Yeast Starter...

Hello All,
I have a quick question. I used a yeast starter for the first time and it went well, for the yeast I guess, not my carpet. It bubbled out my Carboy and into my holding container and onto the dresser and floor while I was at work. My Airlock couldn’t handle the foam coming out, so I used a hose into a bucket of water till it settled down. That happened about 16 hrs after I poured in the starter, the wort was about 64 F. The wort was at 76 F when I found the mess. It bubbled for anoter day, slowing down and then it’s stopped. Is it normal with the starter to be done in 3 days? My temps are constent at about 70 to 78 F, and I resanatized the cap and hose before seting up my second air lock. The only other thing beside the use of a Yeast starter and my last batch, is I used 1 Kilo of Corn Syrup instead of 1 Kilo of Sugar.

Thanks for any help,
Slugburp

The vigorous initial fermentation could very well be done within that time period. I would expect that if you watched your brew for a bit, you would find that you still have some activity as indicated by the air lock. Although the 'initial' fermentation is done, I would recommend you allow it more time before bottling (if that is what you intend to do as your next step).

For many beers, I think fermenting at 78 might be a bit high, and would also explain the fast ferment. Higher temps seem to create more estery flavors, more banana smells etc, which are good for some styles and not for others. I usually try to keep my basic ales in the 64-70 degree range, for a cleaner taste. If you want to see a really crazy ferment, try timing your brews so that you can pitch a new batch of wort on top of the yeast cake from a previous brew and watch the fun start in just a few hours!