Pouring new batch of beer onto old yeast cake?

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jimjube

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If I rack my beer to a secondary fermentor, can I just pour a new brew into my primary fermentor, leaving the trub in it?

Are their sanitation issues here?

I would be putting the new beer into the primary fermentor and on top of the trub very soon after racking the old beer out of the primary fermentor.

I am using dry yeast, so would it be safer just to make a new batch of yeast?

Thanks
 
You'll be over pitching the yeast count by a lot. But, should be no sanitation issues. If the beer was not infected that came out, than the fermenter is just fine. Also another rule of thumb is to make sure the next beer is of a higher IBU than the first. Going the other way may cause some residual bittering.
 
you can do this but it's not recommended. The proper method is to use only about a quart of the trub if you're not going to wash the yeast out of it. Overpitchiching causes different flavors than you would get in a properly pitched brew.

in short, yes you can do this but I would read up a little more on the best way to do it.
 
You probably know this already but make sure the new wort you're adding to the old yeast cake is cooled to proper pitching temperature.
 
Washing the yeast in your primary is easier than you think, and you'll be sure to keep the pipeline going!
 
A lot of people do this. It can be argued that it's not "best practice" but it will often produce great beer. You can pour some of the yeast out to avoid over-pitching. Sanitation is a non-issue if the last beer was not infected.
 
Sanitize a jar or something and pour some of the yeast cake in it. 200 ml or so. Then just pitch that. Easy!
 
This is what I do and I've gone 3 to 4 generations onto the yeast cake with no noticeable differences. You could stick your pinkie out when you test each batch and probably find some kind or differences, but I drink mine in a beer glass with my pinkie in, so it works fine. One caveat; after doing a Porter I let the old beer settle on top and dumped it before pitching on top of it and didn't get any Porter taste in my Pale ale.
 
If you are using dry yeast just use a new pack or two. The stuff is too cheap to take any chances. I only wash yeast when I want to keep using a seasonal strain that's out of season.
 
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