First Starter. Blow off?

[Wiesty]

Hey everyone!
So I am making a starter for my Tripel I will be brewing this week. I used 3.4 litres of water for my Wyeast trappist high gravity yeast as directed by Mr. Malty. However....I came home for lunch today and found a bit of a mess!
I was using a 1 gallon glass jug for the starter with just foil covering. There wasn't a huge mess, but should I be concerned that I lost a lot of yeast?
I hooked my jug up to a blow off now to be safe. Some people use airlocks on their starters, but now how do I keep oxygen going to my starter?

 

[Synap6]

Not sure i understood you fully.. but when i use a blow off tube, i also use a narrow but deep jar-tupperware i fill up with sanitizer solution and put the end of the tube in there to "airlock" my beer. It'll bubble away kinda like an actual airlock.

Was that the type of info you were seeking or did i read you wrong?

 

[hunter_le five]

you generally do not want to use an airlock or blowoff tube for a starter because it prevents the oxygen from getting in. That's kind of the point.

I would suggest buying some Fermcap for the future.

 

[Synap6]

starter was the keyword. Told you im new to this i thought you were actually talking about your fermenter

 

[Wiesty]

I've got it hooked up to a blow off now to prevent a mess. I might take it off later. Did I lose a bunch of yeast? Not that much came out.

 

[j1n]

Use fermcaps for foam control on starters. works well to prevent boil overs and blow offs.

 

[Wiesty]

Should I be concerned about my pitch rate now?

 

[Wiesty]

Maybe this picture can better explain my dilemma. Without the blow off I'm in for a huge mess. What I've been doing is keeping the blow off on and just taking the bung out and swirling it whenever I walk by to rouse the yeast. Will this work? Am I losing a crap load of yeast?