Yeast starter dead?

My yeast starter has been on the stir plate 48 plus hours and I see nothing. Now I know you don't always see lots of activity and sometimes I've had no krausen at all but there was at least yeast moving around in the wort. This time, nada.
It's old yeast but not the oldest I've used. I got it in early November from a brewery and kept it in the fridge until I used it. Yeastcalc says it was likely only 36% viable.
This morning I took a sniff test and all I smell is malt and still see nothing at all the resembles any fermentation. I plan to cold crash it tomorrow to see if any yeast settles out but I'm thinking this one is dead.

Check the gravity. I had a dud starter once. The yeast had frozen during delivery and didn't appear to do anything while on the stir plate. On brew day, I checked the gravity to be sure, and it was still 1.040. So I dumped it and used dry yeast instead.

Good idea. But I'm sure this wasn't frozen. I had gotten a few vials of yeast at the same time from the brewery but they were used quickly. This one just sat in the fridge with the rest of my yeast.

How many mL of slurry did you pitch in to how many mL of starter ay what gravity? Sometimes if there is to few viable yeast in too large a starter they will just floc out and go dormant.

AerationStation said:

How many mL of slurry did you pitch in to how many mL of starter ay what gravity? Sometimes if there is to few viable yeast in too large a starter they will just floc out and go dormant.

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I was wondering the same question. I don't think the yeast will floc out and go dormant, especially on a stir plate with plenty of food and warm temperature. It's possible that you're just experiencing a very long lag time because of too little viable yeast in too large of a starter. I would let it go a little longer before you make up your mind. I've run into that too with frozen yeast. Try giving it a shot of O2 twice a day. That will kick them into gear if you have any survivors. With a low viable cell count, the largest step I start with is a pint.

I have to look at the vial the brewery yeast came in but it was a bit more than a White Labs vial. I'm definitely going to let it ride a few more days and take a hydro soon.
I did add some yeast nutrient to it but never seem to remember to hit it with 02 like I do my beers.....thanks for the idea.

All I know about the yeast is what one of the brewers told me:
"The yeast we use in-house and also have for sale is White Labs WLP007. It is a Dry English Ale yeast. This yeast is great when you want a highly flocculent yeast that gives you plenty of attenuation as well. It’s a widely-available yeast on the home brewer market and we sell it for $5 per vial, harvested weekly from our fermenters by our cellarman"

I'm sure after a number of generations it's not exactly the same as 007 anymore but I've used it a few times and really am pleased with it.

More than 72 hours later.....zilch.
I took a reading and it's 1.039. I was making a 1.040 starter so that tells you something there. I gave is a blast of 02 and doubt it will make any difference.

So here's my next questions-----I have some of this yeast that I washed on 12/20/13 and was thinking of adding it to this starter. Do you think 3 day old wort is ok to add yeast too or should I just make a new starter?

It can't be any worse than whats already going on. If the sugars are there, then the yeast will eat it. 72 Hours is quite a while.

If it's the same yeast, go ahead and toss it in there.

I boiled it again for 5 minutes and added the washed yeast. Let's see where this one goes.
Thanks for the ideas.

Got some activity this morning with the reboiled wort and pitching the washed yeast. Guess I'm on the way now.

Not to hijack the thread here, but I've got a batch going right now. I'm using White Labs yeast, but it's a few months out of date. I read on their site that yeast can live for longer than their "use by" date, but that the lag time would increase...makes sense. My question is, should I go ahead and pitch more of the same yeast into the wort or wait a bit longer and see what happens?

I did this on 7/10/14....pitched the yeast at 11PM. It's now 6:45PM on 7/11 and the air lock isn't bubbling at all.

I'm tempted to run up to my local brew supply store tomorrow morning and get another vial of the same yeast.

Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

RyanSweeney said:

Not to hijack the thread here, but I've got a batch going right now. I'm using White Labs yeast, but it's a few months out of date. I read on their site that yeast can live for longer than their "use by" date, but that the lag time would increase...makes sense. My question is, should I go ahead and pitch more of the same yeast into the wort or wait a bit longer and see what happens?

I did this on 7/10/14....pitched the yeast at 11PM. It's now 6:45PM on 7/11 and the air lock isn't bubbling at all.

I'm tempted to run up to my local brew supply store tomorrow morning and get another vial of the same yeast.

Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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If you didn't make a yeast starter, then I would definitely go and get more yeast. If you did make a starter and it seemed to go ok, then I would wait and see. Always make a starter and you won't have to worry.

BBL_Brewer said:

If you didn't make a yeast starter, then I would definitely go and get more yeast. If you did make a starter and it seemed to go ok, then I would wait and see. Always make a starter and you won't have to worry.

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When you say "make a starter", are you referring to soaking dry yeast in warm water for a few minutes?

Look up yeast starter on google. Lots of info already there.


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RyanSweeney said:

When you say "make a starter", are you referring to soaking dry yeast in warm water for a few minutes?

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Dry yeast soaked in water is re-hydrating.

Liquid yeast in a predetermined amount of wort based on the OG of the recipe is called a starter.

Dry yeast does not require a starter, for a big beer use another pack.

Liquid yeast packs contain enough yeast, if very fresh, only for smaller beers. Some put the cut off at 1.060. I make a starter with all older yeast packages, or anything over 1.040.