1st starter - advice needed

[paradoc]

Greetings,

First time for me using a starter, and need some reassurance. I've always used Wyeast activators before and just pitched directly. Following instructions on this site and the wiki, I made a small wort using 32 ounces of water, with LME, mixed to a gravity of 1.040. I boiled for 15 minutes, cooled in ice water to around 70 degrees, then put it into a sanitized half-gallon carboy. I pitched the yeast (White labs WLP029 German Ale/Kolsch) and it has been sitting for 24 hours on my counter at room temp with foil over the top. I shake it every 1-2 hours to aerate. I see NO signs of activity after 24 hours other than the wort looks cloudy. There is a VERY thin layer of yeast on the bottom of the container, and no krausen. I know it isn't unusual to not get krausen on a starter... but wondering if I've got a bad batch of yeast, or just need more time for it to start actively reproducing. Was going to brew today, but think I'll hold off till Saturday at this point and give it a few more days to kick-start.

Assuming I got bad yeast, can someone suggest alternative yeast? This is for EdWort's Bee Cave Oktoberfest recipe. I've got some dry Safeale S-04, Safbrew T-58, Nottingham, and Muntons sitting around. My closest LHBS is a 10 hour drive... so that isn't an option

 

[cimirie]

I think you'll be fine. That thin layer on the bottom is what you want. As long as it continues to build up, you'll be fine. My experience has been you won't see activity in your starter, especially using foil on top. Typical time to pre-start a starter is about 3 days so you're well within that range still. I wouldn't give it another thought. RDWHAHB

If you absolutely have to have another yeast, I'd go with the S-04, but you shouldn't have to go there.

 

[springer]

you wont have much krausen because you are shaking it every few hours knocking the co2 out that causes the krausen to rise. When you shake it does it get foamy on top? Also if its getting cloudy then its working the yeast are in suspension and working if it looked like virgin wort then I would say nothing is going on

 

[nebben]

My starters so far have been just like my big brews: some with big krausen some without.

I forget where I read it, but I seem to recall that krausen on a starter is always much smaller than in a large container too. Don't necessarily expect 1" of foam from 20-30oz fermenting wort in a growler or 2L bottle. There just isn't that much gas being produced.

 

[paradoc]

...As always, the fast, calming, helpful advice available on this forum is very much appreciated! Still too early in the day to RDWHAHB, but I'll RDW and have a homebrew tonight

 

[smizak]

My last starter with 3787 had almost no activity after 18hrs on my stirplate. Usually I'll get a "beery" smell in the fermentation chamber with my other starters, this one nothing, I was worried just like you.

It took OFF when I pitched it, and blew off for two days straight. If you are getting alot of growth, I don't think you'll have crazy krausen in your starters.

 

[drayman86]

Greetings,

First time for me using a starter, and need some reassurance. I've always used Wyeast activators before and just pitched directly. Following instructions on this site and the wiki, I made a small wort using 32 ounces of water, with LME, mixed to a gravity of 1.040. I boiled for 15 minutes, cooled in ice water to around 70 degrees, then put it into a sanitized half-gallon carboy. I pitched the yeast (White labs WLP029 German Ale/Kolsch) and it has been sitting for 24 hours on my counter at room temp with foil over the top. I shake it every 1-2 hours to aerate.

Shaking is the poorest way to aerate starter wort or beer wort. Slow starts and stuck fermentation in beer or poor/weak starters are most often caused by poor aeration.

Active aeration is best, and you don't need pure oxygen. Buy a standard aquarium pump, a micron air filter from you LHBS, some aquarium airline, and a rigid undergravel filter airline tube from the pet store you get the pump and airline from. Sanitize the rigid tube w/ rubbing alcohol and aerate the starter for 30 minutes after it cools. This will vastly improve the quality and quantity of yeast in your starter. A shot of yeast nutrient (ammonimum phosphate) is also recommended for the starter wort.

 

[KatoBaggins]

I'm just about to crack open a wheat beer I made using a dead smack pack. Pitched it in a starter, and it took the yeast from that pack 4 days to show any signs of life. From there I made up a 1 ltr starter and let it sit in the fridge for a week before I could use it. I warmed it up and pitched it in the wort and had activity in a few hours. It wasn't "mad" fermentation, but it reached its FG in under a week's time.

So, it seems that if you have a weak pack, it can take a while. At least with mine it was very salvageable.

 

[HIM_Tattoos]

Shaking is the poorest way to aerate starter wort or beer wort. Slow starts and stuck fermentation in beer or poor/weak starters are most often caused by poor aeration.

Active aeration is best, and you don't need pure oxygen. Buy a standard aquarium pump, a micron air filter from you LHBS, some aquarium airline, and a rigid undergravel filter airline tube from the pet store you get the pump and airline from. Sanitize the rigid tube w/ rubbing alcohol and aerate the starter for 30 minutes after it cools. This will vastly improve the quality and quantity of yeast in your starter. A shot of yeast nutrient (ammonimum phosphate) is also recommended for the starter wort.

I don't mean to thread jack and I'm sure that there is tons of info to be googled, but I was thinking about this the other day. Could you just use an airstone, and if so would you want to sanatize the stone prior. I'm just wondering about any off flavors or side effects the stone or chemicals in the stone that might be released.

 

[paradoc]

Update: It took 3 days for my starter to really show signs of active yeast (increased cloudiness, layer of yeast on bottom of jar, and lots of foam/CO2 when I shook it). When I pitched the starter, took only 4 hours to show fermentation, and was vigorously fermenting after 8 hours. I see the benefits of starters now... when I've used liquid yeast for prior batches without a starter, it took about 48 hours to get the same level of fermentation, and fermentation took a lot longer.