Is lees dead yeast?

[Maylar]

If you scooped out a spoonful of the lees left behind in primary, could it be used to ferment another batch or is it just dead?

 

[BadgerBrew3r]

Bottom line: its dormant yeast, not dead yeast.

Once primary fermentation has completed, the yeast will go dormant and flocculate (drop) to the bottom of the fermentation vessel. For beer, you can re-pitch the yeast slurry at the bottom at least 2-3 more times. The slurry is not 100% yeast, there will be other material there, including proteins. When I re-pitch beer yeast slurry, I pitch at least a couple cups.

I think in beer, one of the rules of thumb is not to re-pitch darker into lighter, or hoppier into less hoppier, because the slurry will carry some of the beer flavor from the first batch.