Forgot to boil yeast starter

[obscurebrewing]

So yesterday I prepared a 250 ml starter from canned sterilized wort. Had a nice krausen going today. So I dissolved some dme in hot water, and before I knew it I had already poured the 250 ml flask into my dissolved dme. So dumb.

Now I'm wondering if this will cause the starter to be useless, or should I continue on?

Thanks

 

[WDT]

If it were me i'd dump the starter and move on. I wouldn't risk my batch. Yeast is cheap compared to ingredients and time spent on a brew day.

 

[Setesh]

I agree...not worth the risk IMO.

 

[hebbs]

you are pitching so many yeast, it will probably be fine. depends how much you have to lose i guess (some folks act like $20 in grain and 4 hours is the end of the world) bit i would personally keep it

 

[1GR8DA]

Really depends on the temp of the water. As long as it has been pasteurized, you are fine. Above 161 for 15 min or so.

 

[kh54s10]

I would let it ferment out. If you don't see or smell or taste anything suspicious I would feel the yeast beat out anything nasty. At the same time make some preparations in case it goes foul.

 

[1GR8DA]

Sorry, misread your post. Dme needs to be pasteurized. Canned lme is sterile in the can. Would have recommended sterilizing the water but I say use it. You can always taste and smell your starter prior to pitching.

 

[jbaysurfer]

you are pitching so many yeast, it will probably be fine. depends how much you have to lose i guess (some folks act like $20 in grain and 4 hours is the end of the world) bit i would personally keep it

Oops...didn't mean to like this.

Some folks act like 4 hours and $20 is all most mortals put into a batch of all grain beer.

OP, I think you're stepping up? If that's the case, you may as well let it ferment and see if it passes the sniff test. Did you not have any more "sterilized" wort? I probably woulda just added another 250ml of that if I had it.

 

[zoomzilla]

Lol why do people think yeast is so fragile? Its fine. It will make great beer

 

[Setesh]

Lol why do people think yeast is so fragile? Its fine. It will make great beer

I'm not worried about the yeast strain he was culturing. It's wild yeast, mold, and bacteria that I was concerned with. DME needs to be boiled to be sanitized. The chances may be small that it got infected, but if you have ever cleaned up after bottle bombs.....well....like I said it's not worth the risk. That is only my opinion.

 

[rorygilmore]

If you're brewing a cheap-ish session beer, I would just roll with your starter as is. But if you're doing a big, expensive, cellarable beer that you intend to enjoy over the course of several months or years, I'd dump it and start over.

 

[bja]

DME needs to be boiled to be sanitized. T

Really? Why doesn't it go bad in the bag?

 

[hebbs]

I'm not worried about the yeast strain he was culturing. It's wild yeast, mold, and bacteria that I was concerned with. DME needs to be boiled to be sanitized. The chances may be small that it got infected, but if you have ever cleaned up after bottle bombs.....well....like I said it's not worth the risk. That is only my opinion.

bottle bombs don't happen from infections in the primary, they happen in infections after primary fermentation its complete. I think at least like above, let the starter ferment out and if its not funky, let it roll.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Lol why do people think yeast is so fragile? Its fine. It will make great beer

Because the difference between beer that's drinkable, and beer that's truly great...is often the difference between yeast that's been well cared for and yeast that's been stressed.

Yeast isn't easily killed. But it very easily imparts flaws to a beer when it's stressed.

There I go again...answering rhetorical questions.

 

[lshaner]

Really? Why doesn't it go bad in the bag?

Because of the exceedingly low water content. Just because it isn't rotting in the bag doesn't mean there aren't mold spores and bacteria sitting on it waiting for the opportunity to grow.

 

[Setesh]

Because of the exceedingly low water content. Just because it isn't rotting in the bag doesn't mean there aren't mold spores and bacteria sitting on it waiting for the opportunity to grow.

Correct. Just like brown rice or dry beans don't go bad in their bags. There isn't enough moisture content to promote growth. From what I've been told LME is pasteurized during the canning process but DME can be exposed to wild spore during the drying process. Because of this it is recommended to boil it. Is the chance high? I really don't know. Would have to contact the producer for more details on that. My guess is that they are going to err on the side of caution as well and advise boiling it.

 

[Setesh]

bottle bombs don't happen from infections in the primary, they happen in infections after primary fermentation its complete. I think at least like above, let the starter ferment out and if its not funky, let it roll.

This is not true, and I speak from experience on this one. I had bottle bombs when I had a contamination of my starters from a cracked stir bar. I did not boil the stir bar as I should have, only soaked it in starsan for a minute or so. The infection contained within was not killed and seeped into my starters. The batches (three of them) finished fine and were at a stable gravity for 3 days so I bottled them. The infection soured them, but did so very slowly. So slowly that I didn't detect that a fermentation was still going. It took months before they started exploding.