3 month old starter - Do I need to wash before stepping up?

[secondratemime]

Hi all,

I brewed a Belgian Dubbel for xmas and was planning to do a tripel at the same time as I could use Wyeast 3787 for both of them. I made a starter and then split it and then stepped them both up ready for use aiming for around 500billion cells a-piece. However, the dubbel was a pretty violent fermentation and with family coming over I didn't have the space for an even stronger and potentially messier brew so I made a mental note to do it in the new year.

The unused starter has been in the fridge for around 3 months and as soon as it came to room temperature it started bubbling away nicely on the residual sugars left in the solution. I poured away the spent wort and added 2L of fresh 1.040 wort and whacked it on the stir plate. Now obviously there are plenty of healthy yeast cells to ferment a beer with, but the colour of the yeast in suspension is darker than I remember it being.

Is this because of the yeast cells that have died while in the fridge? Is it worth putting this starter in the fridge again and washing the yeast to capture only the healthy cells or is this a waste of time? If so I assume I'd just pour of the spent wort, add some sterilised water and let it settle and then pour of the top milky layer, leaving the darker stuff behind?

As it happens the starter was made with the dregs of the dubbel wort and after some time cold conditioning I can't help but think it tastes better than the actual beer I made! Certainly tastes much cleaner anyway, but I guess that's what all that time in the fridge will do for you. I normally pour the old stuff away, but I drank a pint of this!

James

 

[flars]

You most likely do not have an infection if the starter wort tastes that good. I normally swirl up the starter and pour off the clean milky layer for use. After cold crashing I evaluate the number of fresh yeast cells remaining.

Quite often I will use these cells to make another starter to get to my pitching rate.

I use Troesters' stir plate calculations in Yeastcalc for pitching rates and cell propagation.

 

[secondratemime]

You most likely do not have an infection if the starter wort tastes that good. I normally swirl up the starter and pour off the clean milky layer for use. After cold crashing I evaluate the number of fresh yeast cells remaining.

Quite often I will use these cells to make another starter to get to my pitching rate.

I use Troesters' stir plate calculations in Yeastcalc for pitching rates and cell propagation.

Yeah I'm sure it's not infected, I just wasn't sure if it was worth removing any dead yeast from the starter before adding it to the brew.

I've heard conflicting stuff about dead yeast, such that it acts as a source of nutrients for growing yeast, but that you shouldn't leave beer on a yeast cake for too long due to the negative impact of autolysis on taste. When it's done I'll let it settle and decant the healthy looking milky solution into a fresh starter and try to leave the darker stuff behind if you think it's worth it.

Cheers!

James