I’m making the Saison de Noel this weekend. Next weekend, my plan is to make a Bierre de Garde and I was hoping to recycle the yeast (Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse) for the Bierre de Garde. The OG of the Saison de Noel is about 1.070, I’m concerned that that might be too high. I’ve been cautioned not to re-use yeast from a higher gravity beer.
Anyone with any experience in this area?
IME, 1.070 is not too high to harvest from, especially if you’re going directly from the first beer to the second with no storage in between. Don’t use more than 1/3 or so of the cake for the new beer.
What shadetree said. 
Try to brew them so you rack off the sediment then pitch new wort on top so there is no storage issues.
I assume you’ve made a starter. If so, don’t pitch all the yeast. Save a 1/2 oz or so and start it back up…
Am I missing something? Are you saying you plan to repitch the yeast in one week. If that’s the case you might want to consider top cropping from the first batch & use that. You definitely shouldn’t rack the first beer off the yeast in one week so you can pitch it in the 2nd beer. Cheers!!!
+1, a 1.070 beer is going to need two weeks in primary. if you want to brew the other beer, you might make a starter out of a little of the original yeast before you pitch the saison. if you’re making a starter for the saison (and you probably should) then you can just save a little back and add more wort.
+1. I’d suggest top cropping too. It’s quick, easy, no racking needed, and you’re getting the very best of your yeast.
+1 for top cropping. I top crop all of my beers. It gives you the healthiest yeast, it’s easy and you don’t have to wait until the current batch is finished to reuse the yeast.
Great advice all around, thanks very much. I think what I’l do is wait two weeks, until the Saison is ready for secondary, then just toss the Bierre de Garde on that.
Thanks again.
Thanks to everyone. The Saison has been in primary for two weeks, as I was advised, it’s going to secondary tomorrow. I’m making the Bierre de Garde tomorrow and plan to take a cup and a half or so of slurry from the saison for that.
Does that sound like enough?
I aerated the saison for thirty minutes with the NB aeration system (aquarium pump), should I do that with the BdG, or is the yeast have enough 02 as it is?
Without knowing how much trub is in the fermenter along with the yeast, it’s not possible to say how much you need of the cake to have enough yeast. My general ROT is to use 1/3 of the cake for the next beer - this way I know I’m getting a third of the yeast regardless of the total volume. And yes, you will need to aerate the BdG - the yeast from the saison will need fresh O2 for reproduction.
I think every batch should be aerated. There are fermentation characteristics that you’re not going to get if you pitch into underaerated wort, even if you have plenty of yeast to begin with.
