unviable starter - pitch new yeast into it?

[jgers]

So I tried to make a belgian strong ale yeast starter today for a belgian i'm brewing tomorrow. the yeast had been in my fridge for 5 months and was leftovers from a 4 week old primary fermentation on a good belgian. it looked white and even made some hissing sounds as it warmed up. however, at i sloshed it around at room temp in my mason jar, it started to look brown and not alive. i pitched it into my starter wort and 10 hours later, i cant coax a bubble out when i swirl it in the flask. seems pretty dead.

so i know i better rush out to the Brooklyn Homebrew shop and get probably 2 smack packs to get a good complete fermentation out of this belgian tomorrow.

Question: do i just inflate the smack packs, or do i pitch them into the unviable starter? Maybe the dead yeast is good protein nutrient? Or maybe it just adds bad taste and brown color?

Jason

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Chances are, your starter is fine if you properly stored the yeast. It's very hard to kill yeast if you didn't freeze it. Also, I've only noticed activity on 2-3 starters out of the hundred or so that I've made.

 

[jgers]

you know what- waited another 12 hours and it's humming away with a nice head of foam on it! all it needs is time i guess!
J