First time yeast starter... Holy Crap!

So, I've done yeast starters before and had ok results. This time I really wanted to try and do everything possible to get the most out of my yeast vile. I used an erlenmeyer flask to boil my dme and went right from the flame to ice water to cool it down quickly, which was amazing as well as scary. I oxygenated the wort with a diffusion stone for the first time ever, pitched my yeast, used a foam stopper to cap it and kept it a a stir plate for three days. I brewed an all grain imported stout yesterday and oxygenated the wort in the carboy before pitching my flask of yeast. Ok, I know that this is just old news for some of you guys, but un-freaking-believable! That was at six o'clock in the evening, and the pictures below are at 12 o'clock midnight. Six hours later. Amazing. I'm a believer, just had to share.

I see a face in the foam in the center picture.

Posted the wrong pics. These are from seven this morning but you get the idea.

That's the face of the yeast god!

Seems like it's hard to always predict how yeast will react to wort. A few batches ago I brewed a hefeweizen with the Danstar Munich yeast. OG was only 1.055 but fermentation was so violent the lid would've blown off my fermenter if I hadn't been paying attention (noticed liquid being pushed out the top of the airlock).

Next batch was a Tripel that I pitched a 3L WLP500 starter into. Went from 1.085 down to 1.015 in 4 days yet never made a peep.

You've got a point. I'm actually going to be brewing another kit next week. a lemon coriander weis, so I'll have to try the same technique to see if I get similar results. I've just never had the yeast take off so fast before like this.

I always seem to miss the violent fermentation. It seems to happen the night of the brew while I'm asleep

Alright so this is my second brew using this yeast prep technique and I will definitely continue to use it.

1. Create and boil wort in flask using yeast nutrient.
2. Cool rapidly in an ice bath.
3. Aerate with oxygen using a stone.
4. Keep on stir-plate for 3 days

This brew was a Weiss using a dry yeast and I still had activity within 2 hours of adding yeast. These pictures were taken the following morning.

Sawwas, what was your OG and wort temp at time of pitch?

Rick

That's nuts! I am still planning my first brew when I make a starter. Excited to see how it turns out!

I used starters for my last 2 batch (liquid yeast) batches and I am a fan. Plus, for some reason I enjoy making the starter.

Hey Rick.
My OG was 1.047 and my temp was right at 70 degrees. I'm on my third day and she's still going like crazy.

I enjoy making the starter as well. Now that I've had these results it takes the worry out of the whole yeast pitching process. By the time you're ready to add the yeast to your wort you know that it's already active and thriving. All you're doing by pitching it to the wort is giving it a huge amount of food and the yeast is like YEAH!!

I too enjoy making a starter. Its kinda like beer foreplay. To the OP; what is the size of the carboy, and what is your volume? To my aged eyes it looks like you are a little shy on head space.

sawwas72 said:

Hey Rick.
My OG was 1.047 and my temp was right at 70 degrees. I'm on my third day and she's still going like crazy.

Click to expand...

I gottcha. I was just curious, I find yeast behavior interesting and when I read a report of yeast behaving in a manner unlike what I'm used to, I feel inclined to ask questions.

Obviously your brew wasn't some gargantuan triple barley wine and you didn't toss the yeast in when the wort was 95 degrees, so obviously it's excited by something , I'm just not sure what. I've had krausen get like 3" thick, but never had anything come out the top like you and others have experienced.

I have to keep remembering that since I use Fermcap-S in my boil, that it probably influences the foam activity in the fermenter as well.

Anyway, good luck with it.

Rick

Hey Rick,
I actually used firmcap with this one and I usually don't. This one was an extract kit I received as a gift, so I used a smaller pot and was concerned about boil over. Who knows? I'll brew again in a couple of weeks and try the same process. If I get the same thing, I'm sticking with it.