Yeast Starter Issues

Good afternoon board!! I started my yeast starter this morning. Used the same process i have for the past two/three starters(bought from austin homebrew).

Anyway, there are no signs of starting, and I mean none. I have swirled it around about once an hour for the past two hours no. Generally, i start to see a little sign of it "working" by now.

Do i just let it keep going or do i go get some more yeast and try again???

how long has it been sitting? When using liquid yeast there is usually a lag period of a few days before its starts up. I usually give my starters around 3 or 4 days. What yeast are you using?

right - how long have you been at it with the yeast ?

pitched the yeast into the concoction around 7:00 this morning. using white labs pilsner lager yeast.

so, what you are saying is these won't alwasy start "fermenting" within 12 hours as my last two have?

Even with starters, there can be a lag period between when you pitch the yeast and see signs of fermentation. Just make sure you swirl the starter frequently to get the yeast back into suspension and it should kick provided the temps aren't too cold.

What is the OG of the starter and what temp are you keeping it at? Also, lagers require a larger starter than ales. What size starter are you preparing?

3 cups of water, 1/2 cup of DME, and 1/8 tsp of yeast nutrient in the starter. Didn't get the SG

For a starter your shooting for around 1.040 unless its being pitched into a high gravity beer such as a barley wine. Then your going to want a higher gravity starter.

scinerd3000 said:

how long has it been sitting? When using liquid yeast there is usually a lag period of a few days before its starts up. I usually give my starters around 3 or 4 days. What yeast are you using?

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Really? I've done plenty of starters with liquid yeast and have never had any go over 12 hours before seeing some action. If your absolutely sure that nothing is going on (no foaming when swirling?), your yeasties may have issues.

shertz said:

Really? I've done plenty of starters with liquid yeast and have never had any go over 12 hours before seeing some action. If your absolutely sure that nothing is going on (no foaming when swirling?), your yeasties may have issues.

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it does foam a little when i swirl it, but then it just goes away. I have started to see some action in the air lock, but nothing like i have experienced in previous attempts

Dude, if your looking for airlock activity, forget about it...you probably missed it or it didn't start yet. If it foams, your probably alright(if you have s-style airlock, take off the little cap and get a wiff...ummm). I use one of those sponge fittings in my flask so I can smell those yeasties! I'm thinking by tomorrow AM you'll see a nice layer of yeasties laying on the bottom. When's brewday, tomorrow? I always do my starters 18-30 hrs before brewday because I want them active. But it won't take days.

Geez = BigKahuna yelled at me for the same question.