Put starter in the fridge??

[jonbomb]

I made a starter last night. Should I have put it in the fridge after i pitched the yeast last night??

 

[kwantam]

You should ideally keep your starter close to your fermentation temperature while it's actually fermenting. Once it's done, you can put it in the fridge to cause the yeast to flocculate so that you can decant off the hooch before pitching the yeast, but some people don't do this.

If it's an ale yeast, you're fine running it at room temp as long as you're not in, I don't know, an apartment in Phoenix with broken A/C. With lager yeast, you should really keep the starter closer to 50degF.

 

[Revvy]

It's ale yeast right? They go dormant in temps in the 50's or below. And that's why we store them in the fridge. Or we cold crash our beers and starters to get the yeast to go dormant and fall out of suspension.

So if you made a starter and put it in the fridge right away, what do you think the yeast would do, go to work or go to sleep?

Just leave it warm for a few days to work. THEN your choice is to cold crash, pour off the beer and pitch the yeast. Not cold crash, decanting off the liquid above and whatever yeast hasn't naturally flocculated out of solution, or you can pitch it all in.

 

[JJL]

Nope. You need to let the yeast get going after you pitch them into the starter. The idea of a starter is to let the yeast eat and multiply. They can't do that if you put them in the fridge and they go dormant. If you are going to pitch the yeast within about 24 hours of maknig the starter, just pitch the starter into the wort without putting in the fridge. If it's going to be a while before you brew, then leave the starter at room temp for about 24 hours, then put it in the fridge. Pull it out and let it warm up to room temp a few hours before you are ready to pitch it.

 

[jonbomb]

Yea its an ale yeast. Cool I'll leave it out and let it do its thing ! Thanks! :fro:

 

[jonbomb]

Oh BTW im using a mason jar... so my lid has two pieces the circle then the actual screw on lid that goes on top.... can i leave the circle thing on then loosen the screw on top a little bit?? To release some of the co2?

 

[Revvy]

Oh BTW im using a mason jar... so my lid has two pieces the circle then the actual screw on lid that goes on top.... can i leave the circle thing on then loosen the screw on top a little bit?? To release some of the co2?

Well mason jar rings aren't made to hold pressure pushing inside outward, they hold vacuums. So loosening it is a good idea. But honestly rather than doing that, just sanitize a piece of tinfoil and put that on it, and crinkle it on. Most of us use that even on our beakers.

 

[Wolfy]

I made a starter last night. Should I have put it in the fridge after i pitched the yeast last night??

No, the idea behind a starter is to increase the yeast health and cell count, it can't (easily) do either if it's been refrigerated and forced into dormancy.
Let the yeast ferment out, then put it in the fridge after that has finished (usually 1-3 days) to help settle the yeast, decant the spent beer and pitch the yeast.

Edit: blah heaps of replies between the time I opened the thread and replied myself, oh well.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Even lager starters don't need to be refrigerated. As JJL mentioned, the point is growth/multiplication. Provided you will decant a potentially large amounts supernatant beer, you shouldn't worry about off-flavors fermenting a lager yeast at room temp could cause.

 

[Wolfy]

It's not just cell growth that starters are about, you want to breed yeast that is healthy and best suited for the conditions that they will ferment your beer in. If lager yeast starters are too warm, you risk yeast mutations and adaptions to the 'hot' temps, and they may not ferment so well at the 'cold' lager fermentation temps. About +5degC is often suggested temps for lager starters (from memory).

 

[cactusgarrett]

Although i don't take everything he says as gospel, Jamil's input has given me good results. Additional info, as well