Help failed yeast starter

So heres the deal. I made a yeast starter yesterday. 2 liters water, 8 ounces Light DME. WPL - Trappist Ale Yeast. By this morning no activity at all, I have let it sit all day, but still nothing. I believe the problem may have been too low temp and too high gravity.My question is is it ok if I topped off the starter and reboiled it, then added a new vial of yeast? Just curious as Im almost out of DME. Thanks.

What kind of container is the starter in? Is it topped with an airlock, or something else? Did you aerate the starter? Are you using a stir plate?

What temp did you pitch the yeast, and what temp has it been at since then?

Check the gravity. I've had starters ferment completely overnight

I did a starter a couple of weeks ago with ( Pilsen Lager Activator Wyeast ACT2007) and it took about 30 hours to start after 48 hours to get going good and it seemed to go another 12 hours after that

Check the date. I had a 6 month old smack pack that would't bloat. I pitched in into my starter anyway. Took 2 days to begin. In the end, it was OK.

Well I decided to reboil and repitch, and keep it in a room with a space heater to keep it at around 75. I also pitched a dry yeast as well as a backup plan. My only dilema is that I already did the mash, assuming that I boil today and immediately seal it in the carboy, could I keep it till the starters get going?

So I pitched again and low and behold the White Labs did not start again. The Dry yeast I pitched took off in about 2 hours. I have no clue what I'm doing wrong with the white labs yeast but 2 in a row it would not start.

Well final update, the White labs finally started to do something, but not too quickly. So in my desparation I MAcGyvered a stir plate from crap I had laying around the house. Its now chugging away. Guess it goes to show you that some yeast is just stubborn.

Of over a dozen starters with tubes, smakc packs or bottle harvesting, I have ever only seen one Krauzen or "activity ring"

Just like in the fermenter, fermentation isn't always dynamic...It doesn't matter one blip in your fermenter or your starter flask if the airlock bubbles or not (if you are using an airlock and not tinfoil,) or if you see a krauzen.In fact starter fermentation are some of the fastest or slowest but most importantly, the most boring fermentations out there. Usually it's done withing a few hours of yeast pitch...usually overnight when we are sleeping, and the starter looks like nothing ever happened...except for the little band at the bottom. Or it can take awhile...but either way there's often no "activity" whatsoever....


All that really matters is that creamy band o yeast at the bottom.




If you wanna read my take on how I think the idea of "bad yeast" is really a rarity and we need to relax more and learn to trust them, look here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/1513865-post10.html

You never gave the poor yeast a chance, some strains are slow to start, unless you have a stir plate it can take up to 3 days to get activity in a starter. Patience and planning are your friend.

I'm making a beer with WLP810 (cal common) right now. I threw a fresh vial in 2 liters of starter wort. The production date for the vial appears to be less than a week ago, but despite its freshness, it took 2 days to show signs of fermentation. I have a separate starter of Wyeast 2112 (also cal common) which I did at the same time with the same starter wort, and it's already finished with a nice cake on the bottom.

It's weird, because I've used WLP810 before, with a much older vial, and it started way faster. This leads me to worry that I may have mishandled the yeast in some way. Maybe the jug that contained the WLP810 had too much sanitizer (iodophor w/ measured dilution)?

RDWHAHB time.