Questionable Starter

Yeast & Fermentation
1

Hey all,

I recently brewed an Oktoberfest and I just began my Diacetyl rest this morning. Letting the freezer slowly warm up (was at 50 this morning and now it’s at around 55 and climbing).

At this point in the process I have a few relevant questions about moving forward.

First, I need to backtrack and explain a little experiment I did on brew day. When I pitched my yeast I decanted off the spent wort and decided to see how much viable yeast was still in suspension after 48 hours in the fridge. I added some leftover wort to the spent wort solution that i decanted off into a 2 liter flask. I left the mixture at room temp for 24 hours and it eventually developed krausen. I was impressed that the small amount of yeast were able to recover and take hold so quickly so I put the starter flask in my lagering chamber next to the carboy to buy myself some time.

Now I am at decision time.

My first thought was to decant off the spent wort and pitch the yeast into the primary during the Diacetyl rest to jump start things a little before lagering. Would I benefit from this? Is it worth it?

My second thought was decant spent wort, add fresh wort, and grow it into a full blown starter for another beer.

Finally, I wasn’t sure if the health of the yeast from the start + the relatively long lag time at room temp would negatively affect my yeast. Should I save this little experiment or should I just chalk it up to knowledge gained and pour it down the drain?

2

You don’t need to add anything after a diacetyl rest. After about 3 days sample. If no diacetyl is present start cooling the beer back down to lagering temps.

3

I know I don’t “have” to add anything.

I’m just curious if it would hurt.

I’m trying not to waste an otherwise perfectly good starter. What else could I do with it? or is it not worth saving?

4

Well, I have repitched if a diacetyl rest didn’t work. It worked to take away the butter flavor. So you do have that option. But I wouldn’t do that unless it was absolutely necessary.

You could also cold crash and save it. It will be good for a month or two and you could restart it again and brew something else.