How does your starter taste?

mr x · Mar 4, 2008

I just finished pitching my VSS 3864 Unibroue. The starter has a bit of a tart/sour taste to it. Do you think this is normal for a belgian type of yeast? My 3068/1084/2112 starters tasted fairly plain. I'm nervous about this one.

e lo · Mar 4, 2008

Since I started using pre-canned wort for my starters, they have all had a tart/sour taste to them.

That said -- I think I might have a slight lacto problem, as my last two batches have had a slight, but perceptable, unexpected tartness to them.

BlendieOfIndie · Mar 4, 2008

On one of my kolsh WLP029 starters I poured off the liquid into a glass (pitching only the yeast that settled out). I tasted the liquid & it was extremely syrupy & fairly sweet tasting.

mr x · Mar 5, 2008

Nobody else tastes their starters?

TheDom · Mar 5, 2008

My White Labs (400, I think) belgian wit starter tasted a bit tart, like a wit is supposed to taste.

fifelee · Mar 5, 2008

My last starter WLP550 tasted great but smelled of sulfur.

mr x · Mar 5, 2008

fifelee said:
My last starter WLP550 tasted great but smelled of sulfur.

Just out of curiousity, did you use a stir plate or any kind of oxygenation?

bradsul · Mar 5, 2008

I haven't used a liquid yeast in a while, but my starters always tasted a little funky. I don't have a stir plate but I always aerated a lot with my pump & stone.

I always gave mine a little taste before crash cooling in the fridge just to make sure I didn't pick up an infection.

mr x · Mar 5, 2008

I guess that's the ultimate question - what would an infection taste like? Maybe my starter was infected, or maybe it's just over oxygenated beer with a funky yeast strain on top of that. I guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks when the beer is done.

bradsul · Mar 5, 2008

I always figured an infection would be pretty self-evident, if you had one there would be no question. I certainly never had a problem with any of my batches that had a starter that tasted a little funky.

Also the Belgian strains can have some pretty weird smells and tastes.

bensyverson · Mar 5, 2008

bradsul said:
Also the Belgian strains can have some pretty weird smells and tastes.

Definitely -- I sampled a mouthful of my tripel a few weeks back, and it had same strange flavors going on. Today I racked it to the secondary, and it was already tasting a bit mellower.

The yeast was 1214...

mr x · Mar 5, 2008

If I had to do this over again, I think I would have used star-san as sluice fluid to suspend the yeast and wash it before pitching.

fifelee · Mar 5, 2008

mr x said:
Just out of curiousity, did you use a stir plate or any kind of oxygenation?

Stir plate, but I lost my big stir bar and had to use my mini bar. I don't think the mini bar aerates enough. Hope that doesn't cause any issues.

Surfman · Mar 6, 2008

my starters always taste very sweet due to the lack of hops.

How does your starter taste?

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