What did I do wrong?

[carter840]

So I just pitched my first starter, and already have very active fermentation (just overnight). That said I know my the starter I made for this batch was not done properly because I am pretty sure that I had the wrong about of both DME and water. Below is what I did and I would like to know if it was wrong and how I can fix it, btw I have read most of the online DIY articles, but I wanted comments on what I did.

1) Boiled 2 cups of water in flask
2) Added 1/2 cups of DME (extra light)
3) Boiled for 10 minutes
4) Added White Labs Yeast Nutrient
5) Chilled to 75F in an ice bath
6) Pitched White labs Burton Yeast
7) Covered in sanitized foil
8) Swirled and gentle shock over the next 24 hours

The starter did seem to be producing some small amounts of bubbled and foamed when agitated, but I was expecting much more activity. I certainly didn't get a krausen or anything substantial though. In total I had about 600ml of solution in my flask before I pitched it. This was for a pumpkin ale (OG 1.047). What would you have done differently, and what did I do wrong?

 

[HerbieHowells]

As far as I can see you followed the Palmer recipe perfectly. It sounds like your starter behaved the way starters usually do- small bubbles but no krausen is pretty typical, I think. As Palmer says, starter wort can ferment quickly, so it is easy to miss the visible signs. Take a look at how long you let the starter go, and review the link to see if you missed something, but I think you probably just expected more activity out of your starter than you typically get.

 

[carter840]

As far as I can see you followed the Palmer recipe perfectly. It sounds like your starter behaved the way starters usually do- small bubbles but no krausen is pretty typical, I think. As Palmer says, starter wort can ferment quickly, so it is easy to miss the visible signs. Take a look at how long you let the starter go, and review the link to see if you missed something, but I think you probably just expected more activity out of your starter than you typically get.

Thanks for the response. I did try and follow some of the DIYs I saw online. Beersmith seemed to indicate that I needed a much larger starter. Should this have been a 1L starter rather than a 600mL starter.

 

[helibrewer]

You can also use the 10:1 rule. 10 parts liquid to 1 part DME by weight. So 100 grams of DME per Liter (1000ml) of liquid (pure water is 1g per ml).

 

[helibrewer]

Thanks for the response. I did try and follow some of the DIYs I saw online. Beersmith seemed to indicate that I needed a much larger starter. Should this have been a 1L starter rather than a 600mL starter.

I always do 1L starters because the math is easy. For your 1.047 beer you should be just fine as long as the yeast wasn't too old.

 

[Homercidal]

The generally followed rule of thumb is that a beer with a starting gravity of less than 1.060 doesn't "need" a starter.

That said, it's all a bit subjective and there are no hard and fast lines drawn in black and white. If you are getting activity this soon, then I can only think that everything will be ok.

A fresh vial of healthy yeast and a small starter will do as well as a half-viable vial of yeast and a larger starter.

 

[SpeedYellow]

Run the numbers on yeastcalc.com and you'll see that a 500 ml starter doesn't get you much... Mostly a waste of time. Sure, we all did it for years because Palmer and Papazian said so, and sure maybe it helps a bit, but it's hardly worth the effort. A 1L or 1.5L starter is something different.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I'm not getting it..... you made a starter, your ferment kicked off quickly, and you think you messed up?

I'd say you have a leg up on many home brewers out there, my friend.

 

[Homercidal]

Run the numbers on yeastcalc.com and you'll see that a 500 ml starter doesn't get you much... Mostly a waste of time. Sure, we all did it for years because Palmer and Papazian said so, and sure maybe it helps a bit, but it's hardly worth the effort. A 1L or 1.5L starter is something different.

I ran the numbers and a 600ml starter would produce about 50% more active yeast cells. Yeah, it's not quite up to the recommended numbers, but it's better than only getting half of the recommended number just by pitching the vial.

 

[SpeedYellow]

I ran the numbers and a 600ml starter would produce about 50% more active yeast cells. Yeah, it's not quite up to the recommended numbers, but it's better than only getting half of the recommended number just by pitching the vial.

You must have selected the "Intermittent Shaking" option. I don't use that because I don't know exactly what it means and how we might replicate it. I've only seen vague descriptions like "shake it whenever you walk by" etc.

But yeah, if he's faithfully following that process, then 50% does sound right. Otherwise a 600 mL starter only gets you like +10% to 15% for a "None" aeration.