First yeast starter...question!

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Anubrious

Anubrious

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I am going to brew my first batch Monday. I made a stir plate and a yeast starter last night and put it in my fermentation chamber at 70 degrees. I see a very little amount of foam on top and I didn't take a gravity reading. So my question is while using a stir plate, does it nullify most of the foam? I used 2 cups of water and half a cup of light DME.

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That was my in process and then the flask on my stir plate. Does it look normal? Thanks ahead of time for any advice or for just easing my worries (hopefully)!
 
I don't get more than a thin ring or foam on my stir plate. The mixing just keeps the foam down I think. The more you do them the more you will start to notice a difference in the color helping you visually indicate when you are getting close to done. It should start clear and become more milky? in appearance as the yeast reproduce. I always rock it for 24-36 hours just to be sure I'm finishing up.
 
I can already see a significant difference in the color and consistency. I am planning to brew tomorrow after lunch so that should be a little over 36 hours. Since I did a small size starter, should that be enough time?
 
For sure that should be plenty of time. I would just let it ride until then and then pitch the whole thing in there. If I do bigger yeast starters I like to allow a few days extra time so I can let it ferment out and then toss in the fridge so the yeast will settle out and I can decant off the liquid. But since yours is a smaller starter I would just toss it all in there, no harm.
 
Anubrious said:
So my question is while using a stir plate, does it nullify most of the foam?
Click to expand...

Yes, it can keep the foam down. Don't worry. If you pitched a viable pack/vial, you're still growing the cell count in an accelerated fashion.

One thing I notice which confirms the yeast eating the wort sugars is that the speed of the stir bar slightly increases on its own over time as the gravity of the wort drops.

On a video I saw of the yeast lab guy from Wyeast, he suggested 18-24 hours on the plate. He said that going much beyond that w/o stepping it up with fresh wort was simply "beating up the culture".
 
Ok, thanks for easing my mind. I will just take it off the stir plate and pitch the entire flask tomorrow.
 
Stir plate starters definitely have less krausen than ones without. You can get a good thick krausen sometimes, but it depends on the yeast and how fast you spin it. You'll get more krausen with a slower spin. Nomally I'll have just a slight foaminess and once it's done it'll go completely smooth. If you spin pretty hard though, you can whip up froth and there will always be a little foam on top even once it's done. Color is a great indicator. Once it gets lighter and milkier it's pretty much done. I can also see wavy lines in the starter where yeast is trying to settle out, but can't. 24 hours is usually all you need with healthy yeast. Maybe longer with old or harvested yeast. If you made it last night, I would throw it in the frige for a cold crash before you go to bed. Unless you're gonna pitch the whole thing.
 
Which would be better? Cold crash or just pitch the whole thing? The whole thing is 2 cups water, 1/2 cup DME, and the yeast vial.
 
Anubrious said:
I can already see a significant difference in the color and consistency. I am planning to brew tomorrow after lunch so that should be a little over 36 hours. Since I did a small size starter, should that be enough time?
Click to expand...

According to the folks at Wyeast, and backed up by JZ's yeast book, even a 2L starter is done in 18-24 hours.
 
2 cups water and half cup DME seems high gravity at first glance. Anyone have the math on DME per quart for 1.040?
 
I just went by a video on youtube for the starter. This is my first time with everything. I am probably doing things a little too complex for my first batch but I can't help it. I always dive too deep into anything I get into. If it is too high gravity, what will it cause? Also should I cold crash and pour the liquid off before pitching or just pitch it all?
 
Got the S-023 spinnin!!!! Stepping up a dry packet to 750 ML with 750 Mils RO water, 1 cup Wheat DME pithed at 71 degrees and set the stirrer to medium speed after a good strong boil and cold crash. I allowed the yeast about 10 minutes to hydrate before I started the stirrer. Should have a great starter around 5 O'clock tommorrow to pitch in the Midwest Hanks Hefe Kit #750 with Extra LME and extra hops for a 6 gallon batch.... Get to check out my plumbing job on my Boil Kettle and Hot Liquid tank tommorrow too, I can hardly wait. It's been a year in the making gathering all the stuff as I could afford it on disability. Uncle Sam is a cheap feller, so it took a while with the build, electronics and pneumatics. Still working on the final touches on the super tower. Just gotta save some more cash to finish that too. Seems like it never ends, Savin cash that is.... I'm JAZZED, wish me luck!!!!!

Wheelchair Bob
 
Rbeckett said:
Got the S-023 spinnin!!!! Stepping up a dry packet to 750 ML with 750 Mils RO water, 1 cup Wheat DME pithed at 71 degrees and set the stirrer to medium speed after a good strong boil and cold crash. I allowed the yeast about 10 minutes to hydrate before I started the stirrer. Should have a great starter around 5 O'clock tommorrow to pitch in the Midwest Hanks Hefe Kit #750 with Extra LME and extra hops for a 6 gallon batch.... Get to check out my plumbing job on my Boil Kettle and Hot Liquid tank tommorrow too, I can hardly wait. It's been a year in the making gathering all the stuff as I could afford it on disability. Uncle Sam is a cheap feller, so it took a while with the build, electronics and pneumatics. Still working on the final touches on the super tower. Just gotta save some more cash to finish that too. Seems like it never ends, Savin cash that is.... I'm JAZZED, wish me luck!!!!!

Wheelchair Bob
Click to expand...

FYI, it is not recommended to make a starter with dry yeast:(

If this was an 11g pack it was probably adequate as is to ferment your batch, just needed to be rehydrated:)

Starters are recommended for liquid yeast.....
 
The reason I went ahead and made a starter was because I wanted to insure that the yeast was viable. It had been in my unheated/uncooled work shop for a period of time and I felt like it would be batter to confirm I had live viable yeast before I boiled the ingredients and had to go into panic mode to get live yeast if they failed. Plus it was an exercise to work out my process and make sure I was gathering the proper tools and equipment and getting everything ready for a succesfull starter and batch of brew. So no harm done making a starter from dry yeast and I did manage to determine one packet of the S-23 had expired and would not produce a viable colony of cells. Thanks for the help and guidance though, I really do appreciate the help getting beyond the newby mistakes and bobbles we all make in the beginning.

Wheelchair Bob
 
Anubrious said:
I just went by a video on youtube for the starter. This is my first time with everything. I am probably doing things a little too complex for my first batch but I can't help it. I always dive too deep into anything I get into. If it is too high gravity, what will it cause? Also should I cold crash and pour the liquid off before pitching or just pitch it all?
Click to expand...

A lot of brewers use yeastcalc.com. It will tell you how much DME to use for your starter size and give you a good estimate of how much yeast you will end up with after your starter finishes.

I've done both, cold crash and decanted then pitched the slurry, and I have also just pitched the whole thing. I haven't noticed a difference either way.
 
Rbeckett said:
So no harm done making a starter from dry yeast
Click to expand...

Actually, there was at least some harm done. Your brew will probably turn out fine, but you almost certainly underpitched. If you properly rehydrate dry yeast in sterilized water, you can achieve 90% viability. But if you rehydrate them in wort (as you did with your starter), your viability will drop to around 50% right off the bat. The problem is that the yeast are unable to rehydrate properly in the presence of wort - it damages their cell membranes and you lose half of them right away.

Secondly, dehydrated yeast is packaged with ample glycogen reserves to get right to work fermenting beer. When you use it in a starter, they expend all those reserves fermenting the starter wort instead, so that when they get the "main show," they're already spent and exhausted.

At any rate, like I said, I'm sure it will still turn out fine, but it is definitely not the ideal way to pitch yeast.
 

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