Fist yeast starter
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WhiteEagle1
Well-Known Member
Yeah man....remember to swirl it around every once in a while.....
hypergolic
Well-Known Member
No you don't need to swirl it if it is on a stir plate.
Cold Crash: Put flask in fridge after 12 - 16 hours on the stir plate. The yeast will fall to the bottom and separate from the wort.
Decant: Pour off most of the wort before pitching. Because you cold crashed this is pretty easy to do as the yeast is all at the bottom. Just take it slow so you don't put the yeast back in suspension.
Cold Crash: Put flask in fridge after 12 - 16 hours on the stir plate. The yeast will fall to the bottom and separate from the wort.
Decant: Pour off most of the wort before pitching. Because you cold crashed this is pretty easy to do as the yeast is all at the bottom. Just take it slow so you don't put the yeast back in suspension.
AndrewD
Well-Known Member
If it's on a stir plate, don't bother swirling it. Cold Crash and decant means to put it in the fridge for long enough (overnight +/-) for most of the yeast to settle out so that you can pour or decant the fermented starter wort off of the yeast. Not everyone does this, particularly if the starter has been going for 24 hours as opposed to several days. 2 hours is probably a little early to use, depending on what your starter goals are. I definitely wouldn't worry about the cold crash/decanting if you are planning on using it within a few hours of starting it, but using a starter that soon somewhat diminishes the purpose. That is unless you were doing the starter just to check yeast viability.
AndrewD
Well-Known Member
Check my post above. For more elaborate information, tell us what your goal was for doing the starter.
AndrewD said:
What am I looking for in checking the yeast viability? So if I'm understanding you correctly, I will put the starter in the refrigerator overnight and pore off the wort and leaving as much of the trube as possible in the flask.
Since you have the beginning of krausen you now the yeast is viable and beginning to ferment. Keep it on the stir plate and you will see some additional krausen form but not much. In 18-24 hours (depending on the gravity of the wort) the foam will disappear and you know it's done.
Then place the flask in the fridge for 12-24 hours and all the yeast will drop out and make a nice cake on the bottom, decant the wort off the top leaving a small bit of beer to mix up into a slurry that you can then pitch
