Yeast Starter: Three Days Too Long?

[slombacker]

I'm pretty new to this and I'm probably tackling a beer I should save for later... but I'd like to get a belgian IPA started tomorrow.

I bought the Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes yeast and put together a starter Monday night before I got on a plane... it's sitting in a fridge that is kept at 70 degrees.

Tomorrow night I get back home after having left it in the starter for three full days and I'm planning on pitching it tomorrow night... I'm a bit concerned I may have left it too long.

Should I scrap it and start over?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Germelli1]

Just throw it in a regular fridge if the starter already has a nice yeast cake on the bottom of the container. When it comes to pitching time, decant the spent wort and pitch away!

 

[pauljmccain]

You'll be fine.

 

[MBasile]

You'll be fine. I usually let mine ferment out completely and then crash cool and decant.

 

[dbreienrk1]

In my opinion that is way too long. See the link below. WYeast Labs recommends no more than 24 hours and I'm gonna take my advice from the scientists. If I make a starter and end up not using it within 24 hours I throw it in the fridge to slow/cease the fermentation.

 

[osagedr]

Perhaps not ideal, but you will still be okay. I think it would be hard to find someone who could tell the difference in a beer made with a 1 day old starter vs. a 3 day old starter.

 

[nefarious_1_]

3 days is fine.

Pop it in the fridge for a crash cool; decant before you start brewing; leave the slurry out until you're ready to pitch. It will be nice and warmed up by then.

 

[Mpavlik22]

More than likely you'll b ok. I usually make starters three days in advance, but I step them up alittle everyday.

Crash cool and decant the liquid. Also I highly recommend cold pitching your yeast.

 

[Davey_Boi]

It might take a day or two for the yeast to get started after pitching. I did a brew last weekend where the starter had been sitting at room temp for about 2-3 days after the yeast had finished and it took 2 days for the yeast to get going.

I guess that's the idea of pitching at high krausen is that the yeast are ready to go.

 

[MBasile]

In my opinion that is way too long. See the link below. WYeast Labs recommends no more than 24 hours and I'm gonna take my advice from the scientists. If I make a starter and end up not using it within 24 hours I throw it in the fridge to slow/cease the fermentation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng0Ib7n4DIA

I could've sworn I wrote a response to this, but maybe I forgot to press Submit. Which is good because I misread the post

If you've let it sit to long and activity has ceased, you can always throw some boiled DME in at the start of brew day. However, I am keen to believe that temperature control plays a bigger role in fermentation profile than active vs dormant pitch, assuming you have enough cells.

 

[slombacker]

Thanks for all of the feedback.

I had my sister move it to the real refrigerator yesterday so the starter only sat for 48 hours in total at 70 degrees.

Tonight, when I get home (on time hopefully), I'm planning to decant and leave the slurry to sit out while I boil the wort.

Once the wort is finished and chilled, I'm planning to add some of the cooled wort to the slurry. Then I'll aerate the remainder of wort for 30 mins in the carboy and go ahead and pitch the yeast. Based on all of the feedback I think this is my best course of action.