Beer Forum

Last Saturday was my first time reusing a yeast cake.
After I transferred the Scottish into a keg, i left a little bit on top of the cake and swirled everything together. I then cleaned/sanitized a gallon jug and poured the cake mixture into it, then filled with some co2 to release any air out. Air locked it, put in fridge and when it came time to brew, i poured out about a third of it for splitting an amber 10gal batch, it came out to about4 oz's or so. That batch took right off that evening. The short stack 001 starter took a good 30 hrs to show ferm. I love the idea of using cake, way less lag time.

My questions:
1. How long is a cake good for?
2. Should I add some starter wort to it now and then to keep them fresh?
3. Should i decant any of the liquid off? I've heard both yay and nays, but no set answer.
4. Is there another way I should handle the cake or is my way fine?

I love the idea of getting 3-5 batches from batch. Yeast is the gift that keeps on giving!

Thanks-Crut

Mr Malty has good info on how much of the yeast to repitch. You can enter the gravity of the beer to be fermented and the date the yeast was harvested to get an accurate pitch amount. Remember also that you want yeast growth for a healthy fermentation so lag time is not a bad thing as long as it is not excessive.

the amber isn't a very big brew at 1.044, so I'm not real worried about stressing the yeasties. The guys from the cake(028) were ready and willing to get at the wort, the 001 boys didn't get going into they're starting until about 6 hours or so before pitching, so they had some catching up to do.

Jamil also said that you should "wash" it - whereas you mix it with sanitized water, or cheap swill from the CO rockies. Shake it up, and let it settle for a few minutes - then pour off the creamy stuff on top. That is the stuff you want. Most of the dead yeast and trub should settle out quickly. The stuff you pour out will be more viable. You also need to be really, really clean with your handling. Nalgene bottles can be autoclaved. Smell and taste your sample before you pitch it. You obviously don't want to pitch a contaminated, or autolysized yeast sample.


Mylo

I like turtles.

I like cake!

I heard IPA goes well with cake. Carrot Cake, that is.

Chocolate cake and a nice RIS might work too.

BadRockBeer wrote:I like cake!

The Cake is a Lie!