Yeast starter schedule?

[h22lude]

This is my second time making a yeast starter. I usually use dry yeast or just pitch the liquid right in.

I made a 1.5L starter last night around 11pm. It is at 65 on a stir plate. I want to brew tomorrow. Is that enough time for the starter? I was going to remove it from the stir plate and put it in the fridge tonight and then remove it from the fridge when I start brewing.

 

[mbar]

This is about how long I let my starters go for too. You should be just fine with this schedule.

 

[VonAle]

This is my second time making a yeast starter. I usually use dry yeast or just pitch the liquid right in.

I made a 1.5L starter last night around 11pm. It is at 65 on a stir plate. I want to brew tomorrow. Is that enough time for the starter? I was going to remove it from the stir plate and put it in the fridge tonight and then remove it from the fridge when I start brewing.

I sometimes see peak activity between 18-24 hours after placing on the stir plate. I usually leave it on the stir plate for about 36 hours total, then into the fridge for a minimum of about 12 hours before decanting.

Is you're starter done yet ? Turn off the stir plate, after a short time you should see a yeast layer form. Depends on how flocculant you're strain is though.

You could just leave it on the stir plate up untill you are ready to pitch, and pitch the whole volume. Or if it flocs well enough, let it settle for a bit, decant some and pitch.

 

[opiate82]

I've done as little as 12 hours and as many as 48 hours without any detectable difference in beer flavor to my admittedly untrained tongue. You should be fine.

 

[IL1kebeer]

I keep mine run in for 14-18 hours and result in healthy fermentations.

 

[h22lude]

Just went to go stop the stir plate and put the starter in the fridge. The starter actually come out of the flask. It is a big 2L flask. I started with 100 grams of DME and topped off to 1.5L. After boiling it was about 1.3L so it had plenty of room. I guess the yeast is good lol I also used yeast nutrients.

It does smell really bad but I have heard WLP001 has a terrible smell to it.

So now it is sitting in my basement not on the stir plate to let the yeast start to settle. I may wait until Sunday to brew. I'll see what it looks like tomorrow.

 

[surferdrew]

Just went to go stop the stir plate and put the starter in the fridge. The starter actually come out of the flask. It is a big 2L flask. I started with 100 grams of DME and topped off to 1.5L. After boiling it was about 1.3L so it had plenty of room. I guess the yeast is good lol I also used yeast nutrients.

It does smell really bad but I have heard WLP001 has a terrible smell to it.

So now it is sitting in my basement not on the stir plate to let the yeast start to settle. I may wait until Sunday to brew. I'll see what it looks like tomorrow.

If you can put it in fridge, yeast will drop quicker and then you can decant (like mentioned in prior post). I typically prefer this approach so I'm not adding so much liquid volume into my batch.

 

[h22lude]

If you can put it in fridge, yeast will drop quicker and then you can decant (like mentioned in prior post). I typically prefer this approach so I'm not adding so much liquid volume into my batch.

I'm going to put it in the fridge when I wake up. Fermentation looked like it was still really strong so I figured I would let it sit for another night.

 

[surferdrew]

I'm going to put it in the fridge when I wake up. Fermentation looked like it was still really strong so I figured I would let it sit for another night.

Smart thinking. Yes, waiting until fermentation is complete is usually the sign for me to put in fridge...timeframe totally depends on yeast strain.

Enjoy the upcoming brew session!

 

[h22lude]

So it has been in the fridge for a few hours and there isn't much yeast on the bottom. There may be even less than the WL vial. Either it didn't ferment long enough or when it came out of the flask a lot of yeast escaped. I may have to go get another vial which sucks because my LHBS is closed getting ready for a beerfest tomorrow.

 

[IL1kebeer]

Either it didn't ferment long enough or when it came out of the flask a lot of yeast escaped.

Huh? What do to mean when it came out the flask? You are supposed to put the flask in the fridge. Shouldn't be doing any transfers for chilling a starter.

 

[h22lude]

Huh? What do to mean when it came out the flask? You are supposed to put the flask in the fridge. Shouldn't be doing any transfers for chilling a starter.

Read post #6. Fermentation was so active that it was coming out of the flask.

 

[IL1kebeer]

Read post #6. Fermentation was so active that it was coming out of the flask.

Ic. That's happened to me before I started using Fermcap-S. I could definitely tell there was less yeast in there than in my other starters. Might do you good to pitch your starter and also pitch another vial.

 

[h22lude]

Ic. That's happened to me before I started using Fermcap-S. I could definitely tell there was less yeast in there than in my other starters. Might do you good to pitch your starter and also pitch another vial.

I think I'm just going to start over. I was going to brew today and now I can't brew until Monday with my schedule. The brew store isn't open until Wednesday so this starter might just go down the drain. $1 worth of DME and $5 vial of yeast...I'm ok with that (well I would rather have brewed today but $6 loss isn't bad).

I'll have to try Fermcap-s next time.

 

[duboman]

That's silly,

Did the krausen drop? Did it look a nice milky color? If not, it wasn't done so let it finish. If so fridge it and let it crash. I assure you there is more yeast in there it will be fine. If you're really concerned, crash it, decant, make up another liter starter and let it ferment out. Crash and save it until brew day in the fridge.

 

[h22lude]

That's silly,

Did the krausen drop? Did it look a nice milky color? If not, it wasn't done so let it finish. If so fridge it and let it crash. I assure you there is more yeast in there it will be fine. If you're really concerned, crash it, decant, make up another liter starter and let it ferment out. Crash and save it until brew day in the fridge.

I'm going to let it sit in my fridge for a few days to see if any more yeast drop. As of right now (12 hours in the fridge) there is less yeast than the vial.

 

[IL1kebeer]

I'm going to let it sit in my fridge for a few days to see if any more yeast drop. As of right now (12 hours in the fridge) there is less yeast than the vial.

If it's only been 12 hours then a bunch more will likely drop

 

[h22lude]

Here are some pictures of it. The first one is how it looked before it all came out. Was happy with how it looked until it all came out lol The other two pictures are how it looks after 24 hours of cold crashing. Looking at the bottom you can tell there isn't much there. In some spots you can see the starter beer through the yeast sediment.

Looking at the pictures, it seems like there is a lot more there than what there really is. There is still less than a vial. I'm going to let it sit over night again tonight to see what happens. I'm thinking is it just didn't ferment fully before I put it in.

 

[duboman]

Dude, that's a whole lot of yeast, boatloads more than in a vial it does not appear that you have any issues with the starter at all!

 

[indianajns]

+1 to duboman. The bottom of those flasks have a large surface area. Think about how much yeast you see in a WL vial and imagine that spread out in the bottom of your flask. a WL vial would barely cover the bottom with a very thin layer. You've got plenty. I'd decant that biatch and run with it.

 

[surferdrew]

Ic. That's happened to me before I started using Fermcap-S. I could definitely tell there was less yeast in there than in my other starters. Might do you good to pitch your starter and also pitch another vial.

When he is saying "pitch" he means add to wort not add to trash.

There's millions of good yeasties in there even though it overflowed.

 

[h22lude]

Haven't had time to make this beer yet. Hopefully do it Sunday. Will this starter still be good by then? It has been in the fridge.

 

[duboman]

Haven't had time to make this beer yet. Hopefully do it Sunday. Will this starter still be good by then? It has been in the fridge.

It'll be fine, just pull it when you're ready to pitch, decant and swirl it up.

 

[h22lude]

Just decanted the starter and swirled the yeast. Smelt like vinegar. Now for beer vinegar is not a good smell to have. I can assume the same for a starter. Might be going to get yeast today.

 

[duboman]

Just decanted the starter and swirled the yeast. Smelt like vinegar. Now for beer vinegar is not a good smell to have. I can assume the same for a starter. Might be going to get yeast today.

no it should not smell like vinegar

 

[h22lude]

no it should not smell like vinegar

At my lhbs as I type this. Luckily he is open until 2. Just pulled my steeping grains so I'm ready to go when I get home lol