5 week old yeast starter. Good or not?

[KidHop]

I have a yeast starter that has been sitting in the fridge 5 weeks. Decant spent wort, add new starter wort and use or not?

[brewinhard]

How big was the original starter? I would say you could decant, and add new starter wort to get them going again. But do be aware that your viability and cell count has probably decreased quite a bit during this time. You may need to step the starter up a couple times to get back to where you originally started from. Be sure to smell/taste the spent wort each step of the way to make sure your yeast is healthy enough to pitch into a full sized batch.

[KidHop]

Spent wort smells and tastes fine. It was a 1.5 liter starter.

[BrewerJ]

add new wort and it will be fine, there shouldnt be to much die off since the gravity was low and you kept it in the fridge.

[Kbar]

Saw a video with a technician from Wyeast. He strongly advised not using starters after 1-2 days old. Pitch within a 24 hour window.

[BrewerJ]

Thats why he needs to pitch new wort and let the yeast grow. Then he will have a fresh starter.

[KidHop]

That's exactly what I'm doing. Thanks for the feedback. I'll let you know how it turns out.