Quick Question Regarding Pitching Onto A Yeastcake...

[PostModern]

Cheers Ross. So if I pitched two packs in 1.045 I'd have a freaking enormous yeast cake for the bigger beer.

Might go the two packs and submerged scum path.

 

[jkeysers]

Wouldn't cleaning the fermenter negate any advantage gained by dumping onto the cake? :unsure:

I mean, the reason people do that is because it's easy. If you have to clean the ring off, you may as well ditch most of the cake too and start it off with a smaller quantity of yeast IMHO.

Amen. Thats why I started re-pitching wort onto yeast cakes. Good ol' laziness.

 

[capretta]

Cheers Ross. So if I pitched two packs in 1.045 I'd have a freaking enormous yeast cake for the bigger beer.
Might go the two packs and submerged scum path.

i dont know whether i'd even worry about pitching 2 packs into the 1045. you should get a fair bit of cell multiplication from that single pack, more than enough to handle the higher gravity 1070. when i did my dopplebock i pitched the saflager onto a 1045ish then pitched the 1070ish dopplebock on next and it was fine. in fact the dopplebock came out a bit drier from memory. (but i lagered the crap out of that.. )

the only prob i would suggest with pitching on trub would be leftover hotbreak/hop debris. i think hops from previous batches have caused variations in my subsequent batches so now i try to reduce hops in the fermenter as much as i can ..

 

[Sammus]

the only prob i would suggest with pitching on trub would be leftover hotbreak/hop debris. i think hops from previous batches have caused variations in my subsequent batches so now i try to reduce hops in the fermenter as much as i can ..

I think racking the first brew and pitching onto the secondary yeast cake might be a goer here. There would still be plenty of viable yeast, maybe not as floccy as the first but still enough so (they dropped out eventually right?)
I guess if you don't rack then this would be nearly defeating the purpose (less effort). Although if you want to avoid hop material then youll have to do some work somewhere, either rack or wash the yeast from the first lot...and I think the former wins the laziness award out of the 2

 

[KoNG]

Here's a question for the troop... well several questions which are collectively "my problem".

I have one 1.045 beer of 17 litres and one 1.070 beer of 20 litres. I was going to pitch two packs of Nottingham into the 1.070 OR pitch one pack into the 1.-45 beer and let the fermentation of the first make up the numbers for the second. However, it'll mean submerging the scum line in the second beer...

So, ideal pitching rates or submerged scum? One or two packs of yeast?

PM, i've done this with great results.!
fermented a 1040 blonde ale with us56 witht he full intention of dumping my 1080 AIIPA on top. It works really well (perfectly in fact). You'll definately only need the one packet of nottingham in the small first beer. you'll have plenty of yeasties to do the job on your big beer.!
Taking that into account... even though i dont clean the fermenter when i repitch, i do however, when fermenting a similar OG beer (to the original)... decant some of the yeast cake so i'm not grossly overpitching.

LaZy KoNG

 

[T.D.]

Yep me too, I've pitched many a beer on the cake that's gone over the sum line. Never noticed any problems doing this. :super:

 

[eric8]

Well by all accounts I should have no prob then . I only had 16l into a 30l fermenter and they where bot FWK, with extra hops.
Start the bubble baby!!

 

[PostModern]

PM, i've done this with great results.!
fermented a 1040 blonde ale with us56 witht he full intention of dumping my 1080 AIIPA on top. It works really well (perfectly in fact). You'll definately only need the one packet of nottingham in the small first beer. you'll have plenty of yeasties to do the job on your big beer.!
Taking that into account... even though i dont clean the fermenter when i repitch, i do however, when fermenting a similar OG beer (to the original)... decant some of the yeast cake so i'm not grossly overpitching.

LaZy KoNG

Cheers, I think I'll go that way. There's no reason it won't work. I once brewed a beer specifically to grow yeast in for a big beer. Much bigger than 1.070, and that beer ended up ruined, but I digress. In that case, I harvested "enough" slurry, cleaned the fermenter then pitched. Essentially the first brew was just the starter. So the plan for this is one pack of Nottingham, smaller lighter beer followed by bigger larger volume beer in same fermenter, no wash.

I don't rack (most of) my ales. Just 10-14 days in primary, enough time for the yeast to drop, then run the beer into kegs. Any aging takes place in or next to the keg fridge.

 

[KoNG]

PM from memory, i ended up racking my big beer, just for the fact i thought it might like some time to continue cleaning up. I also didnt want to leave it on that cake for 3-4 weeks.

 

[seamad]

Very old thread I know...

Have got a pilsner in the fermenter at present, will polyclar then filter prior to kegging.
Next brew is a schwartzbier, can I pitch straight onto the yeastcake or will the polyclar effect the fermentation ?
Yeast is S-189.


cheers
sean

 

[argon]

Very old thread I know...

Have got a pilsner in the fermenter at present, will polyclar then filter prior to kegging.
Next brew is a schwartzbier, can I pitch straight onto the yeastcake or will the polyclar effect the fermentation ?
Yeast is S-189.


cheers
sean

I'd encourage you not to pitch directly on top... have a look at Mr Malty and work out how much yeast slurry you need to pitch... eg 23L of OG1050 with a lager yeast you'd need 208ml of slurry (about a cup)

Edit: as for polcylar... it won't effect the yeast

 

[seamad]

Thanks Argon, will go that way

 

[wombil]

Dropped a brew onto yeast cake yesterday.Covered with gladwrap and elastic band.This morning the band and wrap was blown off and the best krausen I have ever seen appeared.The yeast started up immediately.
Way to go I think.2 or 3 times anyway.
wombil

 

[ben_sa]

COnsidering i have a house brew that i NEED to make every 2 weeks anyway (its pretty much a production line system) One keg is empty and the other is literally days away, I think i might give this a go. Being that i extract brew, Any hop particles in the trub couldnt do any harm anyway!

So do i literally

Make my recipe as per normal instruction and chill to 20.C

Siphon the fermented beer from FV into keg, then immidiately:
Siphon new brew from cube or pot directly onto the old yeast cake....? Simple as that?

Is aeration as important as normal, Should i just dump the cube in on top of the old cake making as much splashing as possible? Or gently?

And to think im about to keg one batch tomorrow and was stressing about getting some more US05 in time :-D

 

[michael_aussie]

COnsidering i have a house brew that i NEED to make every 2 weeks anyway (its pretty much a production line system) One keg is empty and the other is literally days away, I think i might give this a go. Being that i extract brew, Any hop particles in the trub couldnt do any harm anyway!

So do i literally

Make my recipe as per normal instruction and chill to 20.C

Siphon the fermented beer from FV into keg, then immidiately:
Siphon new brew from cube or pot directly onto the old yeast cake....? Simple as that?

Is aeration as important as normal, Should i just dump the cube in on top of the old cake making as much splashing as possible? Or gently?

And to think im about to keg one batch tomorrow and was stressing about getting some more US05 in time :-D

sounds like you need a second fermenter ben_sa ..... once you do, timing and volume and so much easier ... i went to 3, and now have plenty of time.

 

[ben_sa]

I have 3 fermenters, But i meant I could dedicate just one of them to my house brew.....

My normal process is, transfer from FV to keg, Clean/sanitise FV, Add new batch of wort and new sachet of yeast...

I see this could possibly save me time and money... (Not that im worried about a $3.50 sachet of yeast)....

 

[felten]

COnsidering i have a house brew that i NEED to make every 2 weeks anyway (its pretty much a production line system) One keg is empty and the other is literally days away, I think i might give this a go. Being that i extract brew, Any hop particles in the trub couldnt do any harm anyway!

So do i literally

Make my recipe as per normal instruction and chill to 20.C

Siphon the fermented beer from FV into keg, then immidiately:
Siphon new brew from cube or pot directly onto the old yeast cake....? Simple as that?

Is aeration as important as normal, Should i just dump the cube in on top of the old cake making as much splashing as possible? Or gently?

And to think im about to keg one batch tomorrow and was stressing about getting some more US05 in time :-D

A full yeast cake is a massive over-pitch, so in regards to aeration, there won't be any need as the yeast won't have to do any growth. But then a lot of the desirable flavour compounds come about as a result of a healthy yeast growth rate.

Ideally you would want to wash the yeast, and there's a good thread from Wolfy on the forums with instructions on how to do that.

But if you're lazy you can just sanitise a container, pour out a cup full of slurry (or whatever mr. malty says) from the FV and then re-pitch it when you add the next batch of wort. And aerate it properly.

 

[Bribie G]

I did a small test batch of a beer in 5l bucket - the brew would have been 3L - and I rehydrated and pitched a packet of Morgans lager yeast (the Mauribrew one) - on reflection it was about the equivalent of pitching 8 packs of yeast in an ordinary size brew and it ended up tasting like a bakers shop on a busy weekend, and didn't mellow out much after a few weeks in the bottle. I should really only have pitched about a fifth of the pack if that, didn't think. However it's certainly made me realise that overpitching can have unwanted effects.

 

[ben_sa]

Cheers guys. Off to MrMalty i go to work out appropriately

Fprgive the spelling :-\

 

[ploto]

I am keen to try re-pitching my next brew with a cup of slurry from the current one, however I can't do it all on the same day. What is the best way to store the slurry overnight? Obviously I will put it into a sterilised & covered jar or bottle, but should I put it in the fridge or will leaving it at ferment temp (18C) be okay?