Question about yeast...

[Iain McLean]

I had plans to brew a dubbel today but G&G didn't have their type 4 kits done - Last week the guy told me they'd be done by Thursday, so Friday night I could pick one up... that scheme looked like a good one as I had to get my yeast starter going.

Now, I have a starter that I did on Monday night, and then pitched that into another 1.5l of LDME wort on Thursday thinking today I'd be brewing.

I'm going to pick up the wort kit on Tuesday evening so my question is how long will the yeast be okay? Do I need to refrigerate it? I looked through the sticky but didn't see anything to say how long you can keep a starter in this state without the yeast being adversely affected.

It's currently in the starter on a shelf in the pantry.

[warra48]

If you're happy your starter is cultured to a level where you can pitch it, this is what I do.

Put it in the fridge until you are ready to pitch into your brew. This will help to settle the yeast into a cake at the bottom of your starter. It will keep this way for quite some time. I've waited for a week to do this, but I'm sure it will keep longer.
On brew day, remove from the fridge, and allow to come up to pitching temperature.
Pour off most of the starter beer, agitate to suspend the yeast cake, and pitch only the slurry once your brew is down to correct temperature and properly aerated.

[Iain McLean]

Thanks mate.