Can You Save It?

[Garrete]

I use dry yeast and rehydrate in water. I am wanting to start making a starter. I usually have some wort left over after boil. If I put that wort in a cover jar in the fridge, would it be safe to use 2 weeks later as long as the gravity is 1.040 and lowly hopped?
Thanks in advance.

[ajdelange]

Should be OK but you must use sterilized jars with sterilized lids. Many brewers "can" wort in the same way their wives can vegetables i.e. using canning jars, rims and lids and put the jars in at least boiling water or a canner. When the jar cools the collapse of vapor vacuum seals the lid and the wort should, in such cases, be good for more than a couple of weeks. Even so be sure you sniff it before you use it.

[Bugeater]

Two things popped right out at me in your post. It sounds like you are planning to make starters doing dry yeast. Totally unnecessary and not recommended with dry yeast. Unlike liquid yeast, each package has more than enough yeast cells for a 5 gallon batch. Also by making a starter with dry yeast, you actually end up with less viable yeast. Just rehydrate according to the directions. I think www.mrmalty.com has more info on that.

The second thing is that you need to be careful about hanging on to extra wort for two long. When making wort you are actually making a growth medium for propagating microorganisms. In other words, something much more ideal for growing stuff than that bowl of leftover spaghetti in the fridge. How long would you consider that spaghetti safe to save? Wort is much more conducive to growing nasties.

I can my starter wort in quart jars. It's all processed for 20 minutes at 15+ psi. The stuff keeps for months this way. The problem with the "sniff test" mentioned above is that you can't smell some of the things that may grow in there, especially botulism. The spores from that aren't killed by boiling in an open kettle since it simply doesn't get hot enough, hence the pressure canning. We get by without pressure cooking our beer because the alcohol prevents the spores from multiplying. Botulism spores themselves are not poisonous in themselves but the toxins produced during reproduction (similar to esters produced by yeast during reproduction) are deadly. Continued exposure to air (botulism is anaerobic) keeps it under control for a little while but increases the chances of other contamination.

In short, if you are not going to use the leftover wort in a day or two, pitch it out. When you do stick it in the fridge, make sure it is cold before sticking a tight lid on it. Putting a tight lid on hot wort will create a partial vacuum in the container which makes the botulism danger higher.

I don't mean to sound alarmist here. It's just a habit from too many years in the food service industry. Most of the time you can probably get away with storing the wort for several days. The risk of spoilage just gets higher and higher each day.

Wayne

[Garrete]

I was listening to Jamil's latest and thought waking the dry yeast 5 hours before pitching.
Thanks everyone.

[alan_marks]

To follow up on what Wayne said, the reason a boiling water bath isn't good enough to process wort is because the wort is not acid enough to keep things safe. Most bacteria go into spore mode when it gets too hot. You need heat plus pressure in order to destroy the spores. Otherwise, you could have a real problem when you get ready to get ready to use it. The other part is that it isn't just the nasties you have to worry about. Many bacteria produce toxins that make you sick. Here's the kick, BACTERIA INFECTIONS DON'T STINK. Think botulism. Pressure canning is the only way to go here.

Like Wayne, I've worked as a chef and food service director for the last 15 or so years. Sanitation is a must when you want to make starter worts, for safety's sake.

Alan

[Chupa LaHomebrew]

In the past when I was not separating my wort as well from the pelletized hops, I would save that last gallon of trub and wort in the fridge in a couple of growlers overnight. The next day I would pour off a very clear wort and freeze it if I was not going to use it soon. This can be used for starters but obviously you need to boil it again. you can dilute it to 1.040 as long as it's not darker or stronger tasting than the beer you are about to brew.

Now I just have better a better hop separation technique so there is no reason to do all this.

[Cliff]

Yah you can can you wort.
I can chicken stock and fish stock and what not all the time. There is no expiration date if you can it right.

I use the old school boiling water method.
Big pot in go the mason type jars with lids on but not tight.
Turn the heat on ass a mess of salt to the water ( raises the boil temp a scosh)
Boil.
Make sure the boiling water covers the tops of the mason jars.
Cook until you can see boiling happening inside the jars.
Remove gingerly snug the top down and let cool on a surface like a cutting board that won't suck the heat off the glass too fast and thermal shock crack it.

Label and shove in a nice safe place and you are golden.
When you die and your grand kids find it, they can use it to start yeast.

[ajdelange]

If you are worried about botulism add a pinch of citric acid to the wort before you can it. Botulinus doesn't grow very well at pH below 4.5. To be doubly sure hold the canned wort above 85°C for 15-20 minutes before you use it. If the protein (toxin) is there it will be denatured. You should really do this with all canned goods.

If the wort does get infected it is much more likely to be a beer/wort spoilage organism than something that will make you sick. These do stink. Sniff it.