An "ah ha" moment.

The very first time I made a starter, I tried boiling it in the flask. It boiled up the neck faster than a sneeze through a screen door.

Since then, I've always boiled the starter in a pot and poured it into the flask.

I've never used Fermcap, but I bought some for my last brew due to a unique circumstance.

I was fixin to make my starter yesterday for the brew today, and...

Ah ha! Fermcap in my starter wort, and bam!, I'm boiling in the flask with no problem.

 

It's great when things actually do perform as advertized

 

Thats really the one time I use fermcap, and I no longer have to worry about cleaning burnt wort off the stovetop anymore.

 

Another ah ha moment, again regarding starters.

I like to pitch my starters without decanting. Sometimes, though, I have to decant. Maybe I just needed a big starter to get my cell count, or maybe I'm decanting to step up. When I do need to decant, I cold crash and want to get as much of the starter beer poured off as possible.

Invariably, as the beer pours out, as it gets down to the cake, it starts to pull the cake with it, at which point I have to stop pouring off, lest I pour off good yeast with it.

I always cold crash my flask, well, exactly how a flask sits, straight up. That, of course, leaves a nice even later of yeast cake distributed across the bottom of the flask.

Ah ha...

Prop the flask at an angle while cold crashing, and the yeast settles into one corner. Now, I can pour off all the starter wort I want. I consciously stop pouring off to leave just enough to swirl and dislodge the cake.

 

Ah ha! A starter slant! But really, good idea Tak.

 

Now why didn't I think of that...brilliant.

 

Great Idea! But I think I see a future post:

"Slam the fridge door closed when you have your starter propped up and slanted.

Don't do that."

 

I do this with my primaries as well, and leave them slanted during siphoning. I get way less trub coming into secondary or keg.

 

Haha. Ya, don't go balancing the flask against a couple cans of beer or anything like that. I found some tupperware that the flask sits in, with a smaller tupperware inside that keeps the flask tilted and in no precarious terms.