How Long To Keep Yeast Starters?

[sinkas]

Hi all,
I have some refrigerated yeast starters made up from propogations done about 6 months ago, they are both belgian yeasts,capped in bottles of about 100ml, but I wonder if I should empty the fridge, and chuck them out..?

 

[vlbaby]

thats an interesting question. I have kept starters for about 4 months and they are still ok, but i dont know what the exact time limit is. I'm always a bit worried about autolysis kicking in if i leave then too long.

 

[SJW]

I have lots of 15ml vials with washed yeast in em that have been kicked off after 6 months, and they will be there for a lot longer yet and i;m sure they will be fine. Theres only one way to find out though,....... make a starter and if it don't fire up then its no good!

 

[Aaron]

Your yeasts should fire up. If you want a very good and easy way to make your yeast last follow Chiller's directions in this thread:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/Yeas...ming-t3697.html

I do something very similar except I take a little of my starter just prior to pitching rather than taking it from the yeast cake at the end. I just use little specimen jars but anything you can sanitize and seal should do.