Yeast Starter Issue

I made a yeast starter out of re-cultured yeast from 4 Duvel bottles. The rest of the starter included a cup of DME and about 24OZ of water & aeration. I did this 48 hours ago and as of now there is no activity in my starter.

The yeast sediment is at the bottom but I see no evidence of the yeast coming out of dormancy. There is no krausen or any kind of foam on the top there is also no smell of yeast coming out of the starter.

Is 48 hours not long enough for this? Should I RDWAHAHB or am I wasting my time with dead yeast?

Thanks

Mike

You won't always see krausen at the top of the starter. I've done a handful of starters with a stirplate now and only the last two have had REALLY high krausen. The rest had little or no signs of activity but the fermentation still went really well afterwards. I've also had various results using the same type of yeast, go figure.

How is the color? Dark brown or light brown?
Are you using a stirplate or just swirling it?

It probably finished when you weren't looking. What happens when you give it a good swirl?

I've been swirling it. The color is dark brown.

Do you notice more yeast than you had before? If so, you should be fine. Like all the rest of the guys said, you won't always see a krausen or many signs of activity at all in many starters.

did you take a starting SG reading? if so is it higher then the current SG reading?

Even with the dregs from 4 bottles, you're dealing with a small and likely stressed amount of yeast. Bottle-culturing is an exercise in patience (like all things homebrewing). In all likelihood, your yeast has already doubled in amount and the starter has fermented out.

You need to step up that starter with fresh 1.040 wort (100g DME:1000mL); if the vessel is too small to accomodate more wort, place the starter in the fridge to crash-cool for a day or two, decant the spent beer, and add fresh wort.

I add yeast nutrient to my starters. I call it yeast food.

My starter krausen is typically a thin layer of bubbles, not like the crazy fermenter krausen.

I notice the thin white pile at the bottom of the starter jar increasing, pretty well right away. I give it three days.

Seems like a good idea taking two steps with a bottle starter from Belgium. That stuff has suffered a hard working and long life.

The smell is often a very good indicator. My 3787 Trappiste yeast smells like wonderful fresh bread. My WL840 American Lager yeast smells like wonderful fresh lager beer, almost better than the real thing. If it smells like compost, you might not be able to save it. How does the recycled Duval smell now in the starter? Do you swirl it often? Do you have the airlock on (not recommended) or do you have some aluminum foil over the top (desirable)?

I took flyangler's advice and decanted the spent beer & did another starter. I don't remember what it smells like but I'll check again in another day or so. I use a Nalgene bottle with a sanitized sandwich baggie over the top of the bottle. I also put yeast nutrient in the starter wort. If it smells funky I won't pitch it. I hope this all works out. Thanks to everyone for the advise.