made my starter too early...

[freshhoarse]

I made a 2L starter last week - decanted and stepped it up friday. I missed my brew day today and probably wont get to brew until friday. Soo... What can I do with my yeast? It's on a stirplate with an ambient temp of 68*. This is a big barley wine. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Zen_Brew]

You've got no problems at all freshhoarse. Let the starter finish fermentation, put an aluminum foil cap on it and put it in the refrigerator. On brew day get the starter vessel out of the fridge several hours before you anticipate needing to pitch it and slowly pour off most of the beer on top while trying not to disturb the yeast. Leave maybe an inch of beer on top of the yeast. Set it somewhere to let it come up to room temperature while you brew. When it's time to pitch into your beer give it a good swirl to get the yeast suspended in the beer that is left in the starter and pour it into the wort. That's it your golden.

 

[freshhoarse]

Awesome, thanks! I wasn't sure how long I could keep it in the fridge.

 

[DeafSmith]

I've kept a starter in my refrigerator for two weeks in a flask with a foam stopper and alum. foil over the stopper. I did what Zen Brew recommends on brew day and had no problems - active fermentation within 5 hours and the beer turned out great.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

As the other guys said, it'll work. Myself, 2 days prior to brewing I'd decant the clearer part, warm to room temp, add fresh wort, and put it back on the stir plate.

M_C

 

[freshhoarse]

I did just that, started fermenting in an hour. In fact, within a day 5 gallons of fermenting wort filled a 6.5gal carboy and a 1", 3ft blow-off tube. That Pacman yeast is some serious stuff!! O.G. = 1.119. Should be interesting ...