Not sure if my starter is doing as well as it should

I created a starter the other day and it seems to be a lot less active than I would have thought. I put 150 grams of DME into 1.5L of water and boiled for 15 minutes. I cooled it to 72° and poured in my WLP002 and then shook it about for a few minutes. I covered the container with foil and then anytime I walk by I give it a mild shake.

That was Monday evening. I've seen a little bit of bubbling (I wouldn't call it foam) on the surface but nothing like I've seen in the past. Today I decided to take a gravity reading and it is sitting at 1.020. I didn't take an OG reading but in the past, the ratio of DME to water has resulted in 1.035 - 1.040 wert.

I was planning on cold crashing this starter and then using it over the holiday weekend to brew with. What do you think, have I got some lazy yeast or??? (just fyi, the bottle has a use before Oct. 2 2011 date on it - so pretty fresh)

The only important activity is what's in the bottom of the vessel, not what went on on the surface. Do you have yeast in the bottom? That's really the only think that matters. Obviously with a drop in gravity you have fermentation. If you think you need to grow more yeast then just feed it more wort.

WLP002 has a very distinct look.. if there are a bunch of popcorn sized chunks of yeast on the bottom of the flask then you're golden. You got any of that going on?

There's definitely a layer of yeast on the bottom of the bottle - but it's more like white sludge than popcorn. Maybe tiny curd cottage cheese looking at best.

Just out of curiosity, do you put yeast food in with your starter or just into your fermenter? If you put some into the starter, how much? (I didn't add any to the starters I've made)

I've boiled some bread yeast with the start wort before as yeast food, and for my barleywine I think I added some enrgizer or something, but for my normal starters I just feed them wort, and keep feeding them til brew day.

Revvy said:

and keep feeding them til brew day.

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So Revvy, what do you mean by "keep feeding them"? Are you adding more DME or???

By the way, I just read a post where you were quoted on saying something like "Yeah, and I wish I could get a 1.080 in just a week delivered by Irish twins..." or something like that. Excellent

LarryC said:

So Revvy, what do you mean by "keep feeding them"? Are you adding more DME or???

By the way, I just read a post where you were quoted on saying something like "Yeah, and I wish I could get a 1.080 in just a week delivered by Irish twins..." or something like that. Excellent

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You don't build up your starters over a few days by adding (or feeding) the yeast fresh wort every day or so? I sometimes feed them every 12 hours or so. You're trying to build up your yeast count, and you do that by inciting them to reproduce, they do that when presented with wort to eat.

Nope, I just create the starter wert, add my yeast when the temp is right and then let it go. In the past I have tried to time the starter fermentation so I could pitch it into my fermenter shortly after it had gone through peak Kroisen but that seems to be a bit of a crap shoot.

I am going to save some of my runnings after I get the full amount for my boil kettle on my next brew day. I'll use that left over wert for my next starter and try stepping it up over time. I don't usually brew high gravity beers so maybe it doesn't matter quite so much?

I put a small amount of Wyeast Nutrient into my starters and the results have been excellent. I just do a ratio based upon what they recommend for 5 gallons as compared to 4 liters or whatever sized starter I am making. It is a small amount.

LarryC said:

There's definitely a layer of yeast on the bottom of the bottle - but it's more like white sludge than popcorn. Maybe tiny curd cottage cheese looking at best.

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Cottage cheese curds are a good description, its likely fine. I don't refeed my starters either, imo thats only necessary in a few situations:
Stepping up from a small amount (dregs for example)
Really big beers where u cant build a big enough starter in the size flask u have
And if u start the starter too soon and need to keep it active for a few days

I try to feed all my starters, even for normal beers at least twice.