Ok, had to vent some frustration--
I brewed yesterday (made an all grain robust porter). The brew day went as near perfect as I could make it (first all indoor batch on the upgraded sculpture).
I made the starter over 24 hours in advance (Propagator pack London Ale III from Wyeast)-- well, it never really took off. It never even came close to hitting "high krauesen," and even at that, there was almost no yeast on the bottom-- and then I read the package and it said something to the effect that after making a starter, it would be enough pitchable cells for five gallons (mine was 10 gallons). So, by the time the beer was in the fermenter, I had a quandry. Grossly underpitch with my lackluster London III, or use some harvested WL English Ale that I had in my fridge for the past 2 months.
I went with the English Ale yeast I had in storage. I figured there was more viable yeast there per mL than in my starter, even if they were dormant. I also thought about pitching the London III in addition, but I figured that might be a little weird.
So, now I'm sitting here, and waiting for my fermenter to bubble. The starter doesn't even bubble now, and has cleared.
Anyone else run across this problem with the Wyeast Propagator packs?? This was the first time I'd ever used it.
I brewed yesterday (made an all grain robust porter). The brew day went as near perfect as I could make it (first all indoor batch on the upgraded sculpture).
I made the starter over 24 hours in advance (Propagator pack London Ale III from Wyeast)-- well, it never really took off. It never even came close to hitting "high krauesen," and even at that, there was almost no yeast on the bottom-- and then I read the package and it said something to the effect that after making a starter, it would be enough pitchable cells for five gallons (mine was 10 gallons). So, by the time the beer was in the fermenter, I had a quandry. Grossly underpitch with my lackluster London III, or use some harvested WL English Ale that I had in my fridge for the past 2 months.
I went with the English Ale yeast I had in storage. I figured there was more viable yeast there per mL than in my starter, even if they were dormant. I also thought about pitching the London III in addition, but I figured that might be a little weird.
So, now I'm sitting here, and waiting for my fermenter to bubble. The starter doesn't even bubble now, and has cleared.
Anyone else run across this problem with the Wyeast Propagator packs?? This was the first time I'd ever used it.