Should I Use This Yeast?
So I didn’t get to brew my Brown ale last Friday night. After getting the kids to bed (and waiting to be sure they were in bed), I went to the garage to find some equipment troubles. I had stored my chiller inside my 10 gallon stainless pot. There must have been a little water between the copper chiller and the stainless because I got a little oxidation of the copper. So there was a little green copper on the pot bottom and the chiller. I know that oxidized copper is not something you want getting into the beer. So I needed to look up the proper way to clean oxidized copper. As a result, I didn’t brew.
So now I have a dilemma. I am ready to brew again, but should I use my yeast that I started and chilled. I am looking for ideas. Here is my situation:
I had one WLP001 vial of yeast that was only 14 days past its “best buy” date. I made a starter on a stir plate 2 full days before brewing. I got good growth as estimated by an increase in creamy opaqueness of the start wort post 2 days (looks like most starters I make, so no worries there).
Then I crash cooled it overnight, anticipating I’ll pitch the slurry only the next day into a Brown Ale.
I never got to brew the brown ale - sad to say.
So now I have yeast still in the fridge and settled out. The spent starter wort still above it.
Which route is the best course of action?
- Pitch the slurry as is after bringing it to room temp.
- Decant spent wort and add new start wort day of brew session.
- Ditch the whole thing and start fresh.
- Something I didn’t think of.
on April 21st, 2010 at 11:36 am
I would either decant and pitch the slurry as is, or decant and add fresh wort to get it going again…either way should be fine.
on April 21st, 2010 at 11:49 am
I say just use it the way it is. There’s still plenty of yeast in there!
on April 21st, 2010 at 11:50 am
A properly made starter will last up to a couple weeks in the refrigerator. No need to use more DME unless you want to increase the cell count. Go with option 1: decant while still cold and then let it rise to pitching temperature over the course of several hours and pitch as is.
on April 21st, 2010 at 11:56 am
i agree with Dan. i recently made a starter w/ Wy3068 (Weihenstephan Weizen) and was unable to brew that weekend and threw it in the fridge. 2 weeks later, i decanted & added a bit of fresh starter wort and it was blasting away in primary after 5 or 6 hrs.
on April 21st, 2010 at 11:57 am
Agreed…’should be just fine. 001 is a rather resilient strain. I’ve gotten it going in the worst of conditions. I’m using it now for an IPA. I have to say, it’s bubbling away quite fine outside of its recommended 68-73°F range.
on April 21st, 2010 at 12:25 pm
I say just use the slurry as is at room temp….it’s not much different from yeast vials you’d buy at the store at this point.
on April 21st, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Having been in this position myself, too, I have a question for those of you advocating to use it: for how long is yeast viable in this condition? Days? Weeks? I just chucked an unused starter after a few weeks.
on April 21st, 2010 at 2:17 pm
According to the guys over on the Brew Strong podcast, you can pitch the yeast within a week or two from when you harvested it (or when the starter is complete) and you shouldn’t have to worry about it. So under that guidance, option (1) is probably a safe bet.
Just to be on the safe side, however, I would go with your option (2). Even if you add in a pitch of wort to the starter and let the yeast chew on that for 8-12 hours, you’ll get the yeast awake and active by the time you pitch(along with a little bit more cell growth).
Best of luck – let us know how it turns out.
-JW