Cream ale on an IPA yeast bed?

[Brett3rThanU]

I brewed an IPA last weekend and plan to do bananas fosters cream ale next weekend and was wondering if I could just dump the wort on top of my IPA's yeast bed when I rack the IPA to the secondary? Will the hops from the IPA mess with the cream ale?

 

[Kaz]

I would wash it first (look at stickies in yeast forum), I would think there is a lot of hop crap in the bottom of that yeast cake. Washing isn't hard to do and will get rid of some of that unwanted crud.

 

[neosapien]

I would think it's possible to pick up a touch of grassy flavors from the hop matter, but that's just a guess on my part. There's a thread on here with pics about how to wash and reuse yeast (sorry, don't have time to do the search atm). Might consider doing that the day before you rack?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I too think you should wash your yeast instead of pitch on the cake. Your Cream Ale will pick up off flavors by pitching right on that trub. I washed a yeast cake this weekend following the thread directions in the yeast forum and it was super easy. Give yourself a few days between washing and pitching so that it has time to settle and you can decant the liquid you don't need.

 

[Jayhem]

"If your yeast cake smells like hops, your cream ale will taste like hops"

- Unknown

 

[jcdouglas]

Give yourself a few days between washing and pitching so that it has time to settle and you can decant the liquid you don't need.

+1

I also give it a few days. In addition, in most cases you won't need a starter if you reuse your yeast within a week. Use Mr. Malty to calculate how much yeast you need.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

+1

I also give it a few days. In addition, in most cases you won't need a starter if you reuse your yeast within a week. Use Mr. Malty to calculate how much yeast you need.

I should have mentioned that too... I washed a cake on Friday and got the green light for an unplanned brewday yesterday. I just pitched a jar of yeast without making a starter and it took off in less than 9 hours.

 

[Bmorebrew]

If you've dry hopped that IPA heavily and it's over 7% I would not only wash your yeast, but make a starter from it as well. I would be concerned that the yeast might be a little stressed from such an environment and I would want to ensure that I have healthy yeast, not just a lot of yeast. Hop oils tend to coat the yeast cells just the way they do bacteria, so their viability might be a little questionable.