I made a yeast starter in January and life got in the way and I didn't get around to making the beer. The starter has been in my fridge since. Is the yeast salvageable and will it still make the beer intended if I dump out and make starters again? Its a strong belgian yeast and I was planning on making a Belgian Quad, lots of ingredients, lots of time and want to make sure I won't be waiting months for a beer that never had a chance due to old ingredients.
How was the yeast stored in the fridge? Was in it in a sterilized/sanitized container? If it was stored properly you can definitely reuse it. Just make sure you use a yeast calculator to determine how many viable cells are left. If you have any doubt that the yeast was stored improperly just buy a new package not worth taking the chance over $7-$10. If you do reuse it I would recommend decanting off the liquid and making a new starter from that yeast because after all that time there most likely will not be enough cells to pitch. Just make sure you calculate how many cells you need to pitch then you will know what size starter you need to make
Definitely plan on making another yeast starter if its still usable. Just wanted opinions on if this yeast will still make a good belgian quad.
I think so but if the starter picks up just fine than I'd say you are okay. Like the other guy said I'd make sure you calculate how many cells u have.
More than likely it’s salvagable. But probably not ideal to use for a monster beer like a Belgian Quad. You’re going to want a nice healthy pitch of yeast for something like that. Up to you though, best of luck.
^^^ These things. He can always step it up to a bigger volume beforehand, but as long as it's active 2 - 4 pints is plenty for 5 gallons.
ya agreed on the yeast being active. That's why I try to get some starter wort for my slurry before I pitch the next day.
It's possible the yeast has a trace of life left that can be re-started. But consider a few constraints working against you: 1. My guess is you don't really know how many active cells you had back in January. Let's say you had 100 billion (a guess). Ten months later that would leave you with less than 10 billion. 2. A Belgian Quad will have an OG above 1.075, which means you'll need 300+ billion cells. 3. Expect at least a 3-step starter to arrive at this number and close to a pound of DME (@ $4/lb) . . . but you'll save almost 3 bucks over buying a new packet. If I wanted to make sure I wasn't wasting my time on a large/time-consuming beer my choice would be new yeast and a simple one-step starter , , , would forego trying to save less than the price of a Bud Light in a bar.
Ya after the breakdown I agree. Buy some new yeast and build a new starter. Or build your original yeast up with a starter to brew a small Belgian like 1.040 then use that yeast cake slurry for your quad.
It’s been almost a year. Plus however long the smack pack sat on the homebrew shop shelf. You are reaching the point where the viability is low enough that it’s probabaly financially more efficient to just buy a new smack pack. If you are making a beer like duvel, you don’t want to gamble on yeast health. That beer finishes looow.
I've never had a starter fail. When I have had old yeast I've made step up starters. I never tried to revive a 10 month old starter, but I feel pretty good about your odds. If your intention is to push the limits and see what you can do with old yeast, go for it; you'll make beer. It may throw some weird flavors or finish high, or may be close to exactly what you want. If your intention is to make that consistently great best-of-show contender that you used to always make, better to not use yeast of questionable viability.
