How Long a Starter Lasts

[thejuanald]

Hi all,

In preparation for a batch, I made a starter on December 26th, and then due to a family emergency, I was unable to make the batch. I had the starter on a stir plate until the 28th, when my fiancee put it in the refrigerator. It's been there since then. Would the starter still be viable? I can make some more wort tonight and pitch it in and let it go for 24-48 hours on a stir plate if I do a batch on Saturday, but would there be a problem with that? The nearest homebrew shop is a bit of a drive so I'd rather use this if it's still viable, but if not I can make the trip. Thanks

 

[V-Fib]

I don't think so at all. Many of us keep used yeast or frozen yeast for months to a year and get it going again without any issues. The chance of anything being wrong with yours is probably near zero.

 

[myndflyte]

You're actually probably ok if you just pitched that into your brew but if you wanted to give them a kickstart, you could make another starter.

 

[thejuanald]

Great, thanks for the reassurance, guys. I will probably just make a quick starter tonight then. I figure giving the yeast a quick wake up might be a good idea.

 

[brewcat]

Do you know how many cells you had when it finished? Plug some numbers into a yeast calculator. You've probably only lost 10% of viability. A new starter may not be worth the time.

 

[thejuanald]

Do you know how many cells you had when it finished? Plug some numbers into a yeast calculator. You've probably only lost 10% of viability. A new starter may not be worth the time.

The beer is supposed to be a high gravity black ipa, with an OG of 1.084. I made a 1.5L starter with about 5oz of light DME for 48 hours on a stir plate. I think that gives me around 315 billion cells according to Beersmith. Beersmith also states that I need around 300 billion for the batch, so I'm probably okay but I might do small starter just in case.

 

[myndflyte]

Since it's higher gravity, it might be worth it just to make a smaller starter just to wake them up and get them going again.