Spur of the moment Brew day... OOooops STARTER!!!!

So I just threw in my grains and was all happy for being productive. Then I realized that I didn't make a starter with the washed yeast (about a month old WLP001 2nd gen) I was going to use! Did a couple of searches some people don't even use starters with washed yeast, some always do. So down to the question:

Pitch my washed yeast or make a starter and wait 24 hours to pitch it?


Thanks in Advance!

Will it ferment without a starter? Sure, but not ideal. If you've got any dry US-05 you could pitch that.

You could always take a few quarts of your cooled wort and make a starter, then just pitch the whole thing in the rest of the wort tomorrow. Just sanitize well and you shouldn't have any problems pitching late.

I would't let your wort sit... pitch it. and all will be fine. Is it ideal, no... But, having your wort go bad,sour, another yeast take a hold, etc would be far worse. 001 is not a yeast that makes a ton of off flavors when stressed from my experience. I say pitch it and don't worry about it.

I did some thinking. I've got 2 jars of washed yeast. I'm going to pitch them both. I should really pick up some dry yeast for just these instances.

Thanks for the Advice! Really good info.

BlainD said:

I did some thinking. I've got 2 jars of washed yeast. I'm going to pitch them both. I should really pick up some dry yeast for just these instances.

Thanks for the Advice! Really good info.

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I have forgotten to make my starters until the day of... twice. Both times I started it as soon as I realized (using washed yeast) and however far along it was, I pitched it. Basically both times, after 6 hours, the starter was pretty well enough along. It's not ideal but at the very least you'll rouse the yeast and get them multiplying and fortifying their cell walls.

keesh said:

I have forgotten to make my starters until the day of... twice. Both times I started it as soon as I realized (using washed yeast) and however far along it was, I pitched it. Basically both times, after 6 hours, the starter was pretty well enough along. It's not ideal but at the very least you'll rouse the yeast and get them multiplying and fortifying their cell walls.

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Maybe I should have made a starter and waited. I've pitched and placed it in my fermentation chamber now so what ever happens happens. It's up to Bacchus now.

BlainD said:

Maybe I should have made a starter and waited. I've pitched and placed it in my fermentation chamber now so what ever happens happens. It's up to Bacchus now.

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You should check out mrmalty and try and get an estimate for the cell count in your yeast slurry, to see if you underpitched or whatever. That way when you drink it, you can go into it expecting that and try and figure out what kind of results you got from that pitching rate with this particular strain.

BlainD said:

I should really pick up some dry yeast for just these instances.
.

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And there you answered your own post..Pick up 6 packs of 05 and keep in the refrigerator. Perfect for all situations and will last you 2 years.

****Update as a reference to anyone searching for information in the future*****

11 days in the Fermentation chamber at ~60 (was shooting higher but Still perfecting it) and opened the barrel not sure what I'd find. There is still a large amount of Krausen on the top. I took a sample with my wine thief (turkey baster) and it tasted just as it should. Usually this recipe is ready to bottle in 10 days or so. I blame the lack of a starter and the low temperature in the fermentation chamber.

So Pitching the washed yeast into chilled wort is OK and has produced satisfactory but slow results.