Re-pitching w/ trub from primary

[knipknup]

On my last brew, I sanitized a 2qt pitcher, poured half the trub into my sanitized bucket and added about 2 qts of fresh water. I then swirled it around, let it settle and after about 10 minutes, carefully poured the top (mostly trub-free) yeast slurry into the 2qt pitcher. This, I swirled again and let sit for 10 minutes. Then I poured this into my clean, sanitized carboy. I racked my aerated wort just brewed onto this once it was cooled. It is a lager. i moved it to the garage. It has been at 52F for 4 days and going like crazy. Luckily, I am using a blowoff tube because it was foaming through the tube through the first night.

 

[knipknup]

As long as there is no oxygen getting to it and you are good about sanitization, I don't see a problem. Anyone else?

 

[Torchiest]

you don't even need to "collect" it!

If you are going to be brewing batch #2 on the same day that you rack batch #1 to the secondary, you can simply pour the cooled wort from batch #2 DIRECTLY into the carboy on top of the yeast cake left over from batch #1. You don't need to clean the carboy or anything.

watch out though. that's the equivalent of using a nuclear yeast bomb for that second batch. It will start fermenting FAST and HARD.

-walker

How long could you leave the trub in the primary before pitching the second batch without concerns about off-flavors? Four hours?

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

I know that you "should" dump the new wort onto the trub. I didn't do it that way the other day when I needed some yeast. I transferred a batch to the secondary, and had a new batch already in a 6 gal. primary from two days before. I had used some old yeast and it just wasn't taking off. I poured most of the trub from the bottom into my 6 gal. and fermentation took off within 12 hours.

 

[Orfy]

How long could you leave the trub in the primary before pitching the second batch without concerns about off-flavors? Four hours?

Shouldn't be a problem if you keep it covered.

 

[cweston]

Nothing to add--it's just kindof funny to see a thread that I started almost a year ago pop up again.

 

[Orfy]

Shows the search works.

 

[zoebisch01]

Shows the search works.

Lol. Topics that should be searched:

Fruit addition to beer
Is Aluminum ok?
I see mold

I am sure there are others that I have seen scores of times since I have been visiting the boards. lol.

ok...back to the program.....

This is a good thread btw. I have yet to try this. It is just a matter of timing it so I can pitch onto the sucker. Maybe I'll brew Friday night. God I love brewing!

 

[Brewing Clamper]

So what's the record time for going from OG to FG reusing a yeast cake? I have 10 gallons of APA in primary right now that I need for a party, but after that, I will go back to doing 5gl batches. What if I pour a fresh 5gl batch of wort onto that yeast cake of the 10 gallon batch? Will I get a beer geyser? I'm tempted!

 

[dirtymartini]

Could someone give this newbie a good explanation of what a yeast cake is? Is it just the trub on the bottom of the primary fermenter? Why is it called a cake? Inquiring (Noob) minds want to know!!

BTW I found this thread using the search.

 

[user 574]

Could someone give this newbie a good explanation of what a yeast cake is? Is it just the trub on the bottom of the primary fermenter? Why is it called a cake? Inquiring (Noob) minds want to know!!

BTW I found this thread using the search.

Yep, the trub on the bottom. Why it's called a yeast cake I could imagine comes from what it kinda looks like. Princeton definition:

small cake of compressed moist yeast

 

[grrtt78]

i have a stout in my primary that is a plastic bucket. i am going to rack it to my carboy in a week at which time i was planning on pouring a porter onto the cake in the plastic primary. how would i make a blow off tube for a plastic bucket?

 

[Madvillain]

Wanted to keep this thread going. I found this through the search as well. I have a stout in primary right now (though I'm afraid it's more of a porter) and am planning to try my hand at an oatmeal stout as my first partial mash. Good thing I read this thread, too because I would've just used an airlock on my 6.5 gal. bucket thinking it was enough. Apparently not!

A blow-off would be nothing more than just the size stopper I already use fitted with a tube that leads to a bucket with water in it right?

 

[user 574]

A blow-off would be nothing more than just the size stopper I already use fitted with a tube that leads to a bucket with water in it right?

Pretty much. I only did a blow-off with a bucket once. And that was after the top blew off like a shot-gun in the early morning. Beer everywhere! But, it's not always going to ferment that wildly but you probably have an 80% chance.

Anyways, what I did was pretty much what you stated. Take a hose and put it around the center of your airlock (no water in the airlock naturally) and the hose goes to a bucket with some sanitizer in it. The only thing I did though was cut off a bit of the tip of the airlock that goes into the bucket. You need enough room for it to flow out / not get clogged. No guarantee but if it gets blocked up; BOOM and its time to clean up. Ultimately a carboy is better suited but enough people here rig something up with a bucket. FYI my top put a dent in the ceiling...

 

[Madvillain]

desertBrew - Thanks for the tip, wow I can't imagine an explosion of that magnitude. I'm actually kind of scared about it because I'm keeping my primary in a storage closet ( I live with my GF at her parent's house) and if it blows it will spew all over her father's golf stuff which would not be good (obviously). Maybe I will save this for another day when I have my own place!

 

[rakes]

I'm thinking of trying this for the first time with my next batch - I've got a great fermentation going now that I'd like to replicate. My question is about adding the new wort to the cake. I dont get a full boil, only about 3g. Would you add the wort then the topoff? water first? mix in another bucket then add it all at once ?

 

[brewhead]

and then there's a differance of opinion...

i have always had an aversion to repitching into a dirty carboy. something about it just doesn't seem right.

i do collect the slurry and let it settle out and store it for the next batch

 

[SgtHulka]

After siphoning from the primary into secondary, I dumped the thick yeast cake into a sanitized 12oz bottle and sealed. There's a couple inches of liquid and the rest is yeast cake. How long will this store in the fridge? I want to use it as a starter for my next batch. I'm sure it is under a little pressure. Will this help or hurt the yeast?