Do you see krausen when using a stir plate?

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HalfPint

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I'm using my new stir plate finally with some washed yeast from last September. I think the yeast froze a bit in the fridge and I'm not seeing any krausen (or the little ring showing it fermented) 10 hours after pitching. I'm wondering if the stir plate would just suck the krausen back down or would you see it?

My issue is that I'm placing my order in today and I wanted to see if this yeast is good or if I need to buy more yeast.

Advice?
 
I only keep my starters on the plate for 12-18 hours. Out of 6 starters so far, I've only had krausen on my last, a kolsch. You can definitely tell by the color though if the yeast are growing. IMO, if you think you froze them I'd get some more.
 
I usually don't see any, but I do see the starter viscosity change and it does get thicker after a number of hours and you'll see less of a vortex as a result.
 
Well, I believe that I may have some growth because when I turn the stir plate off, quite a bit of white yeast settles to the bottom. Also, it just smells SUPER yeasty. I'd really rather not spend $6 dollars, but I guess it's better safe than sorry.
 
My last starter was with WLP400 and even on the stir plate it overflowed the airlock with foam. I've had others that fermented overnight and it looked like nothing happened.

Measure the gravity and you'll know for sure.
 
Stir plate kills the krausen. If you get any, it will go up and down in 30 minutes. Look for a color change.

Well that's my experience with typical starters, I won't ever see it ferment, but I'll see a ring.

I'm going to take a gravity sample and I'll get back to you.
 
you will still see some bubbles at the top/side if it's fermenting. sounds like old/dead yeast. September is a long time for washed yeast to survive--I have had this issue before.
 
During the very active part of the starter's fermentation, I see a huge amount of bubbles. Sometimes a krauesen, sometimes not. The aforementioned telltale ring will be there if you had any krauesen.
 
During the very active part of the starter's fermentation, I see a huge amount of bubbles. Sometimes a krauesen, sometimes not. The aforementioned telltale ring will be there if you had any krauesen.

Yeah, that's what I was expecting to see. I don't typically see krausen, but I always see Co2 coming out of solution. I took a gravity reading last night, which was 12 hours after pitching, and the gravity was still at 1.038. Oh well, I went ahead and ordered some Danstar Munich to try out for my American Wheat. I wish I wouldn't have wasted my time making this starter for some dead yeast and used it for some other yeast I need to wake up!
 
Well, here's a bit of an update. I woke up this morning after have taken my starter off the stir plate and the gravity being the same as the OG yesterday morning to see that it's at full krausen! I'm a bit concerned because it took so long to take off, but I'm beginning to think that my yeast is still good.
 
Well, here's a bit of an update. I woke up this morning after have taken my starter off the stir plate and the gravity being the same as the OG yesterday morning to see that it's at full krausen! I'm a bit concerned because it took so long to take off, but I'm beginning to think that my yeast is still good.

I don't really understand that second sentence but it sounds like you're doing well.
 
haha, I was rushed and I knew it was terrible. basically, its going strong after not doing anything yesterday.
 
I've only used a stirplate about 6 times now and the only time I did NOT see an obvious krausen was from a way outdated vial of Cry Havoc. Definitely changed to a light color when it bloomed, though, as reported above. When I decanted and stepped it up, krausen was evident.

At the other end of the spectrum, last week I had some WL Pacific Ale yeast that I'd recovered from a primary and stored for a couple of months...it bubbled up out of the Erlenmeyer (2L) even though I'd added FermCapS.

YMMV.
 
Do you guys think it's likely that it took a while for the yeast to take off because of all of the crap I put it through? It's been washed, partially frozen, and stored for over 6 months.

I'm trying to decide if I still want to use it or if I want to use the Danstar Munich I bought with my grain order.

Did I say it's White Labs American Hefeweisen? What would you do if you were in my shoes? Use the starter yeast or the new dry yeast? I'm making a an American Wheat btw.

Sorry for poor formatting, I'm on my phone.
 
Washing your yeast didn't damage it. If you really froze it, that might have. But if you stored it for 6 months, you shouldn't really expect it to take off fast. It's gotta wake up.

I'd make sure it's a large starter and use it. I just used some Wyeast 1056 that was washed and was 7 months old and it worked great.
 
agreed, if you've got the time, ferment, cold crash and decant the current starter. add another 1.5 L at 1.040 and I suspect it'll blast off. if it tastes good, use it.
 
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