Yeast starter?

[Porter_Stout]

Has anyone ever measured the abv of your yeast starter after making it? What kind of SG drop should I expect? I started with 1.040 and ended with about 1.030. Is this expected? I'm trying to figure out viability of my yeast.

 

[Somesaymybeerisdrinkable]

Assuming you are using DME which is normally around 75% fermentable the F.G. should be around 1.010. I do not know any reason why healthy yeast would not use all of the available sugar.

 

[VikeMan]

Has anyone ever measured the abv of your yeast starter after making it? What kind of SG drop should I expect? I started with 1.040 and ended with about 1.030. Is this expected?

Did you happen to measure the "FG" with an uncorrected refractometer reading?

 

[Porter_Stout]

Did you happen to measure the "FG" with an uncorrected refractometer reading?

Hydrometer

 

[micraftbeer]

How long was it fermenting? When I do starters, I just have them fermenting about 24 hours. Look for signs of life, and give time for the initial cell growth phase. So I would never expect my starter "beer" to reach FG in 24 hours.

10 gravity points is a lot, depending on how long you had it fermenting.

 

[Porter_Stout]

How long was it fermenting? When I do starters, I just have them fermenting about 24 hours. Look for signs of life, and give time for the initial cell growth phase. So I would never expect my starter "beer" to reach FG in 24 hours.

10 gravity points is a lot, depending on how long you had it fermenting.

I do starters between 24-36 hours per batch on a stir plate. I'm going to try using this in a brew this weekend. This is Philly Sour yeast, so I hope I didn't ruin it. I don't know much about this yeast, but the pack was a little old strait out of the fridge, so I thought a starter would be prudent.

 

[IslandLizard]

When you took the gravity reading, had the yeast precipitated already, leaving (nearly) clear starter beer on top?
24 hours to completion is a bit short, IME, even a fresh pack takes 2-3 days.

What yeast is this?
Is it a fresh pack or harvested/ranched from another batch/starter?

Do you see any growth?

 

[Porter_Stout]

When you took the gravity reading, had the yeast precipitated already, leaving (nearly) clear starter beer on top?
24 hours to completion is a bit short, IME, even a fresh pack takes 2-3 days.

What yeast is this?
Is it a fresh pack or harvested/ranched from another batch/starter?

Do you see any growth?

I do starters between 24-36 hours per batch on a stir plate. I'm going to try using this in a brew this weekend. This is Philly Sour yeast, so I hope I didn't ruin it. I don't know much about this yeast, but the pack was a little old strait out of the fridge, so I thought a starter would be prudent.

The starter was cold crashed before measuring.

 

[IslandLizard]

I do starters between 24-36 hours per batch on a stir plate.

I run starters until I see it becoming significantly lighter, then give them another 6-12 hours before crashing it.

This is Philly Sour yeast

That's not a Saccharomyces strain!
It's a Lachancea strain/isolate, she behaves very differently.

Most of your answers and directions to proper use can be found here:
https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LAL-bestpractices-Philly_Sour-ENG-A4.pdf
Here's an excerpt that may answer some of your questions:
Attenuation and ABV calculations
Since WildBrew Philly Sour™ produces both lactic acid and alcohol during fermentation, there are implications for determining the attenuation of the fermentation. When lactic acid is produced, there is no CO2 released and therefore no loss of mass and no change in density. Therefore, for WildBrew Philly Sour™ fermentations the FG will be higher, the change in density will be lower and the apparent attenuation determined by measuring density will be lower even if the same amount of sugar is metabolized (real attenuation is the same). The amount of lactic acid is equal to the increase in FG of the beer compared to a similar standard brewing strain.

We also have our main Philly Sour thread here on HBT:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...y-sour-feedback-or-experience-to-share.682096
IIRC, making starters with that strain or repitching can produce unexpected results as to fermentation and souring levels.

 

[Porter_Stout]

I run starters until I see it becoming significantly lighter, then give them another 6-12 hours before crashing it.


That's not a Saccharomyces strain!
It's a Lachancea strain/isolate, she behaves very differently.

Most of your answers and directions to proper use can be found here:
https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LAL-bestpractices-Philly_Sour-ENG-A4.pdf
Here's an excerpt that may answer some of your questions:
Attenuation and ABV calculations
Since WildBrew Philly Sour™ produces both lactic acid and alcohol during fermentation, there are implications for determining the attenuation of the fermentation. When lactic acid is produced, there is no CO2 released and therefore no loss of mass and no change in density. Therefore, for WildBrew Philly Sour™ fermentations the FG will be higher, the change in density will be lower and the apparent attenuation determined by measuring density will be lower even if the same amount of sugar is metabolized (real attenuation is the same). The amount of lactic acid is equal to the increase in FG of the beer compared to a similar standard brewing strain.

We also have our main Philly Sour thread here on HBT:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...y-sour-feedback-or-experience-to-share.682096
IIRC, making starters with that strain or repitching can produce unexpected results as to fermentation and souring levels.

Thanks! That was the info I was needing to know! I'll check that Lallemand link.