Krausen on a stir plate?

[eichlerguy]

Hi, all,

Been making starters for some time now. Before getting a stir plate for Christmas, it was obvious when there was activity and when high krausen's been reached. The stir plate seems to conceal that because everything's always in motion. How do you "prove" the yeast and get a feel for it with a stir plate?

As an aside, when pitching my WL vials into the starter last night, they blew all over the place, spilling probably a 1/4 vial each. Problem? Just roll with it?

Thanks.

 

[tuskenraider]

Even with a stir plate, you'll get krausen indicating activity. For some reason when I went from a 1L to 2L flask to do bigger starters, it always blows out the top, under the foil, and makes a mess. Did not happen with the 1L, but fermentation has been obvious to me. Either way, in 24-36 hours max, it'll be ready to go. Spillage I wouldn't worry too much about as you'll get your yeast count back up, but the less, the better. The explosion after shaking the WL vial to suspend the yeast is why I prefer the Wyeast pouch.

 

[eichlerguy]

Thanks, tr.

You're right: in the few hours since the first post there's now definitive activity. Guess it was another case of impatience...