Cold-crashing propagated yeast - how long OK?

[user 246304]

Hi all,

Intended to brew Friday, but for the THIRD time, weather creeped in to prevent that (all electric brewers, laugh now and no other, please, lol).

I have no experience with cold crashing a starter longer than 12 hours, or overnight, really. This is a 58% viability WLP002 that I brought back, and I'd forgotten how truly flocculant it is. I don't think I should push the final hours prop past tomorrow morning, so it will have been, say, 48 hours cold until morning of the brew. I've no idea of the deleterious effect of such a long period cold, if any, this would be. Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[day_trippr]

You lost me wrt your schedule, but if the question is simply "is a 48 hour cold crash too long for a starter?" the answer ime is certainly "No, just let it warm up to pitch temperature and it'll be just fine".

fwiw, I've crashed for as little as 18 hours and I've direct-pitched month-old yeast from the fridge. The wee beasties always wake up and do their thing, and as long as the pitch rate is good the beer will be, too...

Cheers!

 

[hopjuice_71]

What day_trippr said.. ..i'm too slow with my responses. I routinely grow my starters in advance, aliquot them into sanitized mason jars in pitchable quantities and then store them in the fridge (i.e. cold crash). I like to use them within a few days but when life intervenes I have waited up to a couple of weeks. It always works well for me. As long as you have good cell numbers and the yeast was healthy in the starter you won't even notice the difference of a longer cold crash.

 

[user 246304]

You lost me wrt your schedule, but if the question is simply "is a 48 hour cold crash too long for a starter?" the answer ime is certainly "No, just let it warm up to pitch temperature and it'll be just fine".

fwiw, I've crashed for as little as 18 hours and I've direct-pitched month-old yeast from the fridge. The wee beasties always wake up and do their thing, and as long as the pitch rate is good the beer will be, too...

Cheers!

OK, thanks Trippr. I was going to brew on Friday and tomorrow morning will have been 36 hours of this last propagation step. So it will have been 24 hours crashed, or rather, 24 hours to Friday morning, when I'd begin brewing. Raining, so that got pushed back to Saturday morning, or 48 hours crashed. I've just not had any experience with longer, I think, than 15 hours or so of cooling, so thanks.

Warming - yep, I actually was going to decant Friday night, let it warm up to ambient overnight, and in the morning, pitch a quart of wort over the yeast and let it start to eat again. So, about 6-7 hours or so of active fermentation.

 

[user 246304]

What day_trippr said.. ..i'm too slow with my responses. I routinely grow my starters in advance, aliquot them into sanitized mason jars in pitchable quantities and then store them in the fridge (i.e. cold crash). I like to use them within a few days but when life intervenes I have waited up to a couple of weeks. It always works well for me. As long as you have good cell numbers and the yeast was healthy in the starter you won't even notice the difference of a longer cold crash.

Great, thanks Hopjuice. Not now, but we're moving and once we're settled, I hope to go back into my original desire, open fermentation, rousing, skimming; and have been intrigued by what I see British homebrewers do in the way you're describing, holding the yeast much longer than I would have expected. Now that I think of it, I don't know why an active propagation should be any different, lol.

Thanks again.