Black Stuff Floating Around Yeast Starter

[senfo]

I made a yeast starter about 24 hours ago and went to check on it to find black chunks of something floating around in it. I've never noticed this before.

I sanitized all equipment (including the stir bar) prior to use, so I don't know how I could have gotten an infection, but I'm probably going to throw this out unless anybody sees any reason not to.

Thoughts?

 

[MalFet]

Looks like burnt dme. Did you heat the erlenmeyer on the stove?

 

[senfo]

Looks like burnt dme. Did you heat the erlenmeyer on the stove?

That's a good point. I heated it in a pot, but I might have transfered some into the flask without realizing it.

 

[ChiBrew]

I am having the same issue. Definitely dried or burned DME from the inner walls of the pot I boiled the starter wort in. Is this going to affect the performance of the yeast and/or the taste of the beer?

 

[flars]

You lost a minuscule amount of the fermentable sugars, but not enough to make a difference in cell growth. The starter wort would have to look fairly dark brown, assuming you used light DME, or have a lot black in it to have any effect on the flavors in your beer.

 

[flars]

I forgot this, oops.
You do not need to boil the starter wort. Bring your water to a boil, take the kettle off the heat and stir in the DME to completely dissolve it. Water that is at least 160°F will pasteurize the wort in a couple of minutes.