yeast cake re-use

[balto charlie]

Hey Guys Quick Q. I want to reuse a yeast cake but did not use a blow off for the first ferment. Does this matter? I know I need to use one for the 2nd ferment. Will the krausen from the first(that did not blow off) affect the second ferments flavor? Thanks

 

[brewt00l]

No, it doesn't matter.


A blow-off just gives the krausen a place to go and lets the pressure escape easier in most cases.


(edit: unless you took all that gunk that gets stranded on the top of your fermenter and put it back into the yeast cake, you're not going to get any problems)

 

[chthonik]

Hey Guys Quick Q. I want to reuse a yeast cake but did not use a blow off for the first ferment. Does this matter? I know I need to use one for the 2nd ferment. Will the krausen from the first(that did not blow off) affect the second ferments flavor? Thanks

We pitched onto a cake from an earlier batch without washing the cake twice...I think it's the flavor of the previous wort to be concerned with rather than residue from the krausen. Our solution for re-using yeast cakes was just to pitch a darker/heavier beer onto a cake from an earlier batch.

Specifically, the last time we did this we did one batch of hefeweizen, then a weizenbock on top of the cake, then a dunkelweizen on top of that cake. We always use a blow off tube for primaries, and especially for hefeweizens. We got CRAZY fermentation on the re-used cakes, you should count on needing a blow off when re-using a yeast cake.

 

[cheezydemon]

All good replies. I actually used a cake for 6 subsequent batches. "I didn't notic eany ill effects....."

I put quotes because I hear ignoramouses saying that a lot in cases like this.

How would you know if the taste could have been 5% better if you had used fresh yeast?

You will never know, but it was damn cheap, and all of the batches turned out to be fine beer.

 

[cclloyd]

I've been doing this more and more and it works great. I currently have an IPA in secondary that I had pitched onto an ordinary bitter cake, and I have a weizenbock in primary that I pitched onto a hefe cake. I just read the whole sticky on yeast washing and am gonna give it a go as well - it looks really simple.

 

[NWernBrewer]

I have always used fresh yeast because it wasn't worth the exposure for a mistake - but it is something I have been reading about and I want to know how to do.

Do you guys pull the yeast cake out of the fermenter with a sanitized item and pitch into the freshly cooled wort and how much of cake do you use?

Could one of you guys give me a quick rundown of your method?

 

[cheezydemon]

Absolutely not. I pitch the cooled wort onto the old yeast in whatever vessel it is in. Infection is unlikely in fermented beer or in vigorously fermenting beer, which happens on a cake.

If you bother to wash and sanitize, why not just buy new yeast IMHO.

 

[balto charlie]

Do you guys pull the yeast cake out of the fermenter with a sanitized item and pitch into the freshly cooled wort and how much of cake do you use?

I want to know this as well. I'm thinking they just pour the new wort/brew into the same carboy. I have, in the past, poured a huge slug of yeast from primary carboy(afer beer transferred) to clean carboy with the newest wort/brew. This works well but if folks think it's OK to used the original carboy with all the scum then I'm good w/ that.

 

[cheezydemon]

That's pretty much what I just stated.......

 

[balto charlie]

All good replies. I actually used a cake for 6 subsequent batches. "I didn't notic eany ill effects....."

So you use the same carboy for all six batches! Less cleaning, I like that.

 

[NWernBrewer]

Absolutely not. I pitch the cooled wort onto the old yeast in whatever vessel it is in. Infection is unlikely in fermented beer or in vigorously fermenting beer, which happens on a cake.

Are you saying that you rack the beer off the yeast and pitch the new wort in the vessel as is - no extra work? I was worried about the krausen residue. If that is not a problem, I will give it a shot.

Thanks

PS was typing when response came - thanks.

 

[balto charlie]

That's pretty much what I just stated.......

I know but as I wass typing you submitted it, just like this one. I finally got it. Kinda slow here. Thanks Man

 

[jvh261]

I pitched an IPA on top of a yeast cake from a pale ale. I simply soaked a couple of paper towels in sanitizer to wipe off the krausen that had crusted on the side of my primary bucket. Then poured the wort right on top of the old yeast cake. Fermentation started pretty quickly and went nuts for about 4 days.

When you rack the first beer off of the yeast, leave a little layer of beer over the cake if it might be sitting for a bit.

 

[Dextersmom]

My next batch will be an IPA and i've been wanting to pitch on top of a spent yeast cake since my last batch where i just cleaned out a bunch of belgian abbey II and washed down the drain.

any suggestions as to something that would go well pitched on top of an IPA?

 

[strohs]

How long can a yeast cake sit in between batches?
I am bottling a batch tomorrow, but wont be able to brew again until next sunday.
Should I just go ahead and use new yeast? (its nottingham, so its cheap)

 

[Warrior]

I have always used fresh yeast because it wasn't worth the exposure for a mistake - but it is something I have been reading about and I want to know how to do.

Do you guys pull the yeast cake out of the fermenter with a sanitized item and pitch into the freshly cooled wort and how much of cake do you use?

Could one of you guys give me a quick rundown of your method?

I've been washing my yeast as desribed here on HBT in detail and really like the results. I just brewed an Am IPA today using a 4th gen yeast that has been washed. I like the fact that washing seperates the trub and dead yeast cells from the more lively cells. I've been storing the washed yeast in a carboy in the basement @ 50 deg. I do need to make a starter if it has been more than a week since I washed the yeast. My beers have been fermenting very good this way as long as I make the starter two days before if the yeast has been dormant for several weeks. The IPA I brewed today was from a 3rd gen yeast that I washed 1 month ago.

 

[NWernBrewer]

I've been washing my yeast as desribed here on HBT in detail and really like the results. I just brewed an Am IPA today using a 4th gen yeast that has been washed. I like the fact that washing seperates the trub and dead yeast cells from the more lively cells. I've been storing the washed yeast in a carboy in the basement @ 50 deg. I do need to make a starter if it has been more than a week since I washed the yeast. My beers have been fermenting very good this way as long as I make the starter two days before if the yeast has been dormant for several weeks. The IPA I brewed today was from a 3rd gen yeast that I washed 1 month ago.

Thanks, Warrior. I read the sticky on washing yeast - I just haven't done it yet. I wanted to go all-grain first and maybe make a small beer with 2nd runnings and practice in case I screw up. I don't want to ruin a batch by experimenting with something untested. Did you have any problems starting to wash yeast or have I built this up to something that it's not?

 

[surfingpl]

So the consensus is that it's okay pour my fresh wort right onto the cake in my carboy - even though there is a bunch of funky looking krausen leftovers stuck to the top inside of the carboy? Just making sure I understand. I get kinda anal retentive when I am cleaning and sanitizing, so it seems weird...but cool.

 

[DeathBrewer]

yeah, it's fine...as long as it hasn't been sitting there for long, collecting bacteria, there's nothing to worry about.

imagine adding sanitized wort to sanitized beer...no worries. the only thing alive in there is the yeast, so there isn't a problem with contamination as long as nothing else is introduced.

 

[surfingpl]

Sweet, I have a hefe that will be coming out of the fermenter next week. I am going to try it. Will bring the cost of my next batch down by about $7.50 to about $25.00 - that is cool.

 

[conpewter]

I have heard that you should make a new batch to pitch on the cake on the same day you keg/bottle that one. I know you can go longer between the two but I'm not sure it's worth it. If you do go longer, leave a little beer on top the yeast.

 

[Warrior]

Thanks, Warrior. I read the sticky on washing yeast - I just haven't done it yet. I wanted to go all-grain first and maybe make a small beer with 2nd runnings and practice in case I screw up. I don't want to ruin a batch by experimenting with something untested. Did you have any problems starting to wash yeast or have I built this up to something that it's not?

I have found it to be quite easy. After racking the beer to the secondary I'll add sanitized water that has been boiled and cooled to the yeast cake. I don't always do this right away and may get to it a day or two later. Of course I use a rag soaked in an Idophor solution to sanitize the airlock and the mouth of the carboy before pouring. Follow the directions coverd here on the HBT thread and you should be very happy with the results. I store the washed yeast in a sanitized 6 1/2 gal carboy in the basement @ 50 deg. I make a starter if it has been more than a week since the last ferment. Brewed an Spec Bitter last Thurs night and an IPA on Sat and both were fermenting good in about 6 hours.

 

[nl724]

I did my first yeast cake reuse this weekend. Immediately after starting to chill my wort with an IC, I began siphoning a caramel ale from the primary ( I only have one) to a secondary ( I have two - one empty, one with apfelwien). The first thing, and something I would assume to be important, is to check the first beer for infection...thus I tasted a small sample of the caramel ale. It tasted fine, so I felt more confident that racking onto this yeast cake would be okay. Once the transfer was complete, I checked on the temp of the wort...still not low enough. I then cleaned my auto siphon and hosing and then dropped in a bucked of star san. I also put an inside-out paper towel soaked in star san on top of the primary to keep out bacteria while my wort finished cooling. Needless to say, I had a new airlock and bung assembly soaking in star san so that I can use a new one once I transfer my new beer into the primary. As soon as my wort was cool, I pitched on top of the yeast cake in the primary. Within 1HR the airlock was bubbling. Within 3HRs I had to switch from an airlock to a blow off tube. After 24Hrs fermentation was probably 75-85% complete based on the bubbling coming up from the blow off bucket.

 

[shoebag22]

We pitched onto a cake from an earlier batch without washing the cake twice...I think it's the flavor of the previous wort to be concerned with rather than residue from the krausen. Our solution for re-using yeast cakes was just to pitch a darker/heavier beer onto a cake from an earlier batch.

Specifically, the last time we did this we did one batch of hefeweizen, then a weizenbock on top of the cake, then a dunkelweizen on top of that cake. We always use a blow off tube for primaries, and especially for hefeweizens. We got CRAZY fermentation on the re-used cakes, you should count on needing a blow off when re-using a yeast cake.

do you remember which yeast you used for all three batches?

 

[surfingpl]

I just re-used a yeast cake for the first time on Saturday. I pitched a weizenbock on a hefeweizen cake - wlp300. It is fermenting away like crazy. The hefe tasted good even flat and warm so I felt comfortable about pouring wort on the cake. I'll know in a few weeks how the beer really tastes.

 

[Tonedef131]

I am going to be trying this next weekend. I have an APA fermenting right now on Wyeast 1056 and I am brewing a VERY similar APA next weekend. I will do a ten gallon batch and pitch 5 gallons on the yeast cake and the other 5 I am going to use the dry equivilant of it. Should be an interesting experiment.