I brewed a Czech style pilsner on Sunday, 95% Weyermann pils, 2.5% melanoiden, 2.5% Caraaroma, bittered with Hallertau Mittelfruh and Saaz and finished with Saaz only. Chilled to about 14C using the plate chiller, then put it in the fridge overnight to get it down to 7C for pitching (yeast was at the same temp). O.G. 1.050.
Yeast is WY2001 (Urquell Pilsner), from a month old smack pack, propagated in a 2L starter on a stir plate, then added to 5L without constant agitation (7L total starter volume). I chilled and decanted beer off before adding to aerated wort.
Hopefully I get a good, clean, complete fermentation and am left with a nice big cake in the primary for reuse for the next lager, which will be another pilsner, possibly a double-decocted SMaSH. After that, I’ll try to use the cake again for something bigger and darker like a dopplebock.
Obviously lagers and especially light pilsners are very vulnerable to any unhappy flavours that might result from flaws in my process. But, if done right, this is surely the best way to build up sufficient cell counts for really good lager ferments?
My questions are:
Will my next pilsner be ok if pitched directly onto the cake of the first one, assuming everything turns out great by that stage?
When, if at all, should I wash the yeast? Assuming sanitation is good and my primary schedules are more or less back-to-back, is there more risk in adding this step in, or just reusing the yeast as-is?
Are lager yeasts different to ale yeasts in this regard? Could I maybe get 4 batches out of one pack, with a slightly higher gravity beer like a helles bock between the 2nd pils and the dopplebock?
Cheers!