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Winter Old Ale on deck, any suggestions?
As long as your S-04 cake isn't much older than say 3 weeks, I wouldn't worry about the dead yeast effect. The yeast should be pretty hardy still, IMO. Healthy and but dormant.
I wouldn't bother pitching on the entire cake though. I'd add a little fresh wort, or sterilized and cooled water to the cake, swirl it around gently to get some of the cake to loosen up at the surface. Try to leave some of the protein and hop trub at the very bottom of the cake intact. Then I'd pour about 500mL of that into a new fermentor that has the Old Ale wort waiting for it already.
This will ensure a little bit of fresh growth and a clean ferment.
Reusing cake is a good reason to have good temp control on fermentation. When you control fermentation temps the yeast stay happier longer, and you get a more healthy pitch from the cake next time around.
Hmm...options, options. I'll have to think about this one. I'm using the "swamp bucket" method with ESB I currently have in the primary and have been able to successfully keep the temp under control so far. I would think the yeast from this batch would still be fairly healthy.
As for the oak, I have done both chips and cubes. (2 oz for 5 gallons)The chips seem to mellow a tad over time, the cubes however seem to hold firm. This batch I am going to use a spiral (which is like a dowel turned on a lathe) the surface area of this looks to be the best. You just pop it into secondary, rack on top of it, then taste after a few weeks. If it isnt strong enough- wait another week and taste- until you like the intensity. My last RIS I left on cubes for 5 weeks total IIRC.
Thirsty, do you get these spirals at your LHBS? I've never seen them before, so not sure if mine carries them or not. So you recommend using the cubes over the chips if that's all you can find?
I have an Old Ale that has been in the secondary for about three months now. I used a Wyeast Old ale blend with Brett in it. I actually went to bottle this last weekend but it still was showing signs of some wild ferment so I hid it in the cellar and figure I'll drag it out in a few more months to check on it. I figure I'll drink this for Christmas next year. The sample I took when I transfered was pretty hot as well but thats to be expected on a young 10% beer.
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