WLP090 repitch from 1.063 IPA

[TimmyR]

I recently brewed an 1.063 IPA where I pitched an appropriate (Mr. Malty) size starter of WLP090. The IPA was dry-hopped

I am brewing a Robust Porter Saturday and managed to forget to order more WLP090. Am I able to wash the yeast (Brewing TV-style) and re-pitch it? It will only be 2-weeks in the primary and ran from 1.063 - 1.010.

Thanks. If not, I'll just go buy a couple vials of Cal Ale or something. I am splitting batches and planned 5-gallons with Edinburgh and 5-gallons with San Diego.

[Mills]

You can absolutely repitch that yeast if you were happy with what it did in it's first generation and you feel good about your sanitation practices. If it was sluggish or off a bit, go with new yeast. Just my $.02

Mills

[TimmyR]

Thanks Mills,

I've only re-ptiched one time prior to this and it was WAY simpler than I thought it would be. My only challenge may be determining pitch rate. We'll see. I can always grab some fresh Cal Ale. I am just so repeatedly happy with WLP090, that I want to use it on my Robust Porter.

[Mills]

I hear you on the pitching rate thing, it was always one of the things that kept me from doing it at home. You probably have more than enough healthy yeast to get it done for a five gallon batch. So when washing, don't worry about decanting some yeast as you pitch will already have more than enough cells. Let me know how the washing goes if that is what you decide.

Mills

[TimmyR]

Will do Mills, last time I did it, I repitched Belgian Abbey from a Belgian Pale to a Tripel (I think). It went smooth and was super-easy.

I'll let you know. It'll all depend on how much time I have in the next two days.

[duckmanco]

I say to hell with washing. Pour or scoop out slurry into a sanitized container (mason jar) and then pitch what you need ml wise.

There was a podcast on brewstrong I believe where Chris White stated that if yeast washing works for you, then great, but he didn't see any benefit to it outweighing a possible contamination of the slurry. Besides, it's easier to just repitch a measured amount of slurry then waiting for yeast to settle with boiled and cooled blah blah. My .02

[Ozwald]

I'm assuming you're talking about rinsing the yeast & not actually washing it. If you've done it before, I would say definitely give it a rinse. If you haven't & you're hesitant to try it, you should be fine without. Coming from an IPA there are going to be a lot of oils coating the cells & while rinsing won't completely remove them, you'll still end up with a cleaner tasting pitch. A typical robust porter has enough going on that it's not likely to be a huge difference in flavor profile, but I'd still bet you could taste differences especially if you did it in a side-by-side experiment. That 2nd & 3rd repitch of most strains is where you'll be getting your best fermentations.

[brewinhard]

By a general rule of thumb, I would not repitch yeast that has fermented a batch stronger than 1.060. This can lead to mutations in the cells dealing with higher ABV. But 1.063 is not that much higher and you should be just fine. Rinsing is easy, but many times I will rack the beer I want to use the yeast from into a keg on the same day I am brewing my new batch. And without rinsing, I just scoop up enough yeast/trub and toss it into the next batch with no ill effects. Easy....