Wyeast 1318 starter experiences?

[doublehaul]

Ordered Wyeast 1318 from morebeer for a NEIPA, it arrived with a date of 2/24! So I got a starter going with 1.75L, after adding yeast I had ~ 2L so I split into two beakers and left on strr plates (I have 2) for about 36 hours. One of my stir bars sucks and I had to keep getting it back going so it didn't get the full stir. Anyways after all of this I hope to have ~ 300 billion cells.

But - I never experienced much of an active ferementation which has me a little worried. I could have missed it but I never really saw a krausen, and there was no evidence there was one - like the sides of the beaker weren't caked with any residue.

Can anyone share their experience with a Wyeast 1318 starter? Should I RDWHAHB?

 

[philjohnwilliams]

I don't always get a krausen with stirred starters, you could take a hydrometer reading to see if there was fermentation.

 

[VikeMan]

But - I never experienced much of an active ferementation which has me a little worried. I could have missed it but I never really saw a krausen, and there was no evidence there was one - like the sides of the beaker weren't caked with any residue.

Can anyone share their experience with a Wyeast 1318 starter? Should I RDWHAHB?

As @philjohnwilliams alluded, stirred starters often don't show a krausen. But if you're concerned, you can measure the gravity.

 

[day_trippr]

I've been using a lot of ranched 1318 over the last two years and always get enough krausen on the stir plate to let me know it's quite active. I actually use a drop or two of Fermcap up front because I have woken up to a dislodged foam plug.

Which is not to say one should be worried without having checked the gravity...

Cheers!

 

[kevink]

1318 on my stir plate only "krausens up" about 1/8"-3/16". During fermentation of my 1318 starters, I usually see tons of little bubbles rising up through the starter for about a day. Did you not see that?