Supplemental Starter?

[MTBear]

So, I had some issues with my starter. The yeast flocced heavily and stalled my stir bar. Problem is, I don't know when it happened over its 24-hour lifespan, so I think I need to consider this starter "undercharged".

I have some 1.070 wort needing some assistance, so I am thinking about pitching the original starter and working up a supplemental starter tonight to pitch on Wed. morning. Or, should I just leave well enough alone?

 

[Cyclman]

Tough one. You could let the yeast settle out, and visually see how much is there vs. when you made the starter. Or just pitch a vial on top of what you have. I've chickened out and done that before.

 

[MTBear]

Thanks cycleman. I went down early this am to pitch another vial, but no need. In fact, the opposite, I have a very aggressive fermentation on my hands, blowing thru both blowoff tubes at an alarming rate. I lost a half gallon overnight, and this is after adding a good dose of femcap.

Beer will never cease to do the opposite of what you expect!

 

[catdaddy66]

Not to hijack this thread, but I guess I'm reading that flocculation doesn't reduce fermentation activity of the yeast? Or how is this activity affected, if at all, by flocculation??

 

[MTBear]

Not to hijack this thread, but I guess I'm reading that flocculation doesn't reduce fermentation activity of the yeast? Or how is this activity affected, if at all, by flocculation??

I don't think you can draw that conclusion from my post, though a very flocculent yeast typically provides less attenuation. Flocculation can also be a sign that fermentation is approaching the end.

In my instance, though, the flocculation caused my stir bar to stop, so my concern wasn't really floc related but rather that the yeast may have produced a lot less starter cells than I calculated and/or needed to have a healthy fermentation in my wort.

spinning stir bar = more yeast cells produced