Easy question- pitch harvested yeast without making a starter first?

[green_giant43]

So I did a brown ale 1.5 months back and harvested the yeast. I have about half a mason quart jar (and this is yeast, not a trub/yeast slurry). Is it ok to just pitch this directly into the next batch after warming to fermentation temp or should I make a starter? I seem to recall an earlier batch where I made a starter with harvested yeast and it went nuts in that (ie. didn't need it.)

Just seeing what everyone does and if a starter is recommended.

 

[JohnSand]

There are calculators, they are very conservative. Some people say always make a starter, others pitch the yeast if it is young and enough.
I would pitch it unless it smells very bad.

 

[triletter]

What is the size of the batch and what was the OG of the brown? I don't do a starter when I pitch the slurry. If you are doing a 5 gal batch and the previous batch was under 1.070 you should be good; probably over pitch, but that is better than under.

I use this to get me in the ball park: https://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/

 

[zrule]

That yeast is pretty old. I wouldn't use yeast that old. Interested to know if others have used yeast with that much age and what the results were.

 

[deere322]

I've pitched 2 month old slurries with no issues and I never make a starter.
BUT, I never pitch a collected slurry that's beyond 2 months old either.

 

[LLBeanJ]

No question about it, I'd use it as-is. At 6 weeks (or so) old, there's way more viable yeast there than you'd need for a typical batch, assuming 5-6 gallons batch size and a reasonable OG (1.050-1.070).

 

[green_giant43]

I might just go for it (and grab another liquid pack if it doesn't take off in a normal time.) The batch will be a pumpkin porter and OG (recipe isn't finished yet) would be under 1.070 for sure.

Thanks for the link to brewer's friend calculator. I use that all the time but never knew they had a slurry option.

 

[green_giant43]

For future googlers- the yeast was about 7 weeks old from first pitch (so about 6 weeks old from when it was done first fermenting.) I got skittish when I didn't see any fermentation after about 24 hours (even with a nice oxygen infusion at pitch) so I went and got another packet. By the time that warmed to pitching temp, I had a small krausen going from the original.

TLDR- You can probably get away with it but I'd just make a starter to be on the safe side. I'd say under a month and I would just pitch it again but I think it had been dormant just a bit too long.

 

[eric19312]

A pint of slurry is a lot of yeast. Even counting age. Pitching very fresh slurry about half a cup is perfect for normal gravity 5 gallon batch. id just pitch it all and not worry about the starter.

 

[Sadu]

Yeah I pitch 2 month old slurry all the time without a starter. Never had a problem with a slow start. I would pitch it as is for a brown ale. For bigger stuff like doppelbocks and big IPAs I tend to do a starter as insurance.

 

[hottpeper13]

i take the saved yeast out of fridge and decant then bring to ambient temp. While yeast is warming , and wort has boiled for 10 min I remove 1qt, chill and pitch on yeast. No starter,per say, but it's rolling by the time i'm ready to pitch.