Dead Ringer to West Coast Imp

Northern Brewer General
1

I was going to brew the DR in a couple days and then afterward, the West Coast…for the first time for both. I think I want to try and wash the yeast from the DR and use it for the West Coast, as I have read that you should not just pour the new brew onto the yeast cake. (Esp. considering the amount of fermentables and hops for both.) I have never washed the yeast, nor poured a new batch on the yeast cake.

If I do wash the yeast (or could I just get away with taking say, a mason jar of the slurry) do I need to use the yeast that came with the West Coast too?

Or, should I just throw caution to the wind and pour the WC on top of the yeast cake for the Dead Ringer?

Or, do I just use my yeast (1 pack of dry, as I don’t like to ship liquid in the summer)

Any and all thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

2

Don’t bother washing the yeast, it’s just a waste of time. Just pour 1/3 of the yeast cake into a sanitized mason jar and repitch that into your west coast. You will get a much faster start to fermentation by repitching and you can just save that dry yeast for a back up for a year or so. :cheers:

3

Without knowing the OG of your west coast IMHO, I’d pour out about half the cake to save for another brew and pour the new wort for the west coast right in with the remaining half. I plan to do just that later today. If the west coast is over 1.080 or so I might just pour it onto the entire cake.

4

Agreed. There is very little risk of overpitching yeast on a homebrew scale, so better to be safe since the DR is relatively hoppy and hop oils inhibit growth.