Lowish kreusen on starter - time to get a new pack?

[Sparger]

WLP 833, 2.8L stirplate starter, temps 71-73F. I usually get 2 inches of kreusen on all my starters. This one is bubbling, but not a lot of kreusen. I probably had 1/4 inch kreusen 3 hours in, but it went down. 18 hours later it looks like this. Smells decent and slight bubbles but very creamy, like I got some yeast. I’ll take a gravity reading of the spent starter wort after chilling. This is probaly the 6-7 generation of a pack I bought two years ago. I overbuild starters for the next starter (rather than harvest from fermenter) to minimize contamination issues. Time to buy another pack?

 

[Dcpcooks]

You definitely grew some yeast up from the creamy look of it. Two years is a bit old and you may have some drift or mutation going on after the all starters and time. I’d say you got the best of that pack and it may be time to get a fresh pack.

 

[Sparger]

You definitely grew some yeast up from the creamy look of it. Two years is a bit old and you may have some drift or mutation going on after the all starters and time. I’d say you got the best of that pack and it may be time to get a fresh pack.

Great point, I didnt consider the mutation issue. My homebrew store opens in an hour!

 

[Queequeg]

Quite often I get no Krausen on a starter. As long as there is sufficient slurry then you are ok

 

[Sparger]

Quite often I get no Krausen on a starter. As long as there is sufficient slurry then you are ok

On the new pack I bought, I got little to no Kreusen, but it did get creamy colored. So it worked. Unfortunately, I dropped a unsanitized magnet in when I finished it. Will use it for this beer, but will get a new starter for my next batch.