How long is too long to pitch yeast?

I spent all day yesterday brewing a Dunkelweizen, and had made a 1000 mL starter the day before.

Last night I tossed the starter in the fridge to separate out the yeast from the DME wort with the intention of throwing out the top layer and pitching just the yeast. So this morning I pulled it out of the fridge, threw away most of the wort, and placed the flask with my starter in the same temperature controlled environment that my wort is in.

When I get home from work I'll pitch the yeast, but the wort will have been sitting in my fermentor for about 24 - 26 hours. The lid is on and the airlock is in, it's sitting at about 62 F.

Any issues with this approach, especially around infection?

 

Likely not a problem if proper sanitation is followed. I routinely pitch yeast the following day in order to have the proper wort temperature. Ideally, best practice is to pitch asap so the yeast can outnumber any stray "bugs" present in the wort, but sometimes that can't be done due to circumstances. Better to pitch later than improper IMO.

Yes there is an inherent risk in delayed pitching, what the actual risk is depends on how "clean" the wort is.

 

Good to know... I like "better to pitch later than improper", I suppose I was following that already because this recipe calls for 62 F and that temperature is key to achieve proper results... The wort would have been too hot last night anyway, and the starter wasn't quite ready, thus the delay.

The big question this morning as I thought about it was, "do I need to use my entire lunch break to drive 35 minutes each way to pitch my yeast?" Sounds like the answer is "no".

I like to think I'm pretty sanitary, I follow all the recommended steps and don't skimp so it sounds like I should be in good shape.

Thanks for your note!