here ,,,but...

I wonder - if I am using washed yeast, I would normally think I would want to do a starter, unless it is maybe a week or less old..

If that is the case (making a starter) shouldn't I simply use the same amount of slurry as I might find in a white labs vial ?

I went to Mr Malty, and it looks like, when you choose pitch from slurry, it assumes you do not make a starter..

Is this right ??

 

[Scooby_Brew]

Or just pitch on the cake. It works very well.

I agree with David_42. Pitching on the cake works best and it's less work. Homebrewing is a hobby not a second job. Relax dude, kick back, enjoy your beer.

 

[schweaty]

Or just pitch on the cake. It works very well.

+1

I did this stepping up from a pale ale to barley wine and it worked wonderfully. Both turned out great and I am very happy with the results.

Going to be doing this again soon with an APA and DIPA. :rockin:

 

[philrose]

Or just pitch on the cake. It works very well.

Just make sure you have pleanty of headspace if you've never done it before. Or a blowoff.

 

[CharlosCarlies]

Just make sure you have pleanty of headspace if you've never done it before. Or a blowoff.

Yep...fermentation kicks off REALLY fast and REALLY aggressively when pitching onto a cake.

I would just pitch on the cake, especially since it's California ale and for an IPA where over-pitching isn't that big of a deal. A clean, neutral profile is what you're going for anyways.

 

[johnnyc]

+1 on pitching onto the cake. Use a blow off and keep an eye on the temp.