possible issues with my starter

[brewshki]

I did a starter for the first time last night and I have a few worries. I used 1/2 lb of light DME, .2 oz of Fermaid K (my instructions said a pinch so I did not know what that meant) and filled my flask up to the 2000 ml mark. I stirred it up and then used a double boiler to heat it up. I had to use a double boiler because I have an electric stove top and the instructions said not to use that. It was probably on heat for more than an hour and it never really looked like it boiled. The water around it was clearly boiling, but the inside of the flask did not. I sanitized a piece of foil in star san and put it on the flask for the last twelve minutes of it being on heat. At that point, I stuck it in the freezer and let it cool to about 25 degrees celsius and pitched my vial.

My biggest worries are that it may not have boiled and sanitized, the highest temp reading I took was about 180 F, and the risk of infection. The temp reading was only taken from maybe a quarter inch in the flask because I could not get the thermometer any deeper.

The infection worry is just that I had to take the foil off and add the yeast. I made sure to turn off all my fans and kept the foil pointing down to make it harder for wild things to get onto the foil. I sprayed the inside of it again and the top of the flask before I put the foil back on. Is it legitimate to worry about the edge to the unsanitized foil touching the lip of the flask either when I put it on or take it off? I am also thinking that I am pitching such a huge amount of yeast (white labs vial) into a small volume and that it will out compete any bacteria.

Any thoughts on any of it? Im going to do more research and watch some videos before I do it again, but I got excited and wanted to do it for my brew on Friday. Even if I am just doing a best bitter

 

[relicdog]

You want to use 10g of DME to 100ml of water. You should make a trivet and you can boil your starter right in your flask. If you bought a quality pyrex flask then I would say you can safely boil it in there. You can cool the wort (assuming you are using your flask as the vessel) in ~10 minutes from tap water. What I do is i run cold water at a low flow rate in the pot (also use your finger and gently disturb the water, dunk the flask in the pot and lift the flask frequently and shake the flask, the agitation of the surrounding water in the pot and the water being shaked in the flask will disperse the heat quicker. Make sure that the flask has a large piece of tin foil which is tightly secured on top and is sanitized with steam vapors, loosely cap the flask at 3 minutes left in the boil. You will know when it is the right time to pitch your yeast when you cannot feel a heat change from the shaking of the flask and dunking of it into the water.

You want to make sure that the tin foil is very loose on the flask, there needs to be oxygen introduced so that the yeast can grow quickly and a stress free environment. I like to use a foam stopper and sanitize that with star san. You can make a cheap stir plate for 20 bucks and reproduce more yeast with the same amount of DME.

 

[brewshki]

You want to use 10g of DME to 100ml of water. You should make a trivet and you can boil your starter right in your flask. If you bought a quality pyrex flask then I would say you can safely boil it in there. You can cool the wort (assuming you are using your flask as the vessel) in ~10 minutes from tap water. What I do is i run cold water at a low flow rate in the pot (also use your finger and gently disturb the water, dunk the flask in the pot and lift the flask frequently and shake the flask, the agitation of the surrounding water in the pot and the water being shaked in the flask will disperse the heat quicker. Make sure that the flask has a large piece of tin foil which is tightly secured on top and is sanitized with steam vapors, loosely cap the flask at 3 minutes left in the boil. You will know when it is the right time to pitch your yeast when you cannot feel a heat change from the shaking of the flask and dunking of it into the water.

You want to make sure that the tin foil is very loose on the flask, there needs to be oxygen introduced so that the yeast can grow quickly and a stress free environment. I like to use a foam stopper and sanitize that with star san. You can make a cheap stir plate for 20 bucks and reproduce more yeast with the same amount of DME.

I am not really understanding what you are saying about the foil. When should it be tight and when should it be loose? Is there a time where I remove one and put on the other? I am not as worried about the cooling time, I can fix that easily later. what is a trivet?

 

[relicdog]

google definition of a trivet is an iron tripod placed over a fire for a cooking pot or kettle to stand on.

The tin foil should be tightly on the flask when you are dunking it in a pot full of water.

You won't be able to tightly cap the flask near the end of the boil, too much pressure will be escaping from the flask.

The tin foil should be loose on the flask right after the yeast get dumped in and continue to be loose until fermentation is over. The yeast need oxygen to reproduce.

 

[brewshki]

Ahhh that makes sense. It looks like they fermented just fine. I just stuck her in the fridge to crash for when I brew later today. I'm s little worried that it looks like it fermented out the top of the fiask, but everything was as sanitary as I could get it. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441992258.424824.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441992268.206854.jpg

 

[Bellybuster]

looks like you made yeast. The whole sanitation aspect of brewing is very much over the top. Keep things clean and beer you will make.

 

[brewshki]

looks like you made yeast. The whole sanitation aspect of brewing is very much over the top. Keep things clean and beer you will make.

That's what I am hoping haha. It's definitely nice to see that this worked, because that is definitely more yeast than my vial and it hasn't crashed yet. Feelin good about brewing today.

 

[brewshki]

I worried for nothing. Had a great brew day yesterday and I pitched at about 10 pm give or take. The airlock was going and a krausen had risen by 1 am. Starters rock.

 

[brewshki]

These things make me go nuts with worry. Got the second one to a great boil and it boiled over... Finally got it to not go nuts but it still dripped out and over every once in a while. Could all the dried wort on the flask and the foil lead to infection? I'm not worried really about the stuff on the outside but I am about the foil. Going to the LHBS today so I'll ask them too and maybe pick up a new pack of yeast. Also first time using the new white labs package. It was very cool

 

[relicdog]

These things make me go nuts with worry. Got the second one to a great boil and it boiled over... Finally got it to not go nuts but it still dripped out and over every once in a while. Could all the dried wort on the flask and the foil lead to infection? I'm not worried really about the stuff on the outside but I am about the foil. Going to the LHBS today so I'll ask them too and maybe pick up a new pack of yeast. Also first time using the new white labs package. It was very cool

You will know if you have an infection, it will look disgusting and taste awful. I always taste my decanted starter wort just to make sure it tastes ok and it usually does. Don't use such a vigorous boil, you only need to bring the flask to a boil and boil it for ~15 min. If you add a little wyeast nutrient, i find that it eliminates all of the foaming during the boiling and you do not have to worry about boil overs, maybe this is related to fermcap-s?, i dunno. Go buy a foam stopper, it's way easier than tin foil.

 

[brewshki]

You will know if you have an infection, it will look disgusting and taste awful. I always taste my decanted starter wort just to make sure it tastes ok and it usually does. Don't use such a vigorous boil, you only need to bring the flask to a boil and boil it for ~15 min. If you add a little wyeast nutrient, i find that it eliminates all of the foaming during the boiling and you do not have to worry about boil overs, maybe this is related to fermcap-s?, i dunno. Go buy a foam stopper, it's way easier than tin foil.

By taste awful, you mean like spit out of mouth bad? I tasted it and it isn't really bad at all. Maybe a little tart at the end but it looks like there was a lot of yeast still in solution so maybe I am confusing the taste

 

[brewshki]

I'm
Convinced it's ok.

 

[relicdog]

Yeah what you are tasting is yeast characteristics, prob should have left it in the fridge a little longer to finish flocculation.