FYI if you're using 3724 and making a big starter,

Give it more than three 72 hours. It was still going after 3.5 days. I had to put it in the fridge while it was still going because my brew day arrived and I wasn't going to pitch 2L. Oh well, if it doesn't finish I'll just pitch 3711.

Now time to have another homebrew.

TheH2 said:

Give it more than three 72 hours. It was still going after 3.5 days. I had to put it in the fridge while it was still going because my brew day arrived and I wasn't going to pitch 2L. Oh well, if it doesn't finish I'll just pitch 3711.

Now time to have another homebrew.

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FYI, this yeast likes it hot to finish and should be pitched at 75-80 and then up to 90.

Don't be surprised if it sticks at 1.030. I just used this in a Saison and at 3 weeks was still slowly chugging away. Finally finished at 1.004!

Cold crashing it now and it Smells/tastes amazing!

For a starter, does it really need to finish? Once you get through the lag phase, you have the numbers you need. If there's still sugar in the liquid you're going to pour off anyway, what's the harm?

Sorry, misread your post, thought you were talking about the beer itself finishing

But my advice stands for the batch itself.

GuldTuborg said:

For a starter, does it really need to finish? Once you get through the lag phase, you have the numbers you need. If there's still sugar in the liquid you're going to pour off anyway, what's the harm?

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I've read from a few places, including from some sharp posters on this forum, that you want to let the starter finish before chilling as you are knocking out the yeast that is well suited to get the last few points.

It kind of makes sense. Also, the only beer I have brewed that didn't attenuate well I chilled the starter after a day. Of course it could have been coincidence.

duboman said:

FYI, this yeast likes it hot to finish and should be pitched at 75-80 and then up to 90.

Don't be surprised if it sticks at 1.030. I just used this in a Saison and at 3 weeks was still slowly chugging away. Finally finished at 1.004!

Cold crashing it now and it Smells/tastes amazing!

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I pitched at 67, will let it ramp up naturally and then use a brew belt. I'd be ecstatic if it got down to 1.004.

TheH2 said:

I pitched at 67, will let it ramp up naturally and then use a brew belt. I'd be ecstatic if it got down to 1.004.

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I would ramp it up quick to at least 80 and as it slows get it to 90. If it sticks at 1.030 just leave it at 90 and let it chug away and it will slowly for at least another week.

As for the starter, it is really no big deal if it doesn't finish and you crash it, just keep in mind you will have a lower pitch rate due to halting the starter

Crashing a starter isn't a strictly necessary step. In fact, pitching the whole thing while it's active can be a great technique for a nice complete ferment. Try it out...

Demus said:

Crashing a starter isn't a strictly necessary step. In fact, pitching the whole thing while it's active can be a great technique for a nice complete ferment. Try it out...

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I do that when I have a small starter, but I wasn't going to pitch a little over 2L of an oxidized starter in 5.5 gallons of beer (yeah, I changed between metric and US because my starter container is in L and my fermenter is in gallons). I usually do a small starter the night before and pitch it all but I needed a lot more yeast to ferment this.

For the record, I put the brew belt on last night and the temperature was 72. It is now up to 78. Hopefully it gets over 80 today.

With an estery Belgian strain fermented warm I doubt you'll ever taste a 2L starter. I pitch 'em that big all the time and my Belgians always get rave reviews...

TheH2 said:

I've read from a few places, including from some sharp posters on this forum, that you want to let the starter finish before chilling as you are knocking out the yeast that is well suited to get the last few points.

It kind of makes sense. Also, the only beer I have brewed that didn't attenuate well I chilled the starter after a day. Of course it could have been coincidence.

Click to expand...

I thought it might be helpful to someone in the future to follow-up.

Apparently refrigerating the starter before it was finished fermenting didn't prevent the beer from drying out. After 5 (or 6) weeks it got down to 1.004. Turned into a very tasty saison.

I'll still plan to do the starter earlier next time.

I'm using 3724 right now. No starter and within 10 hours had a nice krausen formed. I'm going to ramp the temp up to 90 over the next few days and let it sit for 2-3 weeks.