hoppybrewster
Well-Known Member
Can I throw a new batch of wort in my carboy on top my last cake of the same recipe?
New on top of old?
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hoppybrewster
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Well its been covered for 3 weeks. Im sure there's a good head of CO2 on it. Should I throw a tablespoon of DME in to see?
Yes you can; I have done it several times (preferred it that way, in fact). The recipe does not even need to be the same. I mostly make pale ale and IPA and will frequently make a pale ale and then, after racking the P.A. to the keg, will pitch my IPA right on to the yeast cake. I have seen some folks claim it is way over pitching, but aside from some kick butt attenuation, have not had any problems. Hard to overpitch in home brewing. I have a Vienna, US Goldlings SHaSH, bubbling away right now on the yeast (us-05) from my previous batch of pale ale.
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hoppybrewster
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It occurs to me that I may not have fully understood your question. If by old, you mean a cake that has had the beer racked off it and it has sat. I have pitched up to a week later on one. I always leave a small covering of beer on it though. As long as the temperature is stable and the yeast was covered with beer. It should be doable for longer than that (one week). I would pitch to it and if you get nothing in 12 hours or so, pitch a packet of dry yeast on top. I have found that pitching on an existing cake, that the air lock starts bubbling like crazy in about four hours.
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hoppybrewster
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This is what I have. 1/2" of beer on top. Capped with tin foil. No floaties. 3 weeks old.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1425954307.107862.jpg
It's not ideal. Much better would have been to pour that off into sanitized mason jars, and then use the proper amount (about 1/2 pint usually) in the new beer. I store mason jars of yeast in the fridge. One yeast cake from a 5 gallon batch is usually enough for two or three 10 gallon batch, so I have multiple batches from one package of yeast.
Some food for thought: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/why-not-pitch-your-yeast-cake-166221/
Some food for thought: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/why-not-pitch-your-yeast-cake-166221/
Your yeast has that creamy color to it, which seems to indicate they are not dead. I would pitch on it, but as I stated, I have only pitched on stuff left for about a week (one weekend to another). Preserving the health of the yeast as Yooper suggested, is undoubtedly the best way (and the most consistent result wise). Pitch on it and let us know how it turns out. Just keep a pack of Notty or US-05 on hand (good idea anyway), just in case.
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hoppybrewster
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1977Brewer
Free Dan Hess.
I just pitched on a slurry I didn't jar for five days. I'm a damn mess, so I wouldn't recommend it, yet. Talk to me when I bottle it. It really should be fine though, it's been living in beer. I could live for years under a beer blanket.
