Did I kill my yeast with StarSan?

[POAS]

OK, here's proof that the StarSan did not kill my yeast. This is a 1 L starter and there appears to be a huge amount of yeast that has settled at the bottom. My plan was to take this up to a 2 L starter, but unfortunately it fermented at about 72 deg. So I'll probably just dump the poor guys down the drain, go get me a couple more packages of the dry lager yeast, rehydrate them and use that for my first Lager beer. I don't want to take any chances (from the high ferm temps, not the sanitizer).

 

[kombat]

What!?! Why would you dump those poor, innocent yeasties?

The fermentation temperature of your starter is far less important than the fermentation temperature of your main wort. The higher fermentation temperature of your starter (although 72 F is not that high at all) may indeed have produced some off-flavors in your starter wort, but who cares? Decant the spent wort and just pitch the actual yeast. You've got a great start on a lager there!

 

[POAS]

Really?! Cool, that would save me an hour of driving to get the yeast! Nice. So the yeasties aren't affected by the temp that much? Are they stressed out? Should I bump this up to 2 L, or does that look like enough? I was planning on cold crashing it and dumping the wort and just using the yeast, so maybe I just stick it in the fridge now and when I brew on Sunday, I'll just decant and just use the yeast.

 

[Revvy]

It really doesn't matter what temp you ferment your starter at. You make a starter to reproduce more yeast, NOT to drink the starter beer. It doesn't matter if the beer on top has off flavors from too high of a fermentation, just decant most or all the liquid off before pitching the yeast.

 

[kombat]

For a 5 gallon starter, I would indeed step your starter up to 2L.

 

[JustusLiebig]

it really doesn't matter what temp you ferment your starter at. You make a starter to reproduce more yeast, not to drink the starter beer. It doesn't matter if the beer on top has off flavors from too high of a fermentation, just decant most or all the liquid off before pitching the yeast.

100%

 

[thatshowyougetants]

I know that they say Star San breaks down and becomes something yeast can eat, but what about before it breaks down? I would have thought something with a pH of 3-3.5 would kill yeast on contact.

 

[stpug]

I know that they say Star San breaks down and becomes something yeast can eat, but what about before it breaks down? I would have thought something with a pH of 3-3.5 would kill yeast on contact.

What I've read on these forums is that yeast is (truly) washed using a high acid solution (near 2.2 pH) that kills most wild bugs/bacteria and, although it affects the yeast, leaves it mostly unharmed. Based on this understanding, I would assume a pH of >=3.0 would not be too detrimental to yeast at all considering they can survive for short periods at ~2.2.

I had never heard that yeast eventually use the star san as "food" so that's new to me.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Yeast likes starsan it breaks down into food for them. Like a yeast energizer. Nothing to worry about.

+1, Although I certainly wouldn't use it instead of DME to make my starter medium!!!