How long will a starter last?

[MNBeerBaron]

I pitched 1 activator of 1056 into 3 liters of 1.04 wort 7 days ago. The krausen has risen, fallen, and now fermentation seems to be long since complete. Something came up and now I unfortunately won't be able to brew. How long can I let this sit before it's a bad idea to use it?

Any ideas for how to keep it for another week? Put it in the fridge?

Thanks

 

[Yooper]

Yep, in the fridge it'll keep a long time. After a couple of weeks, you might want to mix up some fresh wort just to "wake it up". The nice thing about keeping it in the fridge is you can decant the spent wort because the yeast will all settle to the bottom during chilling. So, when you go to use it, if it's a month, just decant the spent wort and add some fresh (cooled) wort to it.

 

[Newbeerguy]

Put the starter in the fridge and it will last a couple weeks. In addition to staying viable for longer, it also will crash the yeast to the bottom so you can decant the starter wort and pitch just the yeast.