Reusing Yeast Questions - Hoppy/High Gravity

[smithmd4]

Looking to start reusing yeast yeast at home. 1098 is our house strain and we do some saisons with 3711.

Gravity: At what ABV/gravity do you consider the line for reuse?

Hopping: How you delineate what is "too hoppy" for yeast? Most of our beers are lightly bittered and then we late hop the crap out of them. IBUs generally end up low, but I know there are a lot of hop oils in the beer due to aroma and taste. What is your benchmark? Is it IBUs? Quantity of hops per batch? What about dry hopping?

It seems obvious (to me at least) that opinions will vary wildly. So curious to here your position and reasoning.

Cheers!

 

[billl]

I'd approach this a different way. High gravity, hoppy beers are all going to negatively impact yeast health and have higher mutation rates. You can quibble about how much is too much or you can rephrase the question.

"What's the best way to reuse yeast if you brew a lot of big, hoppy beers?" Instead of trying to reuse the cake, you'll have better luck just making up a bit of extra starter and saving yeast from there.