Forgot a starter for repitching two-month old yeast

[RogueVassar]

I'm in the midst of my mash and realized that I never made a starter for my belgian wit yeast. I harvested it from a batch at the beginning of July. What I've read is that the yeast is fine being that old but that I should have put it in a starter a few days ago. What should I do now? The brew store that I went to is out of this yeast. There is a second one a little farther away.

Should I pitch this yeast and check on it tomorrow? That's my gut feeling but I have only ever pitched reused yeast when it's a week old (and did it without a starter). Also, I probably have 2 cups of yeast saved. Normally, I only put in about half a cup. Should I add more if I do use this stuff?

 

[Daybis]

What I would do, and maybe some else might say something better, but I would brew as normal. Then take your wort and toss it in the fermenter as normal. Seal it up. Then I would make the starter. Then in a few days when it's ready, pitch.

 

[RogueVassar]

Since I have about two cups of yeast, I wouldn't use all that in the starter. I might as well put it in the wort as well as the starter, right?

 

[Daybis]

I haven't reused yeast and I was just giving advice as if I didn't have any yeast ready on hand. I don't think you would want to pitch any of the old yeast directly into the wort. I saw this because I don't know how long yeast is good for, so you wouldn't want to put a bunch of bad yeast in your beer if you don't have to. I would probably take a quarter cup yeast in a 1L - 2L starter. In 24-48 hours when it shows good fermentation, then pitch it into the wort. Assuming everything is well sanitized, your wort won't go any where over the next two days or so.

I hope someone with more experience about reusing yeast will post if it's safe to use after that time period.

 

[Wellshooter]

I agree with Daybis. Just sanitize some saran wrap and cover your wort tightly. Make the starter as you would have if you had remembered and pitch it when it's peaked.

 

[RogueVassar]

From what I've read, there's two windows of time for reusing yeast. Within the first week or two, you can just dump it into your wort without a starter. After that, it's still good for three months but that you should make a starter a few days in advance.

So the yeast should still be good. It just might not be strong enough to get going in five gallons of wort. I'm wondering if adding more non-started yeast will make up for no starter or what I should do. I forgot it's Labor Day weekend so neither brew shop is open until Tuesday anyway...

I figure I'll toss at least some of my yeast in today. I like your suggestion of doing a starter with some of the yeast just in case. The question I still have is should I add extra yeast to make up for not using a starter and should I use some of the yeast in a starter to then add in a couple days if this one doesn't get it going.

 

[RogueVassar]

I agree with Daybis. Just sanitize some saran wrap and cover your wort tightly. Make the starter as you would have if you had remembered and pitch it when it's peaked.

What's the benefit of the saran wrap compared to just closing up my sanitized bucket along with the airlock?

 

[Daybis]

I would use a lid my self to seal off the bucket. If you are going to add yeast to the fermenter today, I would also do a starter, just to have some security. If the yeast are going in a few days on it's own without a starter, I would just leave it alone and not add the starter. No sense in opening the fermenter again, exposing the wort to more oxygen.

 

[RogueVassar]

I'm cooling the wort now and have decided to pitch the amount of yeast as I would have normally pitched (1/2 cup of the slurry but I might do a slight bit more). I'm also going to set some of the wort to use as a starter since the OG shouldn't be much more than what I would aim for with the starter and use some of the remaining slurry with that. The starter should help me have a sense of whether the yeast is still alive. I couldn't buy new yeast until Tuesday anyway so I think these two options are the best.

 

[JNye]

I would just pitch all the slurry you have. I use washed yeast like this occasionally. I usually only pitch about a cup of slurry, and last time it was 4 months old. Turned out wonderful. The reason I did this last time was I made a 3rd running beer(parti-gyle) spur of the moment and I didn't have a starter prepared for it.

 

[RogueVassar]

I would just pitch all the slurry you have. I use washed yeast like this occasionally. I usually only pitch about a cup of slurry, and last time it was 4 months old. Turned out wonderful. The reason I did this last time was I made a 3rd running beer(parti-gyle) spur of the moment and I didn't have a starter prepared for it.

Thanks! I just checked the thread one last time before pitching the yeast (even had the starter jar all ready too) and saw your post. Whether or not it works for me, it's good to hear there's someone out there who has had success with it. I also underestimated the amount of slurry that I had once I poured off the top beer. It was probably a 1 1/4 cups so more than I usually do but pretty close to your normal pitch.

I'll update you guys on what happens next.

 

[RogueVassar]

I just checked this morning and it's bubbling away! Thanks for everybody's help.

 

[Daybis]

That's great to hear! I've been looking to do exactly what you are doing, but I haven't been consistent on what batches I make yet. I guess I should just skip all of that and save them anyways. Glad to hear fermentation has kicked off so quickly.

 

[RogueVassar]

That's great to hear! I've been looking to do exactly what you are doing, but I haven't been consistent on what batches I make yet. I guess I should just skip all of that and save them anyways. Glad to hear fermentation has kicked off so quickly.

I recommend it. Definitely worth saving even if you don't end up using it. It's also good to label it so that you can keep track of what and when. I used a variation of this guy's methods. He uses vodka to kill of bacteria but I just spray star san on the rim. I also don't agree that it's the biggest factor in good beer but to each their own.

I think repitching yeast is what helped me get enough beer now that I might run out of a particular style but we now have plenty of beer in the house. Most beers that I make use a standard English ale yeast except for this Belgian Wit that I've made a few times so it's really been worth it for me.

 

[RogueVassar]

Dang, well I normally only pitch half a cup and pitched just over a cup this time. My wife went down to the basement today and found the airlock filled up and the lid blew clear off the bucket. So I guess the yeast was viable.... I'm hoping it will still be alright. I'm probably more worried about off flavors from too much yeast rather than infection but we'll see...