Question About Yeast starters

just a question with a smack pack should i smack the pack and then pitch into the starter wort or take the center pouch out and pitch it into the starter wort
Any advice
Darrell

I would smack it, wait to see if it inflates and then pitch it to the starter. The smack pack doesn't really do anything except offer enough nutrients or whatever to make sure the yeast is viable which is shown when the package inflates. If you wanted to you don't even really need to smack it, but you might as well

OK now for a second question when prepairing your wort for starter do you need to have a long boil time or just dissolve the DME? I am useing DME for my starter

Thanks

a fifteen minute boil is pretty standard. And make sure you get it cooled down before pitching your yeast, don't rush it.

inhousebrew said:

a fifteen minute boil is pretty standard. And make sure you get it cooled down before pitching your yeast, don't rush it.

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Done and pitched at 68 degrees thanks for the walk through
D

No problem! Happy brewing.

My smack pack did not inflate before I pitched it into the starter. It is a wyeast lager I think it's the 2112 (its at home). It's been two days and doesn't look anything like my denny's favorite starter I made on my last beer.

It seems like there might be some activity, but in comparison, when I swished the denny's favorite, it would bubble over if I shook it to much. This one barely looks like there was 1/4" of bubbles and no chance of shaking up until bubbles over.

If my smack pack did not activate, is it probably dead? Possibly got too hot in my car? Or are the yeasts that different that it doesn't foam up after aeration?

This is my 2nd yeast starter at 1.6 l in 2l erlenmeyer with 6.4 oz dme and 3/8 teaspoon yeast nutrients added near end of boil (forgot about it).

How long did you leave it before pitching? If it was a few days it could be dead, if it was a few hours it could just be slow. If there are bubbles, as in a krausen of some kind, you're probably fine. It doesn't need to be crazy acting. I'd let it go a day or two then toss it in the fridge to help the yeast drop out. When all the yeast have sunk to the bottom you can decant the liquid (which at this point should be beer) and test the gravity. If it dropped from 1.040 to a normal finishing gravity (~1.010-1.020) you know it worked.

It really hasn't been bubbling on it's own. My initial thought was that maybe the yeast was dead before I pitched them. I made the starter around 5pm sunday and pulled out the smack pack and smacked it at least 2 hours before pitching around 8pm. It never expanded from what I could tell and I just added it to the starter. The only appearance of bubbles was when I shook the flask.

It's nowhere near my last yeast starter, I woke up the next day and swirled it and it bubbled over immediately. This one barely makes any bubbles if I aerate it vigourously.

I'm thinking dead or it might be moving along barely, will check the gravity later when I get home. I didn't check it when I made it.

When I got home and checked, it looked like it was now on it's way. It was bubbling if I shook it up, but I couldn't aerate it to the point of it bubbling over. I went ahead and made the California Common beer last night. I did not check the gravity of the starter, but it was bubbling to the point where I could hear it after shaking it up.

I just pitched the entire starter into the beer. That was possibly why I was near the top of my carboy and still .004 points above target Starting gravity.

Just to update this, it did seem like it took 48 hours to get much yeast activity out of my starter. It also took around 24 hours before I had much activity after pitching into the beer, but it is still visibly bubbling two weeks later. I think the target for this yeast was around 62 degrees, but my fermentation has been around 58 degrees since it has been in the cold part of my house.

I never had any major krausen above a half inch or so with this yeast, but it seems to be doing fine. There is still a krausen and hop layer covering the top of the wort 2 weeks later.