Reusing Yeast

[Midnight0666]

I have a porter in the fermenter right now, but plan to rack to secondary in a few days. Question is, next batch is an IPA. Can I just dump the new wort onto the yeast cake after I rack off most/all the porter? I used WLP004 if that makes a difference.

[siwelwerd]

I have a porter in the fermenter right now, but plan to rack to secondary in a few days. Question is, next batch is an IPA. Can I just dump the new wort onto the yeast cake after I rack off most/all the porter? I used WLP004 if that makes a difference.

Can you? Yes. Is it the best idea? No, you're probably overpitching if you do that. Better to take more like 1/4 the yeast cake, and go into a new fermentor.

[Ozwald]

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=29552

You could easily rinse & reuse the yeast, but for an IPA I would highly, HIGHLY suggest a different strain in the first place. The flavors 004 gives off are going to come across as off-flavors & it won't be a very enjoyable beer.

[Midnight0666]

Thanks for the info. Guess I hadn't thought about a British Ale Yeast not being the best choice for an IPA.

[Ozwald]

The British one's aren't all that bad. The Irish in particular just has a much different flavor profile. But then again, all of us Irish are a little different.

If you want to reuse it, it's a great yeast, but look at the different Scottish shillings or even a strong Scotch. Of course it's meant for an Irish Red. Pretty much anything that's malty & has a similar flavor profile to the Irish Red is going to play nicer with the 004's flavor profile.