Ok, I wanted to save $8, and tried my first attempt at washing & reusing yeast. I washed some WLP004 Irish Ale yeast from a stout, and had two mason jars of it. The video I watched on youtube that said the yeast would be usable for like 6 months. So fast forward 4 months, I made a started for my next batch and pitched the washed 004. I did a 1.5 liter starter, and did the 1:1 ratio for DME. I left the pot on the stove for longer than 15 min and ended up with about 1.1.L-1.2L of wort. I didn't crunch any number but definitely stronger than the 1.030-1.040 desired gravity. Usually my starter takes off pretty fast, so after 24 hours of no action, I was worried and decided to pitch the other mason jar in there, this time leaving all the water and not decanting to dilute the starter some. This brought the starter to 1.5L. It took about 36 hour to get some visible signs of fermentation. So after doing some research, obviously after 4 months the viability of the yeast was way down, maybe 35% viability, and should have been stepped up if I wanted to use it, or at least started with a gravity closer to 1.020. So, here is the question, I assume after pitching the yeast into my starter wort that was higher than 1.040 the cells are stressed out, can I know I there will be off flavors? Should I dump it and start over with a fresh vial from the homebrew shop? OR, now that fermentation is moving along in the starter, carry on as usual?
Thanks for any ideas
Thanks for any ideas
