CrazyP
Well-Known Member
On Wednesday night I brewed up a starter for a Pliny the Elder clone that I'm planning on brewing this weekend (OG = 1.074). Based on Jamil's calculator and the date of the yeast pack (Wyeast 1056, dated 4/20), I brewed a 3L starter and went with the "intermittent shaking" method. This is only the second starter that I've ever made, but it seems much poorer than the first one I made with Wyeast 3711 (also 3L).
To begin, the yeast pack hardly expanded at all even after being at 75F for 3 hours. Twenty-fours later, the wort was bubbling like crazy so I assumed I was in good shape. Yesterday morning, 36 hours later, I put the starter in the fridge to let the yeast flocculate. Right now I see a 1/2" yeast cake on the bottom of the container. This is much less than my first starter, which had a good 1" of yeast. I suspect that not everything has flocculated since I am seeing a lot of particles bobbing up and down. It looks like there might be some krausen on top as well.
Should I be concerned about this starter? I plan on decanting it because it is so large. I'm worried that I'll be throwing a lot of yeast out if I do. Since this is a Pliny clone, I don't want to screw anything up. Thanks!
To begin, the yeast pack hardly expanded at all even after being at 75F for 3 hours. Twenty-fours later, the wort was bubbling like crazy so I assumed I was in good shape. Yesterday morning, 36 hours later, I put the starter in the fridge to let the yeast flocculate. Right now I see a 1/2" yeast cake on the bottom of the container. This is much less than my first starter, which had a good 1" of yeast. I suspect that not everything has flocculated since I am seeing a lot of particles bobbing up and down. It looks like there might be some krausen on top as well.
Should I be concerned about this starter? I plan on decanting it because it is so large. I'm worried that I'll be throwing a lot of yeast out if I do. Since this is a Pliny clone, I don't want to screw anything up. Thanks!