Got a starter but can't brew - what to do!?

I was going to brew up a ESB & started a yeast starter for my White Labs San Diego Super Yeast. The starter's bubbling nicely in a conical flask.

Unfortunately, circumstances are stopping me from brewing tonight. Is there anything I can do with this yeast starter so I can use it in a week or two?

1) Put an airlock on it, leave it to finish fermenting. Pour off beer when ready and straight pitch. The yeast is protected by the beer (best place to keep it), and it will be just like using a part of a cake from a prior beer. If really concerned, you can decant and make a new starter when ready...

2) Seal and place in fridge. Decant same as above when ready.

Should I stick it in the fridge or leave it on the counter?

Wait fir it to finish out, cover it with sanitized foil and stick it fridge until your ready to brew. Then decant let it warm to room temp and pitch.

snwmnhntr said:

Wait fir it to finish out, cover it with sanitized foil and stick it fridge until your ready to brew. Then decant let it warm to room temp and pitch.

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This will do perfectly. And is what I typically do with anything I harvest from bottles. I've had about 10 of these 'starters' in the fridge at any given time and have had nary an ill effect.

I have two starters of about 1.5 liter each (3x10e11 cells) for pitching two 5 gallon batches tomorrow. They were grown to full density yesterday morning and cooled down to let them settle. I poured off all but about a quarter liter and have them in the fridge. I made up some 1.040 wort today with the idea of waking them up before pitching. I was thinking of giving them about 4 hours or so in half a liter of fresh room temp wort before pitching. Is that a good or bad idea?

Your thoughts?

I put a piece of sanitized sarran wrap on the flask, then foil, then stuck the flask in the beer fridge. That was a month ago, and it's still there.

Depending on the OG of the beer, I'm just going to warm and pitch the yeast. Not even going to wake it up unless the OG is about 1.060.

B

My target OG is 1.076. I guess your saying I should give it some wakeup time?

Yeah. Something that big I'd make sure it's up and attem. also, the new wort is going to get a bit of new fresh yeast growth, which is a bonus.

B

Thanks. Will warm up and apply fresh wort in the morning. Two hop bombs on the way. ;-)

Thanks for your response. Here's what I did. I had the yeast in the fridge in a half liter bottle under about a cup of the wort they grew up in. I poured off the old wort, added about half a liter of the 1.040 wort I had made up the night before and cooled and then planned to let them sit at room temp for about 4 hours. However, after an hour they were foaming up a storm and I put them back in the fridge to settle them down a little. I just took them out 20 min before pitching time, wiped the bottle off with some sanitizer and pitched. This morning I have a 68 degree fermentation that is going at about 5 bubbles per second through the airlock! Yikes.

Conclusion: Waking up the yeast in entertaining but probably not necessary. ;-)

How do you count 5 bubbles per second? I have trouble keeping up with one. Plus I only count now to pass the boredom of watching it ferment.

suprchunk said:

How do you count 5 bubbles per second? I have trouble keeping up with one. Plus I only count now to pass the boredom of watching it ferment.

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Let's see:
O-n-e o-n-e t-h-o-u-s-a-n-d, t-w-o ......
Blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, Blub, .....

;-)

Cold pitching is fine, no need to wake them up. I go straight from fridge into mid 60's wort and all is good.