Ever done this?

[YamahaXS]

I rolled out another batch last night, and also kegged a previous batch. I was going to re-use the yeast from the previous batch, but then a friend asked why i don't just pour the new batch into the old carboy. Well, we had had a few of homebrews (and a bit of tequilia (http://fox302.com/index.pl?s=vf&user=YamahaXS&category=Wisconsin_Hand_Grenades&file=tequilia.jpg)) so instead of saying that there was "crud in the trub", i said "hmmm, why not!?"

Hahaha hopefully my beer won't be tainted. Fermentation was already going full-bore 8 hours later.

Opinions? heheheh :eek:



EDIT: I removed the disclaimer. Guess my tequila vision wasn't as impaired as I feared!

[wortchillergoal]

You will be fine. The yeast expert at the brew shop I use told me to do the same thing once.

[Fast_Eddy]

Somebody on this board said that they do this regularly.

[danno]

I've done it a couple of times, has worked great. Thing to remember, you have a LOT of yeast there, so be prepared for a very quick ferment. If you're fermenting in a carboy, have a blowoff tube ready as you'll probably need it...

[YamahaXS]

danno, you are right.

beer was going like a drunk monkey just 6 hours later.... :-) transferred it to a secondary (to get it off the yeast cake/trub) after a mere 2 days.


will let you know how it tastes when it gets ready.

[sallad]

i've talked to a few people at my local homebrew store about this and they all said it worked very well. however, one guy said he exploded his primary fermenter one time using this method even with a blow-off tube! so, beware, i suppose...

[YamahaXS]

it wasn't a very big beer... just 1.045 O.G.

I would be very cautious doing this with a big ale.

oh, and i can't believe no one has commented on the tequilia pic! :cool:

[BREWERDLUX]

I did this on a regular basis for awhile... It worked well, especially during the times that I had no homebrew shop in my area. I could run about three batches in a row on one smack pack.......
You need to plan ahead though. Try and brew light to dark if you can. ( ie... Light Ale, Amber, Stout) Not good to try and ferment a light ale in the trub of a stout or porter. You also need to consider going from lightly hopped beer to more heavily hopped ones.

Pretty safe practice as long as you are sanitary and use a little pre-planning.

[yonkersbrewer]

I do that all the time, partly because I brew half-recipe sized batches because of space concerns and partly to keep the costs down. I never had a problem on the second batch and man does it cut lag time down!

An interesting post I saw somewhere was how you can use the crud/yeast cake to be the mega-sized starter that you want for a really big beer like a barley wine or some of the HG winter warmer types. You brew what you like for the first beer and then put the heavier beer on top of the yeast cake/starter to give it a really great start and full fermentation.

Makes great sense all around to me.

[S.F.B.]

I do it quite often. When doing a few back to back batches, it cuts cost and lag time. Planning is key as others have mentioned. I sanitize a one pint Mason jar and scoop about half full and store in the fridge. Any more may be over kill. You need to use it within 7-10 days, or so I have been told. I guess it will mutate or something.

[danno]

hey Yamaha, nice pics. (i missed the link the first time...) You didn't redesign your kitchen to promote brewing? I really like the bottle box, where'd ya pick that up?

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by danno
hey Yamaha, nice pics. (i missed the link the first time...) You didn't redesign your kitchen to promote brewing? I really like the bottle box, where'd ya pick that up?

Thanks Danno!

The bottle box is a real grenade munitions box... bought from an Army/Navy surplus store in Texas. It now resides in Wisconsin...Make BEER not War! :D

[Rias]

I've done it a few times with some belgian style beer I made, works just fine and saves on the cost of yeast. :) Now I've started keeping yeast cultures so I don't have to fork over the $5-6 for a wyeast smack pack everytime I start a new style of beer.