Overbuilt Starter I couldn't Use

[SGTSparty]

So last week I took a pack of WLP051 I bought for a Saturday brew day and did an over built starter. Well, a sick kid meant no brewing on Saturday so I tossed the starter (still in a 2L flask covered w/ starsan'd foil) in my kegerator.

Now I'm wondering what should be my next step. I'm hoping to brew on Sunday (wouldn't be much of a Fathers Day if couldn't squeeze a brew day in right?) so I'm not super concerned about it going bad but here are my questions:

1) Should I put an air lock on it to prevent infection?
2) It's basically been cold crashed, which would be great if I had remembered to pull the 500 overbuilt ml off it first. How should I get it back into suspension to pull that off? Just toss it back on the stir plate for a day or so before I use it? Pull 500 ml off into a sanitized jar and then pitch the rest?

I'd hate to pitch the whole thing and waste the time and DME that went into over building the starter (and the money to rebuy the yeast next time) but I will if its my best prospect.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[HopHeavy]

I wouldn't bother stirring if you intend to brew (and pitch) Sunday, provided you are within a week or two of your initial starter. You should be fine if you decant the cold crashed starter. Then pull a little of the slurry right before pitching into your wort. If I were well outside of that two week window, I would probably rebuild the cold crashed starter so it will finish by Sunday.

 

[SGTSparty]

I wouldn't bother stirring if you intend to brew (and pitch) Sunday, provided you are within a week or two of your initial starter. You should be fine if you decant the cold crashed starter. Then pull a little of the slurry right before pitching into your wort. If I were well outside of that two week window, I would probably rebuild the cold crashed starter so it will finish by Sunday.

I think my calculator said that of a 1.6L starter I was suppose to pull 500 ml so should I decant and just pull off about 1/3 of the slurry to bank?

 

[HopHeavy]

Okay, I admit I can not offer the precision you desire! I operate a little more, organically? But don't worry too much about it, under these circumstances. Just save a viable sample for the next session and make sure you pitch enough for Sunday's brew day.

I would reserve less than 1/3 of the yeast slurry. Decant down to between 1:1 - 2:1 (beer:yeastcake). Swirl it up good. Pour 1/4 of it into your bank jar. This should leave you a little heavy on the pitching yeast, which is good considering it has been on ice all week. You will have reserved enough yeast for your next starter, though it might require stepping to get to pitching volume. Enjoy!

 

[jddevinn]

WLP051 is fairly flocculant. You have plenty of time to pull it out, give it a good whirl, remove your 500ml and recold crash.

I hate it when I forget to pull of the yeast to save.... happens about a 1/3 of the time