Is my starter any good?

I planned on brewing a batch of a New Belgian Trippel clone today so last night I created the starter. I used about 350G of DME and 3.5L of water. I boiled the DME & water for 15 minutes and then let it cool to 75 deg. I pitched one vial of WLP500 and gave everything a good shaking. I don't have a stir plate, I use 2L plastic bottles with foil over the top so I would give them a shake whenever I walk by. I pitched the WLP500 about 8PM and went to bed about 10.

I've used this process a number of times and have always seen a good amount of Kroisen in the morning. Today there is nothing. I have no idea if the starter went through the cycle overnight or if it jusst never kicked off. How would I tell, a gravity reading? (I never took an OG) Would you brew with this or get more yeast and try again?? I can put the brew day off a day if I need to.

Check the gravity. With 350 g in 3.5 L your starting gravity should be about 1.038. I bet the yeast is working away. You don't know what happened to that vial in shipping and storage. It might just be acting slower than your normally expect. Combating this is part of the reason for making the starter in the first place.

3.5L ~= .92 gallons
350g ~= .77 lbs

Is this for a 5 gallon batch? If so that's a HUGE starter for a Belgian. You will lose some of the ester characteristics with that big of a starter. Belgian yeasts are underpitched a lot of the time to strain the yeast and get more of an ester profile. But, I'm sure it will still produce a great beer and this is merely personal preference.

I've only used Wyeast 1214, which is the equivalent yeast, but it's a slow starter and finisher. Also, some yeasts don't produce as big of a krausen. Your hydrometer is your friend as it's the only real indicator of actual fermentation. Krausen or airlock activity dont mean anything when compared with gravity readings. Let it go the full 3 days and take a reading if you're still concerned. I say RDWHAHB and just wait it out. Your yeast are probably fine and will be ready to pitch by brew day.

Hope this helps.

Just did the hydro and it's at 1.040 - basically no action has occurred.

So here's my next question. i'm going to go get another vial of yeast at the LHBS. Should I pitch it into my existing starter wert or boil up a new batch?

By the way, I am one of those follow the directions guys - the pitching calculator at MrMalty.com said 3.2L for a 5.25 gallon batch. I could cut it back since I have to re-do it but why would the calculator be off by so much?

The calculator isn't off...underpitching Belgians is just a common technique to get an intensified ester presence. It's not wrong to pitch that size at all. I use Mr.malty all the time.

But, that yeast is a slow starter. I would give it another 24-48 hours before you ditch it as it's probably just taking it's time. If there's still no activity, and you decide to make a new starter, then I would make a brand new starter wort.

Thanks for the feedback. Since I would have to wait until tomorrow if I got new yeast, I think I'll give the starter another day and see what I get. If it gets active today, I can brew tomorrow, if not I can go by another vial and try it next weekend.

Regarding under pitching for Belgian's, I currently have 2 plastic two liter bottles with about 1.5L of wert in each. If the yeast kicks in and I brew with this starter, would it be better to only use part of it? since I have already diluted the yeast into 3L of wert, I'm not sure what the results and proportions would be. Any thoughts or suggestions?

What's your OG? I made a 1.072 Dubbel with 1214 that finished @1.009 with 500mL starter. I'm guessing your Tripel is a little higher in gravity so you might be able to use that as a gauge.

I'm no expert on cell counts, so, I say do some google searches on under pitching rates for WLP005. I think with proper aeration and yeast nutrient, you can get by with 1L for sure. If I was making a Tripel I'd like to make the esters as enhanced as I could. But, use your own judgement here as a fully attenuated Tripel is better than one that might have a little bit lower of an ester presence. I don't want to tell you to cut your starter and then end up with a high FG.

You can also get more esters by fermenting near 70, which will give more fusels, but those are ok to have in a Belgian and are actually desirable in controlled amounts. Fermenting around 62 will get you more earthy clove flavor.

Thanks SMF
My expected OG is only 1.071 - low for a Tripel but as I said, I usually follow the recipe at least for the first time I brew it. I think I will pitch the entire 3L starter if it finally takes off. As you said, I don't want to end up under attenuated at the FG. If the starter never kicks, I'll drop down to 1.5L for the next try.

I'll post up if this starter ever gets going

Glad I could be of some help. Hope your beer turns out well.

Well, I guess the WLP500 is just a slow starter - by Sunday morning there was a decent kroisen and it had pretty much fallen by Sunday evening when I was ready to pitch it. This morning, the Belgian is bubbling madly and all is right with the world.

Next time I'm going to start it a week early and decant it - always learning something...

Very glad to hear everything worked out for you. The best thing about brewing is that there's something new to learn every day.

This was helpful. I'm going through the exact same experience, 2.5 L starter at 1.038 OG on a stir plate ~72 F. After 10 hours, no visible activity, no change in OG. I'm going to delay brewing the a day or two.