Had to postpone brew day.

[westex]

I had plans to brew beer on Friday so I started my yeast starter on Wednesday night. Got to Friday and now I may have to delay my brew a week to 10days. I put my yeast starter in the fridge on Friday after I postponed the brew. Today (Sunday) after I noticed the yeast cake in my starter had settled to the bottom I carefully poured of the top 2/3 and put the cake layer in a sterilized mason jar. Put the lid on a placed back into the fridge. Would you have done anything different? Will I need to buy new yeast? I'm planning on just making another starter just like last time with my harvested yeast from the starter. BTW this will be a high gravity beer Belgium Trippel. 2x WLP500 was used in the original. starter. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[IslandLizard]

Would you have done anything different?

Nope, that's proper procedure and exactly what I would do.

Will I need to buy new yeast?

Hell, no!

I'm planning on just making another starter just like last time with my harvested yeast from the starter.

I'm surprised you haven't started that yet, given the extra 7-10 days you've got.

Are you going to use some of that starter slurry you had put into the fridge for your new starter?
If so, estimate how many cells you have and how much of those you're going to use to propagate your next starter from.

In that light, are you using a yeast calculator, such as Homebrew Dad's / Brew United's:
https://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

One thing I've noticed with Belgian yeast starters is that even in the fridge they can keep fermenting. I've had the lid swell or even crimp up from underneath the mason jar bands. No harm done to the yeast, just amazing.

 

[DuncB]

Make it like the last time or save half in the mason jar or other sterile vessel and then you have a first generation you can use next time for the starter.

I would have just stepped up one packet of the yeast using the appropriate calculator for the beer even if it was a quad.

 

[IslandLizard]

Make it like the last time or save half in the mason jar or other sterile vessel and then you have a first generation you can use next time for the starter.

I would have just stepped up one packet of the yeast using the appropriate calculator for the beer even if it was a quad.

Exactly, that! ^

 

[Deadalus]

I would have let the starter finish over the course of a couple days and then stuck it in the fridge. On brew day I would have decanted it, let it warm up, and pitched it with no delay after warming up. I do this fairly often as brew day frequently gets pushed aside for something more pressing. I can't say I see much difference between letting the starter reach high krausen, that sort of 36 hour mark + chilling and later decanting vs letting the starter finish up then decanting. It does not appear to me that in the first method, that the yeast flocculate out completely and some I feel get decanted. In the second, the yeast have settled out, but perhaps some are less viable. The second does not seem much different then getting a fresh yeast packet? "Here's a packet of yeast that is literally 7-10 days old." I'd pitch that. I oxygenate my wort prior to pitching.

I definitely would not have transferred to a mason jar here. That seems like a completely unnecessary exposure.

 

[IslandLizard]

I would have let the starter finish over the course of a couple days and then stuck it in the fridge.

Agreed, if that starter wasn't (quite) done yet, that would have given it the needed time to finish.

I often make 2 rounds of starters, well ahead of brewing schedule, so there's plenty to pitch plus plenty to bank away to make new starters from in the future.

I can't say I see much difference between letting the starter reach high krausen, that sort of 36 hour mark + chilling and later decanting vs letting the starter finish up then decanting. It does not appear to me that in the first method, that the yeast flocculate out completely and some I feel get decanted. In the second, the yeast have settled out, but perhaps some are less viable.

Most, if not all of my starters, even from a new, fresh-ish pack, takes more than 36 hours to complete.
I tend to wait for the color change to occur, the spinning (or shaking) starter becoming considerably lighter in color. That could be 3-5 days on the stir plate (or shaker). Then cold crash.

From what I understand, the yeast that stays in suspension the longest is the healthiest, most viable. I'd definitely want to wait for those to settle/crash out.