Reusing yeast cake?

[Bazman]

Hey guys.

Realised its too cold in my house at the moment for ale, so started into using lager yeasts. Did an ESB kit Czech Pils for the first time with no extras, seems to be nearly ready and was wondering if I could pitch straight onto the yeast cake with a Coopers Eurolager, BE1 and Cascade hop teabag I still haven't got round to using?

The reason I'm asking is because the kit Saaz hop pellets are in the gunk at bottom of the fermenter too. WIll there be a strong influence on flavour of the next batch?

if anyone has any thoughts
Cheers

[warra48]

Hey guys.

Realised its too cold in my house at the moment for ale, so started into using lager yeasts. Did an ESB kit Czech Pils for the first time with no extras, seems to be nearly ready and was wondering if I could pitch straight onto the yeast cake with a Coopers Eurolager, BE1 and Cascade hop teabag I still haven't got round to using?

The reason I'm asking is because the kit Saaz hop pellets are in the gunk at bottom of the fermenter too. WIll there be a strong influence on flavour of the next batch?

if anyone has any thoughts
Cheers

Yes, you can do this. I've done it myself on a number of occasions. Any hop residue from the previous batch will have little, if any, impact on your next batch.
Alternatively, you can harvest a cupful of the slurry from the fermenter, into a sanitised jar. You can pitch just the slurry, and this way you can clean your fermenter before using it for your next batch. Be very careful with your sanitising to prevent infections.
If you want to get more fancy, read up about yeast washing. That way you get rid of the gunk, and save most of the yeast.
I've just bottled an IPA. I've saved 2 jars of the yeast, WY1968. One jar will be pitched into a Stout tomorrow. The other one will be pitched in a couple of weeks into an ESB, but I'll make a starter for that one first.

[Bazman]

Thanks Warra.

Went ahead and transferred Pils to a 25l cube, pitched Lager wort right onto the yeast cake, within a half an hour it was bubbling away contentedly.

That's the quickest reaction I've seen Best part is I now have two beers on the go at the same time.

Awesome.

I have a batch of ginger beer and cider that is months old and still hasn't carbonated in the bottle. Used the correct carb drops. I'm assuming the temp is too low? Should I wait and hope they will come good when the weather gets warmer?

Cheers.