"I'm not dead yet!" - Yeast Starter Dilemma

[redshift]

So I've created an interesting dilemma for myself.

I'm brewing a stout kit this weekend and so I made a starter with a vial of White Labs British Ale yeast. I had a bad feeling about it's viability since it got trapped in FedEx purgatory over Memorial Day weekend and it's been hotter than heck (90+ every day) in the Midwest. I made it right after work on Wed and by Thursday morning, nothing, not a bubble, just flat and all settled out. Swirled it up - still nothing. Now I've never encountered dead yeast yet, but I thought it was a gonner.

Went to the LHBS at lunch the next day and got a smack pack of Wyeast British Ale, and smacked it. Got home and went to make another batch of starter and as I went to dump my flask, guess what I'm seeing. A thin layer of foam on my "dead" starter. (Queue the chorus of "you didn't wait long enough")

Didn't really know what the heck to do at that point, so I went ahead and made another starter with the Wyeast so now I have 2.

So now my question - what the heck do I do with these? I'm inclined to use the Wyeast starter since it seems a bit more active, but I also really hate to just pitch (no pun intended) one or the other. Any (easy) suggestions on preserving a starter for a future batch - say maybe a month or so from now? Any thoughts on White vs Wyeast British?

 

[bgruis]

If it were me I would take the first starter and put it in a sterilized mason jar and keep it in the refrig. Then when your ready to brew another batch you can just decant, make another starter and get it going again.

 

[larrynoz]

I would pitch whichever starter looks healthier.

By that I mean which one has the thicker later of cream colored yeast on the bottom. If the yeast is off white (cream colored) it's healthy, if it's brown it's dead.

As for the other starter you could store it in the fridge but maybe only for a week or two. After that I would make another starter with it. Basically just decant off the wort from the previous starter and add fresh starter wort right on top of the yeast.

That's what I would do but I'm sure there are other opinions out there.

Good luck

 

[jamesjensen1068]

Simple....brew more beer.

 

[ETCS]

(Insert Revvy post here): https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/need-some-help-247036/

This is what you should see (look at the 3rd post down)