What are your thoughts on using this starter?

[g8tor]

If the hops I ordered get here today or tomorrow I will be making an IPA this weekend. The yeast I'm planning on using is from yeast I harvested from an amber ale I bottled Dec 10, 2010. The amber ale was made with WYeast 1056 bought from the LHBS. The harvested yeast was stored in a refrigerator at temperatures ranging from 35 F to 45 F. The only experience I have with a starter is the one I used for my Oktoberfest I brewed 3 weeks ago. For that I put one package of LHBS bought yeast in 3 L of beer and placed it on my stir plate. It took off in less then 12 hours and 24 hours later I placed it into the fridge to settle the yeast and it seemed to work great.

However, this time the starter didn't take off like it did before. I made the starter Monday night. I took the harvested yeast out of the fridge and decanted the liquid off. I then let it warm up for three hours. I then mixed the little bit of liquid I had left with the yeast to form a slurry and then poured that into the cooled wort. I put it on my stir plate and let it go. The temperature is around 69 -70 F. After not seeing anything happening the last couple of days I was assuming that the yeast was dead and I was going to just buy new yeast. However, this morning the yeast is bubbling away and is looking normal now. I'm guessing why it took so long to get going is because most of the yeast in the harvested sample were dead and it took this long for the few remaining yeast to populate enough to show signs of fermentation. So will I be OK using this yeast or should I buy a package of fresh yeast and make a starter from that?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

If it smells OK you're fine. The longer the yeast stays dormant, the longer it takes to wake-up+multiply.

M_C

 

[ThePearsonFam]

I'd say give it a taste by pouring a small sample. If it smells or tastes bad, don't use it.

Might want to consider a step-up process next time. For example, use a 200ml volume of 1030 wort, run it for a day, increase to a 1L volume of 1035 wort and finish with a 2L volume of 1040 wort. Just use the Mr. Malty calculator to determine how much you actually need.

 

[g8tor]

I'll give it a smell but I don't think I want to taste it. If in doubt after smelling it I'll start with at new batch of yeast.

That's a good idea with the step up. Do I just add the extra wort to the flask while its still sitting on the stir plate?

Scott