No go on my starter?

[phidelt844]

First and foremost: yes, this is a "my beer isn't fermenting yet!" thread, so I apologize in advance . I'm trying a starter for the first time with White Labs WLP380. I used 1 quart water, brought to boil, added 1 cup Wheat DME, boiled ~15 mins, cooled to 70, pitched and shook vigorously in a sanitized growler. It's been about 18 hours now, and I see no signs of activity. I know that fermentation can take 24-72 hours to start, and I'm usually very patient with my full batches, but I was under the impression that these small starters should get moving rather quickly. Palmer mentioned that sometimes starter fermentation can happen so fast that you may miss it, so I figured this warranted a newbie question.

I ordered my yeast from morebeer.com, and due to one portion of my order being backordered, it did sit for a few extra days in their warehouse. I believe it was around 10 days time sitting in the warehouse/in shipping. The yeast still has another month before expiration. So anyways... I've attached a picture of my starter as is. There seems to be no trub on the bottom, and everything looks pretty opaque, so I'm not sure how much the picture will help. In your experiences with starters, when should I start getting worried? I was hoping to brew tomorrow afternoon, but I'm concerned that my yeast may not be viable. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[GearBeer]

You may not see a whole lot of activity, especially with that brown glass. Starters, because of their relatively small volume/yeast ratio tend to ferment very quickly. Its possible that it has already fermented and you missed it!

 

[mmb]

You may not see a whole lot of activity, especially with that brown glass. Starters, because of their relatively small volume/yeast ratio tend to ferment very quickly. Its possible that it has already fermented and you missed it!

What he said.

 

[phidelt844]

Thanks for the quick responses fellas! So is there any way to confirm that it actually completed fermentation? I didn't take any OG reading... could I stick it in the fridge and see if I'm getting a yeast cake on the bottom? I'm just worried that I'll pitch this in to my full wort tomorrow only to find that the yeast isn't gonna cut it... Thanks!

 

[Donner]

I'd assume you could take a hydrometer and test it. I don't know the exact OG of 1 cup DME in 1 qt water, but i want to say it'd be around 1.050 (but again, i might be confusing things i've read) anything below that would indicate fermentation has taken place.

Does it smell like the fermentation took place? I just checked the starter i made yesterday and i could detect the 'banana' smell that i associate with fermentation. Just a thought.

 

[whitemax]

I would give it more time, but I would order a new tube of yeast to be on the safe side.