How long is too long? Yeast starter inquiry

[TheBrewBrotha]

Brewing up an Oktoberfest and have a starter of WLP820 working since Friday afternoon. I plan to brew later today but by the time I pitch at 45-48F, my starter would have been gone my for 50+ hours (not including decant chill to pitch slurry only).

With wlp820 being known for slow starts and fermentation, I figured this much time on the stir plate would be beneficial. This is a 3mL starter with 3pks of wlp820.

Cheers

 

[shoengine]

What specifically is the question?

 

[PoppinCaps]

That amount of time in a starter is fine. Up to 2 weeks is fine, after that I would think about giving it another wake up if it's a heavy beer. Pitch it.

 

[Sparger]

I think you meant 3L starter. It should be pretty much done by 50 hours if you used two packs. It should be cream colored and little bubbles. Some extra time doesnt hurt. I would then cold crash and dump the starter wort. Swirl in some of your new wort and pitch. I also wouldnt be afraid of ptiching a lttle higher temp, 50-52F.

 

[TheBrewBrotha]

Yep, sorry, I did mean a 3L starter. I let it spin for exactly 62hrs. Didn’t add the fresh Wort from my batch but still decanted and pitched the slurry at exactly 45F and will let it rise to 52 over the next 24hrs

 

[TheBrewBrotha]

That amount of time in a starter is fine. Up to 2 weeks is fine, after that I would think about giving it another wake up if it's a heavy beer. Pitch it.

Really? I couldn’t even imagine letting a starter go for 2 weeks lol

 

[TheBrewBrotha]

Had a good turn out on the first Oktoberfest brew. Hit all the numbers (actually higher than expected), clarity is looking to be good (will fine after ferm as yeast will change this).

 

[PoppinCaps]

Really? I couldn’t even imagine letting a starter go for 2 weeks lol

Yeah, yeast are incredibly hearty. Think about the activity you get dumping wort onto part of a yeast cake after the first primary. While I think a 2 week starter may be bad planning, it's perfectly fine to do.

 

[kh54s10]

I think there are 2 different ideas going here.

On a stirplate all the cell growth you need is done in 18 - 24 hours with well handled yeast. If there is any concern about the viability a while longer is fine.

As to the 2 weeks, that would be how long I would still use a starter that was made and stored in the fridge. Longer than that and I would give it another feeding of starter wort.
This starter should not be sitting on the stirplate for the entire 2 weeks.

 

[PoppinCaps]

Good point, it shouldn't be spinning for 2 weeks, that would be pretty brutal.