quick starter question

so i made my second liquid yeast starter, but instead of using it after about a day or so, i ran into a problem and had to delay my brewing. i made the started thursday, threw it in the fridge friday night, went out of town and pulled it out of the fridge this morning. it seems to have formed a yeast cake at the bottom. ive read that after throwing the yeast in the fridge, that you should pour off the wort before pitching the yeast? is this correct? and then i pour the yeast cake into my batch?

thanks

Your yeast will have fallen out of suspension from being in the fridge. You can decant the liquid from the top of the container, leaving a little at the bottom to mix the yeast back up. You can then either pitch what you have, or pitch it to another starter before using if you feel you need more cells than what you already have.

What I do, Marms, is pour off most of the liquid. Then with a little liquid left, I swirl it around so that the yeast gets kicked up into the liquid and pour it into the wort.

I know its better to add the yeast starter when its active, at high krausen, but I find myself at least half of the time unable to do that, so, like you, I put it in the fridge and use it when I'm ready.

Of course, I let it warm up to room temp before pitching it.

not trying to threadjack here, but was just getting ready to ask a similar question.

Pappers, I've got a Hefe starter that has been in the fridge for 4 weeks now. Think I'd be alright tossing the cake in, or should try to restart it?

dcHokie said:

not trying to threadjack here, but was just getting ready to ask a similar question.

Pappers, I've got a Hefe starter that has been in the fridge for 4 weeks now. Think I'd be alright tossing the cake in, or should try to restart it?

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Hokie, you can do it either way. If your original starter was big enough, then warming it to room temperature and pitching would be fine. I've done that and fermentation has taken off quickly. I take that as a sign that the yeast was healthy and the environment was good for them.