Has anyone else experience flavors in a beer that was pitched on a yeast cake from a previous batch? I recently made a smoked porter with Saf 04 and pitched a West Coast IPA on top of it. I didn’t really notice the smokey taste first tasting the beer, but now that it has been aging a little, it seems that there is a subtle smoke flavor. What are some do’s and don’ts for pitching onto yeast cakes, as in, what beer styles/types not to mix.
I usually transfer to secondary when I’m going to save the yeast cake. I then add more interesting flavors in secondary.
As for general rules of thumb.
Start with lighter beers and repitch into darker.
Start with low gravity beers and pitch into higher.
Good rules, but don’t get wrapped around them.
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Good rules. Smaller to larger, lighter to darker.
Some will say that pitching directly means it’s not if you will get an infection but when. That said I have done it a few times with no problems other than a violent fermentation.
It might be better if going from something like your smoked porter to something else to save some yeast in a mason jar then step it up in a starter. Then there will be much less left from the first batch to carry over any unwanted flavor. For the price of a packet of Safale, a new one would be easy too.
The S04 is an English ale yeast. Perfect in a Porter. S05 would be more like it in a West Coast IPA. That may have made some difference in what you expected. Could be interesting though. A smoked English/American IPA 
Good advice on using only part of the cake…the one time I used a whole cake I got two of the same beer 
