Questions About My First Starter

[Brandonovich]

Without going into a long story, I ruined my yeast for a Sunday brew at 5:30 on a Saturday. I had to buy the only yeast I had access to in the next half hour, or I was not going to be able to brew for another week. I bought a pack of Wyeast Irish Ale that had a manufacture date of 12/3/10, and made an 800ml starter at about 6:30 on Saturday night.

I pitched the starter into 5 gallons at 76 degrees and 1.049OG at about 4:00 the next day, and no activity so far. I know it is early, but I am usually bubbling away with White Labs by this time. So here are my questions:

1. What should I have been looking for from my starter to know that it was viable?

2. Is a manufacture date of 12/3/10 too old?

3. How long should I wait before I repitch some yeast?

 

[ArcaneXor]

1.) The starter will turn from the dark wort color into a slightly lighter, mocha-like color. A think band of kraeusen will form along the edges of the flask, but this is not always noticeable. Most obvious are tons of tiny CO2 bubbles traveling up through the liquid and, after cold crashing, the increase in thickness of the yeast slurry.

2.) No

3.) That's pretty much your decision. Some advocate waiting as long as 72 hours. I will take remedial action after 36 hours if there are truly no signs of yeast activity. What usually happens first is some white "islands" of foam forming on the surface of the wort a few hours before the actual kraeusen develops.

 

[commonsenseman]

Are you sure it isn't fermenting? Did you take a reading?

Lack of airlock activity doesn't mean nothing's happening. It's only been one day? Wait a few days & take a reading. Betcha it's fermenting just fine.

 

[Brandonovich]

I haven't taken a reading, but this is a beer I have brewed several times, so I kind of know what to expect, and there should be some activity by now.

 

[kanzimonson]

That's an old smack pack. I'm not saying the yeast are dead or anything, but I've found that if they're more than 2 months old they're really sluggish. It often takes 36 hours for a starter made from old yeast to show any activity.

Once they get going they're fine, but it's those first days that are the most nerve wracking.

I don't buy this crap about waiting 72 hours... if it takes that long, you didn't pitch enough active, healthy yeast. But it sounds like you also don't have any other options. Give it a shake every 12hours to continue getting some oxygen in there. Eventually it will ferment but it might take longer and not attenuate as much as you expect.

 

[BendBrewer541]

One thing I've noticed when using Mr. Malty's calculator is that if you are using older yeast, you really do need a larger starter. It's interesting to play with the calculator. Yeast as old as yours according to the calculator has only about 25% viability, so you would need to make a larger starter than you would for a smack pack that's say only a month old. Something to consider.

 

[Brandonovich]

Thanks for all the advice. It got going at about 36 hours and then bubbled along great. I am not a fan of the smack packs at all, but in this case it was that or nothing.