Fuzzy Ring Around Starter?

[frozt]

Hi all,
I recently stepped up some pacman from some Rogue dregs, and after reaching 2L of starter I noticed the ring of yeast at the top looked "hairy", like the soft bristles of a comb, only shorter. The ring was pure white and held together; you could only notice the "hairs" moving if you swirl the flask a bit.

Basically, this looks nothing like the nasty pictures you see in the "infection threads", but I'm unsure of whether this is safe or not. The rest of the flask was very clear, with no floaties on top. It smelled extremely estery, almost soapy, kindof like a hefe. Any advice on whether I should trust this or not?

Thanks

 

[djfriesen]

Without a pic, it's hard to tell. I'm having trouble visualizing what you're describing. If you can decant some of the wort and smell/taste it, that would be a good indicator of what's going on. Any bad and/or sour smells or tastes might indicate an infection.

 

[KuntzBrewing]

Without a pic, it's hard to tell. I'm having trouble visualizing what you're describing. If you can decant some of the wort and smell/taste it, that would be a good indicator of what's going on. Any bad and/or sour smells or tastes might indicate an infection.

This is very true. Also what yeast and please post a pic. Our imaginations can run wild and misdiagnose this. Also what did u use to step it up and what did you do to make the starter.

My gut says no infection purely based on the fact that a starter is extremely overpitched (purposely) so wild yeast and/or bacteria will have an extremely hard time living in these conditions yeast overtake a starter easily.

 

[pjj2ba]

Was this on a stir plate? With a stir plate it is not uncommon to get a little "ring around the flask" at the high point from stirring

 

[frozt]

Unfortunately I went ahead and jarred it, so no pictures..wish I had taken one now. For the record, it was a 2L starter done with dme on a stir plate from 250ml -> 500ml -> 2L. Is there anything I can do such as a small batch test to determine if this yeast is good to use? I got 2 jars of slurry of it which have now settled and look about like any other slurry. Any ideas?