bamer101
Member
I'm brewing an oktoberfest this weekend, and have never pitched a yeast starter before. This will also be my first lager. Realizing that I needed to pitch a big starter last night, and that I was running out of time if I was going to brew by saturday, I panicked and attempted to make an AG starter using 0.5 lbs of excess munich pilsner grain and two pints of water. Being my first yeast starter I also didn't think to take an OG of the starter wort. I mashed by putting the grain in a hop bag and dumping that in a pot filled with strike water and set it on a stove top burner set to simmer. I monitored the temp by removing the pot when it exceeded 155 and put it back on when it dipped below 140. I did this for an hour. I realize this is all very crude but I had no extract and was in a race against time. Here is where my concern lies....I DID NOT BOIL MY WORT AT ALL. I pitched two vials of yeast into two separate mason jars with loosely fastened lids and set my freezer to 50. Will I be able to use this yeast this Saturday, or is the risk of contamination too high? I have generic ale yeast that I can use. If thats the case will it work with my grain bill of pilsner, munich, vienna, and caramunich? Maybe an Irish red. I have a vsriety of hops that may work, but I'd like to do the lager if I could. Oh also the vials leaked quite a bit when I pitched, and I stupidly put some starsan into one vial to get a large clump of yeast out *palm to forehead*