Belgian dry yeast slurry for an English Porter

[Paps]

Yay or Nay??????

Why would or wouldn't you.

Doing a 15 gallon batch of brown porter today with english hops.
Only have 2 packets of SO-4 but have a yeast cake from a Belgian dry yeast strain. I'm thinking 2 ale pails on the SO-4 and the 3rd on the slurry.

What say you?

 

[JonM]

For 1/3 of the batch? Heck, why not? Sometimes those little experiments turn out beautifully.

 

[joshesmusica]

For 1/3 of the batch? Heck, why not? Sometimes those little experiments turn out beautifully.

My first thought was to point you to the title (after only having read the title), which clearly says, Belgian vs English. Aka, you would be getting a dark Belgian ale.

But I have to agree. Only using 1/3 of the batch, why not try it. It could possibly end up being a holiday-type of a porter! You'll still have a bunch of the planned porter anyways.

 

[JonM]

My only concern is that the slurry is going to be an overpitch, which can reduce the distinctive esters.

 

[joshesmusica]

My only concern is that the slurry is going to be an overpitch, which can reduce the distinctive esters.

Yeah, that's a very valid point. I would probably use a sanitized spoon, anyways, to get rid of any hop trub. So, then might as well also take out about half of the yeast cake. Although, this could potentially be counteracted by starting fermentation around 72F, and letting it rise on its own.

 

[PeteNMA]

Just measure the appropriate amount of slurry for your new beer and toss the rest away. No need to over pitch when you are in full control of your pitching rate