Using yeast from secondary for next batch's primary

[pmbuko]

I will be brewing my second 5-gallon brew, possibly this weekend depending on the advice I get here. The first 5-gallon brew is in secondary and I plan to bottle it this weekend. Both recipes use Wyeast 1056. The first batch has OG 1045 and the second batch should be 1064. I have a new Wyeast 1056 pack and a starter for the second batch, but I'd like to try re-using the yeast from my first batch if I can.

I'd like to pitch directly onto the yeast cake in my secondary after transferring to the bottling bucket. My thinking is that there's far less trub to worry about here and I'm not worried about genetic distance from the original strain since it's only the first re-use. Also, doing this would "force" me to coordinate my brewing schedule, getting another beer fermenting as I bottle another.

Is this something I should not do? I'm not wedded to the idea. Just want to save myself some work if I can while still brewing good beer.

 

[Pappers_]

You can still make good beer! One thing that occurs to me is that the yeast in the secondary would be less floculent than the yeast that feel in the primary - the yeast are in the secondary because it had not floculated in the primary. But i don't know if this common-sense thought is insightful or matters.

 

[lumpher]

i've done it many many times. take the yeast from the first, gently pour out the liquid from it, then put the next wort on it. i've done exactly what you're wanting to do up to 4 generations. my research says 5, so i stop at 4

 

[wonderbread23]

Like Pappers said, pulling yeast from secondary puts selective pressure on your culture; you'll basically be propagating the least flocculant and most attenuative yeast in the spectrum. Their off-spring are more likely than not going to display the same attributes. This might or might not affect your beer depending on what you are shooting for.

 

[pmbuko]

Well, I'm brewing a Two Hearted Ale clone, so higher attenuation is desirable. Since I'll be racking this to secondary, less flocculation is also not a big issue. I'll measure the SG again prior to racking to the bottling bucket to see how much further from 1013 it has dropped while in the secondary.