Pitching Onto Yeast Cake

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The general rule when reusing the yeast cake is to go from lighter gravity, lighter coloured worts to higher gravity, darker coloured, hoppier worts. However if you do as you did and only reserve a cup or so of the slurry it shouldn't really matter what your brew order is.

This is the advice I have been given from Dave Logsdon @ Wyeast. The ferment of bigger beers bases the yeast up quite a bit.

The standard pitch rate is 1 litre per hecto litre, so 20l needs about 200mls of good slurry. Going to many times with excess trub and dead yeast can have ill effects, particuarly on the ester profile. We go to about 5-6 batches at work pitching cone-to-cone - ie. we pull off the first few litres in the cone, then pump in about 1l/hl into the fresh wort in a fermenter. Touch wood, all ok so far.

Scotty

 

[Effect]

do you need to aerate the wort when pitching with a yeast cake?

 

[Scruffy]

Seems a bit odd - though not irrational - why folk would use a specific yeast strain for such different beer styles. I have 1968 and 1214 in the fridge, but I'd only use these for an ESB style/Chimay style - but hey, if it's free, ...you could even bake bread with it...!!

But Shirley, if you've weaned your yeast on Gluten Free Lager Light, it might not bring out the best in say a heavy Russian Stout...

I'm all for the reuse of yeast (it's traditional), but I'd prefer to keep the style reasonably consistent with the character of the yeast.

Now if your playing/experimenting, I'm up for that!! A Kolsch with Brettanomyces... hmm!

 

[///]

do you need to aerate the wort when pitching with a yeast cake?

Always, treat yeast the same from first to last batch. The yeast has gone thru ferm and dormancy (however recent), so the reinocculation (spelling) to the new medium does not change management thereafter. The primary advantage is significant numbers of yeast to ward off other microbes and to decrease issues such as VDK and underattentuation (assuming o2 levels are ok).

Who needs to brew by rules when your making beer at home ey? :icon_cheers:

Scotty

 

[Scruffy]

Who needs to brew by rules when your making beer at home ey? :icon_cheers:

Scotty

I wus only saying if your yeast does banana esters, phenols and cloves like a 3068, you're prolly not wanting to pitch the dregs into a Pils?

Maybe if you're starting to get interested in the science/chemistry/competitions/recreating your fave brew/not on a budget, then you could do worse that start out by using the best options - then, when you're achieving consistent results, if you start altering, you're more in control and you get more predictable reults... rather than pissing half arsed wierd tasting slop down the pan... Or am I wrong about this 'Yeast Strain' idea and there's no such thing as a strain - or are you creating a new strain by making it eat say Candy Shugaz then plunging it into an American Hop Extract?

Hey, look, err... I'm not typing this to win an argument, 'specially where the winning retort is 'piss off fatty, it's my fuckin brew!'

 

[///]

I wus only saying if your yeast does banana esters, phenols and cloves like a 3068, you're prolly not wanting to pitch the dregs into a Pils?

Maybe if you're starting to get interested in the science/chemistry/competitions/recreating your fave brew/not on a budget, then you could do worse that start out by using the best options - then, when you're achieving consistent results, if you start altering, you're more in control and you get more predictable reults... rather than pissing half arsed wierd tasting slop down the pan... Or am I wrong about this 'Yeast Strain' idea and there's no such thing as a strain - or are you creating a new strain by making it eat say Candy Shugaz then plunging it into an American Hop Extract?

Hey, look, err... I'm not typing this to win an argument, 'specially where the winning retort is 'piss off fatty, it's my fuckin brew!'

Nah, its all valid points and for another thread perhaps .... theres merits either way.

But back to the yeast, one thing to look out for on the multiple repitchings is powdery or highly sedimentry-ness. These are indicators the yeast has changed from the original stock and time to move it along ... to the drain ....

 

[manticle]

I wus only saying if your yeast does banana esters, phenols and cloves like a 3068, you're prolly not wanting to pitch the dregs into a Pils?

Maybe if you're starting to get interested in the science/chemistry/competitions/recreating your fave brew/not on a budget, then you could do worse that start out by using the best options - then, when you're achieving consistent results, if you start altering, you're more in control and you get more predictable reults... rather than pissing half arsed wierd tasting slop down the pan... Or am I wrong about this 'Yeast Strain' idea and there's no such thing as a strain - or are you creating a new strain by making it eat say Candy Shugaz then plunging it into an American Hop Extract?

Hey, look, err... I'm not typing this to win an argument, 'specially where the winning retort is 'piss off fatty, it's my fuckin brew!'

I tend to agree but can I call you fatty anyway?

 

[clean brewer]

Sorry, I said it the wrong way around...

:icon_cheers: CB

 

[Scruffy]

I tend to agree but can I call you fatty anyway?

You can call me whatever you like.

I'm putting a recipe together for that Qld Xmas Bash... Reuse some of that 1968... Maybe a fruity IPA.

 

[manticle]

I agree with you fatty.

 

[O'Henry]

[quote name='O'Henry' post='517126' date='Sep 8 2009, 07:48 AM']So, I have come home from work now to find it not doing much at all. I am assuming this is because the brew dropped to 14C overnight due to an unexpected cold night. Should I warm it today and then stir when I get up around 1pm? Or just leave it and check again tonight? I have no way of warming apart from the sun, so I have opened the blind and covered it with a towel (it is usually covered with a blanket, but the towel is thinner so should transfer more heat, right?).

I know I need to be patient, just don't wan't to stuff it up...[/quote]

So it has been 36 hours now and no krausen or any apparent action at all. I didnt take an OG reading because I forgot but mckenry, who I brewed with, hopefully has one. We were aiming for 1.053 according to beersmith and I think we hit pretty much on the money. It is currently around 1.050 so I am assuming it is doing something. It tasted exactly the same as before I pitched it though. Just worried as it is dead flat on top. Should I give it a stir or just forget about it and have some toast? Am using the 1275 as mentioned above and it is around 18C... Perhaps I should have just pitched onto the entire yeast cake after all.

 

[NeilArge]

I made a hefeweizen with WY3068 a week or so ago and racked into a secondary fermenter at the start of the week. I want to make a dunkelweizen tomorrow and pitch it onto the yeastcake in the primary fermenter. I just opened that fermenter and got a fairly heavy acidic whack, followed by the banana esters. Do you think it would be okay to pitch my dunkelweizen onto it?

Cheers

ToG

 

[Nick JD]

I made a hefeweizen with WY3068 a week or so ago and racked into a secondary fermenter at the start of the week. I want to make a dunkelweizen tomorrow and pitch it onto the yeastcake in the primary fermenter. I just opened that fermenter and got a fairly heavy acidic whack, followed by the banana esters. Do you think it would be okay to pitch my dunkelweizen onto it?

Cheers

ToG

I'm gonna say no. When bottling you introduce oxygen. Acetobacter thrives in these conditions and turns ethanol into ethanoic acid and ethyl acetate (vinegar and banana).

When I use the yeast cake I bottle, then refill within 20 minutes.

 

[NeilArge]

I'm gonna say no. When bottling you introduce oxygen. Acetobacter thrives in these conditions and turns ethanol into ethanoic acid and ethyl acetate (vinegar and banana).

When I use the yeast cake I bottle, then refill within 20 minutes.

Thanks Nick. I took that advice, and just as well. This morning the trub had what looked like the beginnings of a brettomyces (sp.?) infection on it. I bottled the weizen in the secondary and pitched on to that. It looked lovely and clean, and just had the banana-ry aroma. Fingers crossed.

Cheers

ToG