Screwed up my starter, now what?

[mbach72]

I recently started brewing again after an unfortunate hiatus. The last few brews Ive made used dry yeast. It's been a while since I made a starter.

Yesterday I made a starter for a hefe I planned on doing today. Not being smart enough to go back and familiarize myself, here's what I did. I remembered using 1/2 cup DME to 2 cups water for a 1 liter starter. I realized that was only 425 ml, so I made a huge mistake. Instead of topping up, I doubled that and used 1 cup DME to 4 cups water.

Now that my head is clearer than yesterday, I realied thats gonna be wayyyy too high gravity. Is there any way to salvage the yeast from the flask or are they pretty much spent now?

 

[deadfall]

I don't really see the problem. I do that a lot for 10 gallon batches. If you think you have to much yeast, I'd split what you have and save the other half for your next batch. I'd save the yeast is to much of a hassle. I'd probably pitch it all. In the wort.

 

[derbycitybrewer]

I wouldn't say they are completely spent. Maybe a little strained. I would use the starter anyways. Worse case you have to repitch.

 

[mbach72]

Ok, question #2. This was intended for a 2.5 gallon batch. I was going to pitch part of it and save the rest for a later batch. How is the cell count affected by what I did. Will the calculations on Mrmalty or yeastcalc still apply, or would they be different? Thanks for the replies.

 

[Yooper]

Ok, question #2. This was intended for a 2.5 gallon batch. I was going to pitch part of it and save the rest for a later batch. How is the cell count affected by what I did. Will the calculations on Mrmalty or yeastcalc still apply, or would they be different? Thanks for the replies.

You did 1 cup DME to 4 cups of water? That's fine. That's about right.

Mrmalty.com (or yeastcalc.com) can give you the probable cell count.

 

[mbach72]

Thaks for the replies, I feel a little better about it now. One final question

I will probably put my starter in the fridge overnight to let the yeast settle out. Since I wont be pitching today, is it okay to put 2 gallons in a 5 gallon fermenter until tomorrow, or is the headspace a potential problem without the CO2 purging it? I ended up doing 2 gallons instead of 2.5, it will fill a 2 gallon fermenting bucket to the absolute top if I account for trub. However, I can see that blowing up once I add the Wyeast 3068. Any thoughts? I suppose I could put it in the 2 gallon today, and transfer it to a 5 gallon whe I pitch the yeast tomorrow morning. Would that work?