Reusing Denny's Favorite

[JohnK93]

Hello,
I just picked up the ingredients to make two batches, the extract version of Deception Cream Stout and an all grain version of Denny's Wry Smile Rye IPA with some other hops I have leftover (citra, amarillo, zythos, cascade, but not necessarily all four.) I'm going to make both off of the same smack pack, so my question is, if I'm planning on washing the yeast from one to make the other, does it matter which I make first? Alternatively, I could build up the yeast over the course of a few days, but I'd like to brew this weekend so I'm not sure I have time for that.

If it doesn't matter, I'll make the stout first.

Thanks for any feedback,
John

 

[Rehlgood]

Ideally you would want to brew the lower gravity beer first assuming neither is very high gravity.

 

[kh54s10]

Ideally you would want to brew the lower gravity beer first assuming neither is very high gravity.

^^ I agree with this. ^^

Another option would be to make a starter (you are going to make one aren't you) a little larger than you need for the first one then take some and save it for a starter for the second one.

 

[bleme]

Thats a tough call. Ideally you brew lower gravity, lighter, less-hoppy first, which these just don't fit well.

I would probably make your starter a little bigger than you need, set aside a little before you pitch, and use that in a second starter for your second brew.

 

[TallDan]

A couple weeks ago i bought a pack of Denny's Favorite, put it in a 1L starter Thursday night. Stepped that up to a 4L starter Friday night. Saturday i brewed an oatmeal stout, and put about half of my 4L starter into the stout and the other half into a growler in the fridge for the next batch.

So, i put 2L of starter wort into my stout. Is that ideal? no. Does it work? yes.

You've got a bit more time than i had, so you could do the same steps that i did, but 24 hours after stepping it up to 4L split it then cold crash so you don't have to dump the whole starter into your batch.

That said, i have a stir plate and a nice big 6L flask to get my starters going in. YMMV.

 

[ronjonacron]

Dennys fav 50 is my go to ale yeast. I frequently just grab some slurry when im racking the first beer out of the carboy. I may get flamed for not washing or anything, but ive havent had any noticeable flavors from just pitching unwashed slurry.
I usually only bother keeping it when i know im going to use it soon, i leave it in a jar in the fridge until i pitch, which is usually a week or two. Just pull it out whem you staet your brew day and let it get up to room temp.

 

[JohnK93]

Thanks for all the feedback, and I'll probably go with the idea of supersizing my starter. The stout recipe calls for a 1L starter, so I'll go for a 1.5-2L starter (I have a 2L flask) and reserve some for the next batch. Gonna get this going tonight.

Next question...the IPA calls for a 2L starter. Can I go straight to 2L (from either the smack pack or the leftovers), or do I have to step it up? I'll search the forums for an answer, as I know I've read about this a bunch, but never having stepped up a starter I'm still a little unclear of the process.

Thanks,
John