Yeast Starter Propogating Without Gravity Change?

Three days ago, I thawed a 4 dram vial of WY-1335 from my freezer. The yeast stayed in liquid form and seemed in good shape. After two days thawing, I pitched the yeast into a small starter. 24 hours later it looked like the yeast volume had increased significantly. I went ahead and brewed a pale ale. But before pitching I checked the gravity of the starter and it had not changed. Since I had no other choice at that point, I went ahead and pitched the yeast. Just eyeballing it, it looked like there was about 20-25 ml of yeast, which means I would have slightly underpitched, but it shouldn't be that big a deal.

I am wondering if it would be possible for my yeast to multiply without fermenting. If you guys don't forsee any problems, then I'll just let it ride, otherwise I can go to the LHBS tomorrow and pick up a pack of Notty.

When you say you thawed it from the freezer, do you mean it was a yeast sample you stored in a glycerol solution, or the original wyeast pack - Because otherwise, if you froze your yeast you probably killed them

Revelator said:

When you say you thawed it from the freezer, do you mean it was a yeast sample you stored in a glycerol solution, or the original wyeast pack - Because otherwise, if you froze your yeast you probably killed them

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Froze in glycerol. The yeast stayed suspended in the glycerol without freezing. I wrapped the vial in a tea towel and put in the fridge for a day; then I moved it to room temperature for another day.

I think I've read that yeast can multiply in perfect conditions without fermenting. They are in "growth" mode not "eating" mode... Don't quote me on that, though...

How big was your starter? i made a starter using a frozen sample from my yeast bank not to long ago but what i did was made a small start to wake the yeast up then i stepped it up to 1.5 liter starter and this was done on a stir plate. if i were you i would have some dry yeast ready am afraid you might have way under pitched. What was your O.G also?

It was a small starter. Just a bit over a quart. This was a 4 dram (~16 ml) vial about half-full with yeast. So I am pretty sure I didn't overwhelm them.

dougdecinces said:

It was a small starter. Just a bit over a quart. This was a 4 dram (~16 ml) vial about half-full with yeast. So I am pretty sure I didn't overwhelm them.

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And it's 3.5 gallons of a best bitter. OG is 1.043. I just ran the numbers and I did underpitch. The best case scenario, according to Mr. Malty, is that I underpitched by about 15-20%. Worst case is I underpitched by 30-40%. I probably will go get some Nottingham. It's worth the 20 minute drive and $2 for the peace of mind.

Today's lesson: give yourself plenty of time when using frozen yeast.

Stauffbier said:

I think I've read that yeast can multiply in perfect conditions without fermenting. They are in "growth" mode not "eating" mode... Don't quote me on that, though...

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Yeast mass can't increase unless that mass is coming from somewhere. In the absence of other sources, that somewhere's gotta be sugars from the wort.

dougdecinces said:

And it's 3.5 gallons of a best bitter. OG is 1.043. I just ran the numbers and I did underpitch. The best case scenario, according to Mr. Malty, is that I underpitched by about 15-20%. Worst case is I underpitched by 30-40%. I probably will go get some Nottingham. It's worth the 20 minute drive and $2 for the peace of mind.

Today's lesson: give yourself plenty of time when using frozen yeast.

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Yup at least a week. frozen sometimes takes a few days to fully wake up!!