Need to postpone already started Starter

I made a starter earlier this week and something came up so I can't use it until early next week. It's still sitting on my stirplate and I'm wondering if I can just leave it go for now and add more honey and nutrient 24+ hours before I use it, or do I need to put it in the fridge and restart it?

Put it in the fridge until the morning you are going to brew. Pull it out to let it warm up and pitch as usual. You will also be able to decant off the starter wort (now beer) since you cold crashed it first. There will be white layer in the bottom of your vessel-that is the yeast.

Starters are really for "starting" anything...its for building up yeast cell number and "proofing" that you have viable yeast. A starter kept in the fridge for a few days will start fermentation just as quickly as one made and pitched without chilling (assuming you could made them so that they had equivalent yeast cell numbers at pitch).

broadbill said:

Put it in the fridge

Click to expand...

There you go. Good advice right there.

Thanks. Never had to postpone a starter before and wasn't sure how to go about it.

I use this process as my normal brew process that way if something goes wrong I have time to recover, I do it a little different for no scientific reason but because it works for me. After cold crash I take it out very early morning of the brew or the night before depending on when I plan to be ready to pitch the yeast. Once warmed up to room temp I decant and pitch it into a starter, about 8hrs before the brew is ready, just to wake it up and get it in the mood for eating.

I can't remember who told me this one but it also helps to give your little friends a motivational speech

Clem

I've had my brew day canceled last minute before too. I did what the other folks here have suggested and it worked out just fine.

also, honey is a simple sugar and will change the fermentation characteristic of the yeast, better off to use dme

I used honey because I'm brewing a mead in this case. When I'm brewing beer I use DME.