Repitch?

[Jay1]

I got a nice 1-2" cake of Pac-Man sitting at the bottom of my Carboy. The IPA in there started at 1.078. I wanna make a similar beer with similar OG.

I'm sure this has been gone over before but her it goes one more time.

1. Do I rack off the cake then just siphon the cake out and toss it in my next batch?

2. Do I need to make a starter just to "re-activate" it?

3. Also, what if I transfer my beer that's currently on the yeast, pull some of the yeast out to wash and then just pour my new wort right on top?

Thanks for the help!

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I wouldn't repitch on that cake.... in general you only want to repitch onto a cake from a relatively small beer, and one that didn't use a lot of hops as all the hops material is also in the cake. Also, the cake from 5 gal of 1.078 wort is way too much of an over pitch for most beers, you'd probably only need to use part of the cake for a repitch. When I want to repitch yeast, I brew a session beer with the yeast and then use some or all of the cake to repitch a larger beer.

 

[g-star]

Agree with all said above. Bad idea.

 

[Jay1]

Sounds good. Thanks for the info.

 

[periwinkle1239]

I have a somewhat similiar question. I have a nice layer of Bell's yeast from a 2-hearted clone - about 1 to 2 inches. It is 3 weeks old and OG was 1.065. I'm planning on racking the 2-hearted to a secondary and I'd like to use the cake for a IIPA with OG of about 1.085. I probably shouldn't use the whole cake, right? I'd like to rack the beer and then pour off some of the yeast so I can re-use the carboy. Does this sound like a good idea?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I have a somewhat similiar question. I have a nice layer of Bell's yeast from a 2-hearted clone - about 1 to 2 inches. It is 3 weeks old and OG was 1.065. I'm planning on racking the 2-hearted to a secondary and I'd like to use the cake for a IIPA with OG of about 1.085. I probably shouldn't use the whole cake, right? I'd like to rack the beer and then pour off some of the yeast so I can re-use the carboy. Does this sound like a good idea?

Again, I wouldn't reuse yeast from an IPA.... wash part of the cake from a low gravity, not too hoppy beer. In your case since it's a DIPA going onto an IPA cake, it wouldn't be a bad idea, but I personally still wouldn't do it. If you do, I recommend washing part of the cake and using that to build up the starter for the DIPA.

My $.02 about pitching onto a whole cake; doing this is almost undoubtedly going to be a massive over pitch, which can cause issues with off flavors just like under pitching can. Not to mention that pitching fresh wort onto an entire cake is going to cause a very fast, aggressive fermentation.... almost certainly a beer-cano if you're not paying attention. Also, you want the yeast to go through some reproduction in your wort, which will produce the desirable esters we want in our beer, which they won't need to do if you're pitching that much yeast. I highly recommend reusing yeast, it's fun and saves a ton, but properly wash and reuse your yeast. You'll be much happier with the results if you do.

 

[pabloj13]

Better yet, periwinkle, get some more Bell's yeast and make an Oberon clone with it. Then wash/harvest that bad boy for your other brews. My Oberon clone turned out really well and I had tons of yeast left over.