My ghetto starter...

So, I was going to brew this morning but I did not have a starter made yet....so I decided to postpone the brewing and create a starter. I have been reading a lot lately on starters and I feel that it is probably a good idea to use one with the WhiteLabs vials.

So I took a sauce pot and boiled 1L of water and added in 1/2 cup of DME, and chilled to ~75*F. I did not have yeast nutrients....

Not having a container large enough to store the wort/yeast and allow for overflow, I had to get a little desperate. I aerated the wort in my fermentation bucket, added my yeast and shook again, then transferred it back into a pyrex style glass bowl.

After rinsing out my bucket, I placed the bowl in the bottom of the bucket, covered with sanitized aluminum foil and put the top on the bucket. I will swirl the bowl intermittently because I do not have a stir plate.

To further my desperate attempts, I have a wooden box that I built to protect my carboy, so I covered my bucket (which contains my stater) with the wooden box, and shoved an electric heating pad inside, as my house stays around 66-68* all of the time....

Did I do enough to ensure that my starter will be successful? Can I still brew later today or do I need to wait 24 hours?

You can brew later today or tomorrow if you don't mind just dumping the whole starter in. I like to give my starters at least 24 hours before pitching them, but I have done a little less before too and it worked out fine. Nothing wrong with giving the yeast a little head start before pitching, but to get to the right cell count you would need to let it ferment out, which could take an additional day or two. I say go ahead and brew, you'll remember to get started a little earlier next time.

FWIW the tinfoil alone probably would have sufficed. Its what I do, though in a flask not a bowl.

the bucket and the box over the bucket and the heating pad are probably unnecessary. you can leave the bowl covered in foil out on your counter top if you want, it'll be fine.

You can't start a post titled "Ghetto Starter" and not include pictures...

Dude, that's not all that ghetto. I use sanitized two liter Coke bottles capped with plain old foil. I don't even sanitize the foil. Multiple batches, no problems and great fermentations.

I don't even take the labels off.:rockin:

Thank you all for your responses! It looks as though I will not be able to brew today anyways....the temp has dropped and a storm is blowing in. I guess I will just have to wait until tomorrow, which means that my starter will be much further progressed.

So when I go to brew, do I just pour off the majority of the liquid and use the 'cake' portion of my starter for pitching?

The best thing to do is put it in the fridge overnight so the yeast falls out into a cake. Then, decant the remaining liquid off and pitch the cake.