I am An Idiot - Will This Starter Still Work?

Hi all,

So I made my first starter yesterday but misread the dial on my kitchen scale. I ended up adding and boiling 0.4 oz of DME when I was supposed to add 4 oz, according to the Brewer's Friend calculator. Oops.

WLP002 Yeast has been sitting in the dark in the (very weak) mixture for 24 hours, and I am now adding another 5 oz of boiled DME (2 cups) to bring the SG up to where it should be. The yeast is currently very clumpy/gummy looking, and when I agitate it it flies around in long, gooey chunks. I am not using an agitator. Question: have I buggered this up, or will the yeast be ok?

Your yeast will find the additional malt extract and will be happy to eat it and multiply. Make sure you do agitate it frequently to make sure to outgas the CO2 in solution and add oxygen as the yeast need that to multiply.

Thanks so much RM-MN. I'll keep agitating.

White Labs calls WLP002 flocculation "very high". They lie. Or at least are grossly understating the case. If I have to step up a starter, the yeast cake from the first step will stay in clumps no mater how high I turn the stirplate or how much I shake it. Fermentation has always taken off well though, so the beer must be happy with the clumpy, chunky mess of a starter I throw in.

And as RM-MN said, the starter will be fine with the addition of the extra dme.

tenbricks said:

White Labs calls WLP002 flocculation "very high". They lie. Or at least are grossly understating the case. If I have to step up a starter, the yeast cake from the first step will stay in clumps no mater how high I turn the stirplate or how much I shake it. Fermentation has always taken off well though, so the beer must be happy with the clumpy, chunky mess of a starter I throw in..

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Doesn't that prove the case? Flocculation is the aggregation or clumping together of the yeast and falling out of solution.

Like the others said, OP, you should be fine just keep on swirling.

chickypad said:

Doesn't that prove the case? Flocculation is the aggregation or clumping together of the yeast and falling out of solution.

Click to expand...

Uhm. Well. Yes, it does in fact. My point was that is is not just flocculent, but highly, extremely, even excessively flocculent. To the point where you just have to put up with the clumps.

The followon point was that despite the yeast being in clumps rather than spread throughout the fermenting wort, it seems to ferments out just fine. So . . . . don't worry about chunky-style starter.

Thanks Tenbricks, very helpful info.

Just wanted to thank everyone again... just completed my first attempt at a beer, full boil British Bitter with the WLP002, and the starter worked like a charm. Tons of yeast cells fermenting like mad, I bet I'll have this puppy down to FG in a week.