Yeast Starter Question

So I've seen lots of yeast starter videos, but I have a poor-man's question.

I have this smack pack, Wyeast British Ale 1086, it was refrigerated from the time it arrived on Monday afternoon. I worked till 10pm, took it home, and forgot to refrigerate over night. I figured meh, what the heck, and smacked it this morning, thinking I'll brew today.

BUT, turns out I might not have time to brew today. My question is this, can I just put the yeast with the nutrients in a mason jar with some water and corn sugar, and put a piece of sanitized foil over the top, and stir it every once in a while? Or is this a bad idea...?

ORRR, can I just put it back in the fridge after I get off work at 5 today?? Or will this be bad for the yeast since I've already smacked it??
EDIT: ALSO FYI, I do NOT have the option of getting DME for the starter, unfortunately there is not a HomeBrew supply store within an hour of my location.

If you haven't opened the pack you should be fine to refrigerate it for a bit. I've had smacked packs in my fridge for as long as 2 days before i got around to using them. If memory serves i added them directly to the wort though typically i make starters for all liquid yeast these days.

The Soft Underbelly said:

If you haven't opened the pack you should be fine to refrigerate it for a bit. I've had smacked packs in my fridge for as long as 2 days before i got around to using them. If memory serves i added them directly to the wort though typically i make starters for all liquid yeast these days.

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Good to know. If I end up not being able to brew today, I'll go ahead and put it in the fridge. I mean, they will just go dormant, not die right?

I have always had wonderful results with Wyeast, and have never used a starter, but I would like to start making them just to be more efficient. I have all the parts to build my own DIY Stir plate, just haven't gotten around to it.

The Soft Underbelly said:

If memory serves i added them directly to the wort though typically i make starters for all liquid yeast these days.

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What do you mean you added them directly? You mean you didn't let them warm up to room temperature first before pitching them? Doesn't that shock them?

Also, btw, if you do the whole mason jar + sanitized foil method, do you poke a few holes in the foil so CO2 can escape?? Or is this necessary in a starter??

Don't tighten the lid on a mason jar and it will allow any CO2 to be released. You can use sanitized foil or just sanitize the lid.

A sugar starter is considered non-ideal because it selects for yeast that eat simple sugars and you want to be training them up to eat roughage (maltose). If you decide not to simply fridge the pack it and pitch later, you can pitch to plain (sterile) water.

Zandrello said:

What do you mean you added them directly? You mean you didn't let them warm up to room temperature first before pitching them? Doesn't that shock them?

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Cold yeast in pitch-temp wort would be "sub-optimal" but it's not going to kill them or create off flavors on the level of underpitching.

fearwig said:

Don't tighten the lid on a mason jar and it will allow any CO2 to be released. You can use sanitized foil or just sanitize the lid.

A sugar starter is considered non-ideal because it selects for yeast that eat simple sugars and you want to be training them up to eat roughage (maltose). If you decide not to simply fridge the pack it and pitch later, you can pitch to plain (sterile) water.



Cold yeast in pitch-temp wort would be "sub-optimal" but it's not going to kill them or create off flavors on the level of underpitching.

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I guess at this point I'll go ahead and put the little dudes back in the fridge. The pack has swollen quite a bit so that's good. I'll probably brew either tomorrow or Thursday instead. Couldn't find a suitable brew-buddy today.

OH! and correction: This is Wyeast 1098 British Ale yeast.

What I've done when I smack the pack but don't get around to making the starter for a day or two is to leave it on the counter. 70F doesn't kill yeast with extreme prejudice or anything. Yeast are pretty comfy at those temps for a couple days.

Zandrello said:

What do you mean you added them directly? You mean you didn't let them warm up to room temperature first before pitching them? Doesn't that shock them?

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I let them warm up prior to pitching. My apologies for the confusion.

Gameface said:

What I've done when I smack the pack but don't get around to making the starter for a day or two is to leave it on the counter. 70F doesn't kill yeast with extreme prejudice or anything. Yeast are pretty comfy at those temps for a couple days.

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With the smack pack though, won't they eventually run out of nutrients? There's only so much to eat inside the smack pack...

Zandrello said:

With the smack pack though, won't they eventually run out of nutrients? There's only so much to eat inside the smack pack...

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Sure they do. Then they sit there or maybe start going dormant. Sure, a few die. A few...of the 100 billion.

70F is not a hostile temp to the yeast. For long term viability refrigeration is better, but for a week...minimal impact.

If you're making a starter anyway this is a non-issue.

Gameface said:

Sure they do. Then they sit there or maybe start going dormant. Sure, a few die. A few...of the 100 billion.

70F is not a hostile temp to the yeast. For long term viability refrigeration is better, but for a week...minimal impact.

If you're making a starter anyway this is a non-issue.

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Thanks for all the help and advice everyone!! Brewed my Buffalo Sweat clone on Saturday, and it went great!! Yeast is working away, really active fermentation so far!!

If you run into this problem again, find an ethnic market and grab a few bottles of Malta. There is a simple sugar content, but it is mostly malt sugar with a bit of hops.

Riot said:

If you run into this problem again, find an ethnic market and grab a few bottles of Malta. There is a simple sugar content, but it is mostly malt sugar with a bit of hops.

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I've malta in Germany and thought about making some here. It was interesting stuff that's better than a pop. I think anyway

I think its super gross, but it definitely works as yeast food in a pinch. Just boil heavy to drive off the carbonation.