When to refrigerate starter?

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RKrizman

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It was recommended that I create a yeast starter several days before brewing, then refrigerate it and let it settle and pour off most of the liquid before pitching. At what point in the process should I refrigerate? Right after it's done fermenting? The day before brewing? Will it keep for several days in the flask without refrigeration?

Thanks,

R
 
Well you want to make sure it has fermented out completely, then you can put in fridge to put yeast back into dormancy. Brew day bring them up to fermentation temp to ease stress before pitching them into wort

Yeast are way tougher than what I have thought. I have left mine out on a stirplate for 2-3 days before.

These are things I have gathered from reading here.
 
I don't think refrigeration is completely necessary if you're planning on pitching it within a couple of days of starting it. Is it?
 
Well, I created my starter on Sunday with plans to brew on the following Saturday. It'll be my first all-grain and I don't want to blow it!

-R
 
I don't think refrigeration is completely necessary if you're planning on pitching it within a couple of days of starting it. Is it?

Some folks refrigerate and decant, but I think you'll find the majority of people just pitch the whole thing. I always just start my starter 24-48 hours before brew time, then pitch the whole thing.
 
Right, but in the case of someone like myself who does wish to decant, and who is making a starter several days ahead of time, what's the best way to preserve the yeast? Perhaps it doesn't matter whether you refrigerate it or not?

-R
 
How many days is "several?" 2-3 and you're fine. More than that... yeah, I'd put it in the fridge until maybe 8 hours before brew time, then just warm it to room temp, swirl it a bit (or put it back on the stir plate for maybe 30-60 minutes) then pitch.
 
The biggest reason to decant is to make more room in the flask and add more wort, restart fermentation and therefore increase yeast cell count. If you have quite a bit of yeast already, and it's active I'd just leave it at pitching temp until brew day. Chances are it won't be completely fermented in one week anyways.
 
your perfectly fine to leave it in the flask until pitch time...up to a week (or more) as long as everythings sanatized. I decant sometimes but i find i get a better fermentation when i pitch a non-chilled and rewarmed starter.
 
I built a starter last night (Wednesday). I will be on the stir plate until Friday night, then it goes in the fridge. I am brewing Saturday with pitching probably late afternoon. I will take the flask out of the fridge mid day on Saturday. Decant to slurry, swirl, and pitch.

The purpose of refrigerating it is to crash all the yeast out of suspension and be able to decant and not lose too much yeast. If you are going to pitch the entire starter, then there is really no reason to refrigerate it. Just go from stir plate to pitch.

If my beer has an OG of 1.050 or higher and isn't a lager I pitch the whole starter. No worries. But if it is a lighter bodied beer or lager, I don't want the starter effecting flavor or color so I decant and just pitch slurry.

Edit -Preemptive question & answer: How long can I keep it in the fridge? A week or two as long as its covered or has a sponge stopper. As mentioned earlier, these yeast are hearty little suckers. The vials of yeast you get from LHBS have been sitting in a fridge for probably a month or better. Letting your starter sit cold for 1-2 weeks isnt going to hurt anything. I usually plan on pitching within 24-48 hours, but plans change. I have gone more the 7 days. No worries.
 
I made 2 starters this morning about 7 o'clock-ish, I will be brewing tonight and will probably pitch around 10pm probably later, but **** happens. That'll be about 15 or so hours after being made. I have brewed with starters the last 2 brew-days with this method and have had a 6hour lag(WLP 400) on the first brew, a Belgian Wit(OG 1.046/FG 1.012), and a 3 hour lag(WLP 004) on my second brew, a Stout (OG 1.060/FG 1.018).

From MrMalty.com,

Q: At what point do I pitch the starter into the wort?

A great deal of discussion rages over this topic. Should the starter be fermented completely, the spent liquid decanted, and the yeast pitched or should the entire starter be pitched when at the height of activity?

Most yeast experts say that when propagating yeast, moving at high krausen is optimal. The time of high krauesen can range anywhere from a few hours to twenty-four or more. It depends on the amount of yeast added to the starter wort, yeast health, temperature, and several other factors.

Doss says a starter made from an XL pack of yeast into 2 liters of wort will reach its maximum cell density within 12-18 hours. If you’re starting with a very small amount of yeast in a large starter, it can take 24 hours or more to reach maximum cell densities. For the average starter, let's just say that the bulk of the yeast growth is done by 12-18 hours.

I like to pitch starters while they're still very active and as soon as the bulk of reproduction is finished, usually within 12 to 18 hours. This is really convenient, because I can make a starter the morning of the brew day or the night before and it is ready to go by the time the batch of wort is ready.

Of course, if you have a large starter volume in relation to your batch of beer or a starter that was continuously aerated, then you probably don’t want to pitch the entire starter into your wort. Adding a large starter or a heavily oxidized starter to your wort can alter the flavor of the finished beer.

If you’re going to pitch only the yeast from the starter, make sure the starter attenuates fully before decanting the spent wort. The yeast rebuild their glycogen reserve at the end of fermentation and it is this glycogen that they use when preparing to ferment a new batch of beer. Separating the spent wort from the yeast too early also selectively discards the less flocculent, higher attenuating individuals in your yeast population. You may end up with a pitch of yeast that won’t attenuate the beer fully. Allow the fermentation to go complete cycle, chill, decant the beer and pitch just the yeast.

On a side note, I am also awaiting for all my parts to arive for Anthony_Lopez's DIY stirplate. It would be so nice to let my starters sit on the plate and be constantly stirred and suspended while I was at work, I would no longer worry about them.:ban:
 
FWIW, there's no need to bring a finished, chilled, and decanted starter to room or pitching or wort temp before you pitch it. fridge temp is fine.
 
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