[davidgzach]

How long do you think you can leave rehydrated yeast out before bad things happen?  I have to go out now for the night and have it in a measuring cup covered with a paper towel on my bar.

Dave

[denny]

How long do you think you can leave rehydrated yeast out before bad things happen?  I have to go out now for the night and have it in a measuring cup covered with a paper towel on my bar.

Dave

IIRC, the instructions say 30 min.

[Jimmy K]

I wouldn't leave it very long because there are no sugars in the water. Once activated, it will starve.

[davidgzach]

How about 4-5 hours?  Or should I cut my losses?

Dave

[Kaiser]

I think you'll be fine. There are no nutrients in beer and we commonly store yeast under beer.

It's not ideal but sometimes life gets in the way of best practices.

Kai

[davidgzach]

I think you'll be fine. There are no nutrients in beer and we commonly store yeast under beer.

It's not ideal but sometimes life gets in the way of best practices.

Kai

Thanks Kai.  It ended up being a late night watching my buddies band and sipping Stone IPA's.  (Not bad BTW)  So I ended up pitching this morning.  At least the wort was crystal clear from sitting at 40F all night.  I'll report back on how it goes. 

[davidgzach]

Well, the yeast sat in water at room temp for about 18 hours.  I pitched them on Sunday morning in to what was probably 50F wort.  I figure it took a day for the wort to warm to 63F under my bar and the beer is now happily bubbling away.  Seems to not have been an issue.

Dave

[tschmidlin]

You can store yeast under water much longer than under beer.  It may lack nutrients, but it also lacks poisons.  Distilled is best if you plan to do this.  If you don't plan, than tap water is fine too