I have a 1 gallon batch that I am bottling within 24 hours. I want to make another 1 gallon batch in that same time frame. I am posting this before I searched through this forum, so please forgive if this has been answered, but I need verification to ease my nerves sometimes.
Once I have my new 1 gallon wort ready to be moved to primary, and I have bottled my original wort, can I dump new wort on top of existing 2 week old yeast cake to start a new fermentation process for my new 1 gallon beer?
Yes you can, but only use about 1/3 of the yeast. All of it is too much. This is a general rule for 5 gallon batches anyways and should apply the same.
I’d go with half. Not 1/3rd. Are you using a glass jug for this? I imagine the sediment on the bottom looks like a darker layer of yeast and a lighter layer on top of that?
You could start "washing this yeast. You could boil a quart of water, let it cool to room temp. Then bottle your beer. With the sediment at the bottom of the fermenting jug, pour the water in, let it sit for 20 minutes. The yeast will float in suspension while the trub drops to the bottom. Pour this mixture carefully back into the quart jar. Chill it for a while. The yeast will drop to the bottom. Decant this an pitch it onto your next batch.
Thank you both or your comments. I am using a 2 gallon plastic bucket for fermenting so I can’t see what the sediment looks like. I like the ease of roffenburgers technique, and have read about jezmez68’s comment and ‘washing yeast’. I want to get to a point where I can lighten my yeast bill down the road.
I do this all the time, using the Yeast washing method Dawson shows in the IsoloBrewmaster episode of Brewing TV. Click the Brewing tv tab above, then scroll down to episode 47 if you want the step-by-step.
