Stuck / Inactive Yeast

Working on a Belgian quad and have worth prepared and chilled to 72-73f. Had 1 liter starter of WLP 500 prepared overnight with 0.25C of light DME and 1/8tsp of yeast nutrient. Yeast was fresh with Sept expiration date. Had also left yeast out sufficient time to reach room temp before mixing with the starter. Swirled occasionally to oxygenate. Pitched around noon on Day 1 and saw no activity in worth or airlock after 6 hours. After sitting overnight still no activity. Trying to figure out the error and what to do next. Any assistance much appreciated.

 

Is that 1/4 cup DME? I always use the 1/2 cup DME to 2 cups of water. A 1200ml starter is 6 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of DME

 

Not sure what your batch size was but that doesn't sound like a very large starter to me for a quad. Give it a couple days and then look for activity before trying to fix something that may not be broken.

 

This caught my eye also, It seems to be a small starter for the style/gravity of beer. It may take a while to get going. I would not take any actions till at least 72 hours after pitching.

Advice: get a scale and weigh your DME. You will get a lot more accuracy than using volume. 10 to one ratio, 100 grams for 1 liter, 150 grams for 1.5 liters etc. This makes about a 1.038 wort.

 

Gents,
Thanks for the excellent advice. I was mulling this over and figured the issue was with the starter. I'd done a Kolsch recently and recall using more DME. I had a lot more slurry then. Must have had a lapse of concentration (pun intended) when I added so little. Gave the fermented a shake and will let it sit for a couple days before any other action.
R/
29Savoy

 

A follow on note. Added another starter as I'd grossly under pitched. Fermentation took off. I'm using WLP 500. I'm also into the secondary now with a dose of sugar and it's still working. This is a first time using this recipe and to say its a Belgian strong ale is an understatement. Still have a tertiary stage to go in a couple of weeks and then a blend to finish and bottle.