how much time can lapse before pitching

[Harrydan]

Hey guys, I'm a brand new brewer, I brewed an oktoberfest (extract) with great success, so I'm hoping to keep the momentum rolling. I just brewed up a wort and when I went to pitch the yeast (white labs WLP028, Edinburgh) to my dismay I noticed the bottle expired in sept. It's now the beginning of feb so I brewed up a quick starter but the going is slow, wondering what to do? Should I reboil the wort? Will the sitting a day or two affect the final product much? any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

I would pitch it. If it doesnt take off. Then go grab another vial to toss in and let the LHBS know it was expired. Take them the vial as proof.

 

[bernerbrau]

A long lag time from old yeast won't be the end of the world, but you'll likely find it will need more conditioning time at the end than if you'd pitched yeast that was more viable.

EDIT: Never mind. I see you didn't pitch the yeast. Go ahead and pitch what you've got. Re-boiling the wort will change the hop utilization.

 

[Harrydan]

Awesome. Thanks guys, should I add yeast nutrient to the wort or wait to see if it takes off well enough?

 

[Sardoman]

Don't worry about the nutrient if you're brewing an ale. Go get a second vial to pitch ASAP, and that will help a lot. Also, be sure to aerate well when you pitch, even if you already aerated on brew day. Keep temperatures low.

 

[Zen_Brew]

How long a beer can sit without being pitched depends on how good your sanitation was. We do not brew in perfect sanitary conditions. There is always a little bit of unfriendly bacterias and wild yeasts that find their way into our wort. We offset them by pitching a large healthy yeast colony that out competes them for food. Letting a wort sit unpitched is always a bit risky and you really shouldn't wait if you don't have to. Once you've gone more than 12 hours you are entering a dangerous area. Could be fine, could start fermenting on it's own.

Adding nutrient to your wort is almost always a good idea as it gives the yeast a solid food base and nutrients on the front end. However, adding nutrient after the wort has been sitting several hours unpitched is not a good idea. Bacteria reproduce at a faster rate then yeast do, and if you have a growing colony of nasties in there, the nutrient may help them to out compete the yeast if they already have a foothold.

I think your best bet is to pitch the yeast/yeast starter that you already have, and get another vial today if possible, and pitch that as well.

 

[Harrydan]

Thanks for all the info guys... and for the explanation @zen brew. I won't be out until after my LHBS closes, so I'll pitch my starter when I get home tonight. Should I pitch the whole thing since it is only about 12 hrs old, or drain it off?? I have a couple of bread yeast packets in the fridge for baking purposes, will they do any good as a booster??

 

[bernerbrau]

Just pitch the whole starter.

And do not pitch bread yeast, whatever you do.

 

[Zen_Brew]

At 12 hours old a normal starter should already have achieved a pretty good portion of it's growth. Because of the age of your yeast, your's may be a little slower to come up to speed. At any rate go ahead and pitch the whole thing, there will still be way too much yeast suspended in the starter to try to decant it off, and definitely stay away from the bread yeast.

 

[Harrydan]

pitched the whole starter in tonight... it smells good. will let you all know how things go. thanks again for all the help.

 

[Harrydan]

:rockin: It took off great within a couple of hours it was all foamed up and when i woke up this moring I had good airlock activity. It actually took off faster than the same strain I pitched in my red ale that wasn't expired. I didn't use a starter for it though. Thanks for all the advice guys!