Saving yeast slurry

[Over The Cliff Brewing]

I want to redeem myself on brewing the Oatmeal Stout but I want to use the slurry in the fermenter but next weekend. My plan is to package the 1st experiment, leave some beer on the yeast and put it in the fridge until next Saturday. Is this viable?

 

[Josh Hughes]

I pour into a sanitized Jar and pop in the fridge. Get it out when I start brew day and pitch as usual. What you have left after packaging will be fine. Don’t leave beer on purpose because one it settles there will be beer on top.

 

[Hawkbox]

I've brewed with slurry 4 months old without issue, just get a bunch of it in a jar like Josh said.

 

[Ward Chillington]

I'm on my 2nd batch of kveik slurry. Like Josh, I sterilized a quart Mason jar and lid, dumped the slurry from my brown ale after swirling it around to loosen the cake and get things homogenized, screwed on the lid and popped it in the fridge. It settled out to about a pint of slurry under the beer. I used it about 3 weeks later by dumping off the beer and dumping the slurry at around 75°F. The stout I made with it is in the conditioner after hitting all the numbers and tasted great. The slurry from that batch is sitting in the fridge taking a nap next to its older cousin.

 

[west1m]

I'm on my 2nd batch of kveik slurry. Like Josh, I sterilized a quart Mason jar and lid, dumped the slurry from my brown ale after swirling it around to loosen the cake and get things homogenized, screwed on the lid and popped it in the fridge. It settled out to about a pint of slurry under the beer. I used it about 3 weeks later by dumping off the beer and dumping the slurry at around 75°F. The stout I made with it is in the conditioner after hitting all the numbers and tasted great. The slurry from that batch is sitting in the fridge taking a nap next to its older cousin.

I do the same with 05 using an 8 ounce jar, on my 6th of 7th save. Works perfect every time.

 

[BOB357]

I routinely save slurry, but usually use it within a couple of days. Since I plan 4 or 5 batches in advance, it easy to have fresh slurry for 2 or 3 brews in a row. Most of the time, I'll progress from a lower to higher gravity beer, but haven't had a problem doing the opposite.

Thinking the common advice to go from low to high is mostly due to the abundance of homebrewers who routinely under pitch higher gravity beers, thinking a single dose of liquid yeast is enough without even looking at the date. Happy to say that's not so prevalent here, but a pretty common practice if you follow some of the larger forums.

 

[Mark Farrall]

A few days, no problem. I've kept some for months and most would work just by pitching a decent amount of slurry, but some don't so I do a starter if it's been more than a few months.

Here's someone who actually did some reasonable experiments on the question - https://www.masterbrewerspodcast.com/189. They're talking 4-6 weeks for a brewpub that wants to store yeast for beers that only get brewed a few times a year.