First yeast starter... wish me luck :)

Ok so this morning i decided before going to work that i would give it a shot and i sanitized everything ... I then boiled 2 cups of water and when i got to the boil i removed it from the heat,added a half cup of pilsner DME and started the boil for 12 minutes .... i then removed it from the heat and added the wort to my erlenmeyer 2000ml flask and placed it in an ice bath while i stirred the flask to cool it quickly... while this was going on i had taken my washed yeast (approximately 2 ounces after decanting most of the clear fluid away from the yeast)out of the fridge and also shook it up to make my slurry... once the wort was cool I added the yeast and shook it up ... added an airlock and went to work... Hope i get home to a nice surprise and not a mess or dead yeast...

Did you add the wort to the flask? I dont see it...

RainyDay said:

Did you add the wort to the flask? I dont see it...

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Yes its there... its just not much compared to the size of the flask... i was surprised to see so little too

That's 2 cups worth?
That's a pretty weak starter..looks about like a 500ml starter? Is it even at the 800ml line?
What yeast are you using?

Igotsand

igotsand said:

That's 2 cups worth?
That's a pretty weak starter..looks about like a 500ml starter? Is it even at the 800ml line?
What yeast are you using?

Igotsand

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Thats what was left after the boil from 2 cups of wort .... i used about 2 ounces of wyeast 1085 washed ... i wanted to add more water but wasn't sure if i would ruin it since everyone is so hard on that 2 cups water to half cup DME.

Should i add water tonight and bring it up to 800ml? Or did i screw it up?

I also have a 2L flask, and I usually do 4 cups water to 1 cup DME.

I have the same size flask for starters and I usually fill it about 3/4 the way up with wort..I"ll fill it to a little more than the 200 line with water. Start the boil and add 200 grams of DME.

Damn so i may have screwed myself already

When I do lagers, I make a step up starter. Meaning I basically make a starter and I make another one to propagate more yeast. I would make some more wort and add that yeast you have there to it.

You boiled too long, too. Just get the water boiling, add the DME, stir well, then remove it from the heat once it's well-combined. I usually add just a little more water than I want my final starter volume to be, so 1L if I'm doing 800ML or so. The starter size is expressed in how much wort you put in the flask, not how much water you start with.

Bulls Beers said:

When I do lagers, I make a step up starter. Meaning I basically make a starter and I make another one to propagate more yeast. I would make some more wort and add that yeast you have there to it.

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This is what I would do, though I worry that the gravity of this current starter is high and might have an affect on yeast...but probably not significant.

As soon as i get home i will make more wort and hopefully i haven't ruined it

Doubt its ruined, just add the wort when you get home and feed those buggers!

It's not rocket science...here is a really good resource on how to make a yeast starter:

http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php#s4

This is a widely used yeast pitching calculator that will let you know what size starter you will need depending on your methods and style:

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Most of the time, with a simple starter, an average starter volume will be 1.5 L. That means you add 150 grams of light extract to 1.5 liters of water, boil briefly, cool, and pitch your yeast. I used to boil for 10 minutes but have recently stopped after finding it unnecessary. A stir plate is a great investment and will dramatically reduce the volume of starter needed, and overtime save you money on starter extract. Very useful if you decide to go into lagers.

I wouldn't use the airlock either. Just cover the top with aluminum foil. Airlocks prevent air from entering and allowing oxygen to enter the flask is a positive for your starter.

I would also say that you did not "ruin" it. But, I would boil up some more water and a smaller amount of extract and add it after cooling. Generally I try to end with 4 cups water 1 cup extract. So, I start with 5-5.5 cups of water to account for boil off. The only thing really wrong with what you have going is the gravity of your starter is now too high because of the small amt. of liquid to the large amt. of DME. I also second using aluminum foil to cover instead of airlock. I just throw my foil in the starsan with the other stuff as I am sanitizing to make sure it is clean.

MikeSteele said:

I wouldn't use the airlock either. Just cover the top with aluminum foil. Airlocks prevent air from entering and allowing oxygen to enter the flask is a positive for your starter.

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This

Ok i got home and it didn't look bad but not nice either since i had to little wort so i made more to bring it up to 800ml and before adding it i did a gravity reading and its at 1.030...

Below are the pictures of the progress...oh and i removed the airlock and replaced it with aluminium foil

nice recovery!

I just did my started the exact same way, looks just like it. Yeah its a little starter. But its better then nothing. Plus my brew is going to need a nice amped up yeast.

Better to screw up the starter than the beer! The yeast will survive this one, and you aren't going to pay the price back in off flavors.

It is hard to anticipate the boil-off in small boils, but as you've learned, it's the final volume that you want to measure. The boil-off is always a lot faster than I expect. Hasn't hurt me on a starter, but I've often wound up a little low on rehydration volume.

Good morning ...I'm happy because i woke up and got to see this





i can see activity and the yeast amount has grown .. I am.happy lol

Looks like i will be able to brew tomorrow as planned yahoooooo lol

I will be making a stir plate today since now i understand the importance of one..

Big_Cat said:

Good morning ...I'm happy because i woke up and got to see this

i can see activity and the yeast amount has grown .. I am.happy lol

Looks like i will be able to brew tomorrow as planned yahoooooo lol

I will be making a stir plate today since now i understand the importance of one..

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awesome! good luck on the stir plate

Thanks to all for your informative words... I will keep you posted

Looks awesome, great job!
Igotsand

That looks a LOT better!

A word of advice: whatever you do, don't

organ said:

A word of advice: whatever you do, don't

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Don't what?

Big_Cat said:

Don't what?

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Write a post like that....

Lol

Update:
.I brewed yesterday and used my washed yeast and this morning i got to see this




And now I'm even happier....

Again thanks to all for your informative words of advice ..

if your blowoff tube is going into a container above the carboy, you might get some suck-back into the fermenter. Try putting it below the carboy (on the floor or same level)

tre9er said:

if your blowoff tube is going into a container above the carboy, you might get some suck-back into the fermenter. Try putting it below the carboy (on the floor or same level)

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Will do