Gack
Member
Hey gang, I'm a newbie to whole grain and preparing starters, so please be gentle :-D
I have a question about my starter (1 L /100g DME) and some pretty old wyeast. The problem is that I failed to notice the date on the yeast packet so when I smacked it and dumped it into my starter and 12 hours later, failed to see ANY activity in it...became curious and then noticed the date. My yeast were almost 2 years OLD!! Well outside the 6 month window most consider for off the shelf Activator packs like this.
After about 2 days on the stir plate though...I am seeing activity now. I have a white funnel developing (whirlpool affect of the stir plate) and notice some additional white "floaters" spiraling around on the surface...so...there appears to be some life in this old pack...just obviously a low % of original viability....this now leads me to my question(s):
1.) Had I started with a fresh/new pack (nearly 100 billion viable cells) I should have upwards to 150 to 170 billion from my 1L starter...that NOT being my case though...I am wondering what this 1L starter will have once it finishes out? Will it still reach the 150'ish billion that a 1L typically yields, but take longer to get there?
2.) Should I let this go and fully ferment and then decant off liquid and repitch into another fresh 1L starter to really ramp up my #'s?
3.) Should I just abandon this starter and go get a refund and start anew with a fresh pack.
4.) With 5 gal batches...using wyeast and white labs yeasts...is 1L enough or should I go for broke and just always use 2L starters?
Tx in advance, and I am REALLY learning a lot from these forums! And having a sh*t ton of fun along the way!
Brian
I have a question about my starter (1 L /100g DME) and some pretty old wyeast. The problem is that I failed to notice the date on the yeast packet so when I smacked it and dumped it into my starter and 12 hours later, failed to see ANY activity in it...became curious and then noticed the date. My yeast were almost 2 years OLD!! Well outside the 6 month window most consider for off the shelf Activator packs like this.
After about 2 days on the stir plate though...I am seeing activity now. I have a white funnel developing (whirlpool affect of the stir plate) and notice some additional white "floaters" spiraling around on the surface...so...there appears to be some life in this old pack...just obviously a low % of original viability....this now leads me to my question(s):
1.) Had I started with a fresh/new pack (nearly 100 billion viable cells) I should have upwards to 150 to 170 billion from my 1L starter...that NOT being my case though...I am wondering what this 1L starter will have once it finishes out? Will it still reach the 150'ish billion that a 1L typically yields, but take longer to get there?
2.) Should I let this go and fully ferment and then decant off liquid and repitch into another fresh 1L starter to really ramp up my #'s?
3.) Should I just abandon this starter and go get a refund and start anew with a fresh pack.
4.) With 5 gal batches...using wyeast and white labs yeasts...is 1L enough or should I go for broke and just always use 2L starters?
Tx in advance, and I am REALLY learning a lot from these forums! And having a sh*t ton of fun along the way!
Brian