Yeast Starter from frozen yeast bank

**dfohio** · 04-29-2009, 06:12 PM

Hi, I made a 1 cup starter last night and pitched a 26 ml tube of frozen wyeast german ale yeast. Put it on the stir plate and let it do its thing. 18 hours later there is a 3 inch layer of foam on top with a lot of brown specks on top. I'm assuming this is dead yeast. In the bottom there is very little white yeast and the white yeast is that is there is very clumpy. Nothing like I have ever seen.

So the question....Did my frozen yeast fail or should I step it up to a liter and expect to see a lot of yeast? I'm just puzzled because I have never seen this much brown gunk on the krausen and in suspension..

BTW the yeast did look healthy when I thawed it if that means anything.

SC_Ryan · 04-29-2009, 07:10 PM

Sounds to me like it's fermenting very activly.

**dfohio** · 04-29-2009, 07:15 PM

Well I'm going to see. The foam fell once I took it off the stir plate so I'm not sure if it was krausen or just foam in general. I'm making a step up starter right now and I'm going to give it a try and see what happens.

**dfohio** · 04-30-2009, 06:20 PM

UPDATE: Starter took off like a rocket after i added the 1 liter step up. CONCLUSION: be patient, don't expect much yeast from the first step up from a frozen vial, RDWHAHB, and frozen yeast is awesome.

SC_Ryan · 04-30-2009, 07:09 PM

I need to start harvesting yeast. I'm wasting too much money...

nipsy3 · 04-30-2009, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfohio

UPDATE: Starter took off like a rocket after i added the 1 liter step up. CONCLUSION: be patient, don't expect much yeast from the first step up from a frozen vial, RDWHAHB, and frozen yeast is awesome.

I need to keep that in mind. I tried this for the first time and was disappointed with the first pint starter. I saw very little activity and was afraid to use it, so I threw it out.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Guide to Making a Frozen Yeast Bank	FlyGuy	General Techniques	289	03-19-2010 08:37 PM
Frozen yeast bank not freezing	T-Hops	General Techniques	6	03-17-2010 03:20 PM
Frozen Yeast Bank vs. Yeast Slanting	shortyjacobs	Fermentation & Yeast	7	10-16-2009 10:34 PM
Frozen Yeast Bank- Strain Exchange?	flyangler18	General Techniques	37	03-25-2009 01:17 PM
Frozen yeast bank with yeast cakes?	mrfocus	Recipes/Ingredients	5	11-08-2007 01:13 AM