2112 CAL Lager starter question

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Codfishhead

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I made a starter wort last night to run two brews today. Cooled down to 70 degrees, slit in half n pitched Wyeast 2112 CAL n 1007 German. Stirred up every half hr for 3 hours starting at 9pm. Woke up at 5:30am n found this. German going like crazy n CA not so much. It's now 15 hrs since n the German is bubbling away while the 2112 is not. When I stir I do have bubble do it is making carbonation.

Should I leave it sit longer?
Is this the norm for this yeast?

Thx
Jay
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1414851471.243609.jpg



A message from God.

Don't smoke crack dumb ass
 
Thx

It's sitting at 70 but still no action I can see. I plan on using it tomorrow. Will I ever see it foam up before pitching?


I didn't get to brew both beers today per they didn't put the hops for my brown ale in my bags.

Note to self, check your list before leaving the HB store numb nuts
 
Still nothing to see. After I stir it n it settles down it looks just like I'm washing it. Clearly see the crap, what looks like nice yeast in suspension and clear wort over it.

But since I never saw any action it's making seriously think about pitching it into my beer.

This is only the second run in my new system. Really don't want to start with questionable yeast.

Any users of this yeast chime in please
 
Codfishhead said:
Still nothing to see. After I stir it n it settles down it looks just like I'm washing it. Clearly see the crap, what looks like nice yeast in suspension and clear wort over it.

But since I never saw any action it's making seriously think about pitching it into my beer.

This is only the second run in my new system. Really don't want to start with questionable yeast.

Any users of this yeast chime in please
Click to expand...
yeah i totally understand not wanting to use questionable yeast..but is the starter the color of creamed coffe or is it the color of the starter wort?..sometimes krausen is on a starter sometimes not..as long as there is a creamy layer at the bottle or cream colored wort it did its thing
 
Thx

My fault. After reading up on the yeast I pitched it to cold. Just needed a little heat n it fire right up.

I was thinking Lager but it's really an ale that gives similar results as a Lager yeast.

Tomorrow I'll get more ingredients for another brew plus make a new starter for this yeast. Then wash the entire batch, spit. Make a new starter n pitch into both beers.
 
I actually brewed a steam yesterday and its fermenting away at 62. Had to put a blowoff on about 24 hours after pitching. I stepped up the starter twice with a stir plate though, and hit wort with pure O2 for a minute. Pitched starter at high krausen. Picture is attached. Here's what I observed from my first experience with 2112:

2112 is a very flocculent strain... it falls out of suspension really easily. Stir plate would make a world of difference with that yeast. I was just swirling the first day of starter, and yeast just kept falling out. Busted out the stir plate and it made a world of difference.

Also, for what it is worth, 2112 IS a lager yeast (bottom fermenting), but it ferments best at temps closer to the low end of typical ale temp ranges (60 - 64).

Finally, what was the date on the package? Maybe not many viable yeast were left?ImageUploadedByHome Brew1415074089.075665.jpg



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I just zoomed in on your picture and the manufacture date of the 2112 was June 10??!?!

That's just old, dead yeast, man. There aren't enough viable cells to get anything going. Look at these screen shots from brewers friend. I did three shots, with different yeast manufacture dates. June 10 date estimates 0% viability. August 10 estimates 41%. October 10 estimates 83% viability. Get your money back from LHBS!

ImageUploadedByHome Brew1415074682.072221.jpgImageUploadedByHome Brew1415074691.741193.jpgImageUploadedByHome Brew1415074699.631786.jpg


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
It won't be dead dead, but would require a good number of steps to build that yeast back up to a suitable pitching rate. It'll probably cost your more in DME (not to mention time, effort, and contamination risk) than it would to buy a fresh pack and start over.
 
turkeygecko said:
I just zoomed in on your picture and the manufacture date of the 2112 was June 10??!?!

That's just old, dead yeast, man. Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Click to expand...

Look again 10 June 14


TurkeyGecko that sucker is blowing buddles. Very nice.

Not sure what went on with this but I do know its getting drain poured. Not going to chance trashing a great beer with a so so yeast.

already bought a few others and will make starters and wash to produce more. Then I'll start blending and creating my own yeast. I used to have slants frozen in a lab years back when I used to brew a lot. Looks like those days are coming back fast.

Thx guys

Happy brewing :mug:
 
Codfishhead said:
Look again 10 June 14


TurkeyGecko that sucker is blowing buddles. Very nice.

Not sure what went on with this but I do know its getting drain poured. Not going to chance trashing a great beer with a so so yeast.

already bought a few others and will make starters and wash to produce more. Then I'll start blending and creating my own yeast. I used to have slants frozen in a lab years back when I used to brew a lot. Looks like those days are coming back fast.

Thx guys

Happy brewing :mug:
Click to expand...

Either way, that yeast is way too old. Now, if this were a seasonal or hard to come by strain, it might be worth building it back up, but that's a common year round strain, so worth it just to buy more. Glad you opted to dump it.
 
Sorry. Thought you meant 2010

Just getting back in the game. 25 yrs ago a 4 month old yeast package was fresh as it came. :eek:

so what would be the oldest yeast package you would take now?
 
I don't think I would expect any problems from a five month old smack pack, provided that you stepped it up, probably twice.
 
For dry yeast, I wouldn't even check date or worry about it. Here are some interesting tidbits from the brewersfriend.com site, which references info directly from White Labs, and also incorporates Jamil's research from Mr. Malty:


"A pack/vial contains 100 billion cells at the date of manufacture.

Liquid yeast viability drops 21% each month, or 0.7% each day, from the date of manufacture. The assumption is the yeast viability drops in a linear fashion. In 4.75 months or 143 days, this calculator assumes the yeast is 100% dead (100 / 0.7 = ~143).

From the White Labs FAQ 11/2012: What is the shelf life of White Labs Yeast? Quick Answer: 4 Months. Long Answer: .... After 30 days in the vial, the viability of our yeast is 75-85%,...

There is plenty of online debate as to how the decay works in real life (exponential vs linear). Additional research is called for."


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Wanted to use this yeast so I ran out n bought another pack. This one is only a month old. This is what it looks like 6 hours after pitching.

What do you think? Look normal?

ImageUploadedByHome Brew1415365143.925975.jpg
 
Harvested this yeast off my brown ale n cleaned it up. Made a starter n tossed it on an IPA I brewed this morning. 6 hrs in and she's bubbling like crazy. I like
 
For what it's worth, I have a batch bubbling right now that was inoculated with a Wy2112 package from June 14. Took 36 hours on the stir plate to show signs of life, took off like rocked after it was pitched. Now it's working happily far below it's official comfort zone, 9°C and high krausen.
 
Just pitched some into a Veianna Lager.

Made a big starter so it should be taking off soon
 
Def got a lot from one smack pack. I took the intitial pack and split it in half. Half I made 3 starters with and pitched into one 10 gal batch. The other half I kepted making bigger prior to using it. 5 batches a beer all made from the same initial pack and then 2 more from the collected yeast I washed and stored. I have one washed canning jar and one fresh left. Figure I'll end up using this single pack on 12 diff beers. Think the cost was like 8 bucks. So I figured I saved around 100 bucks in yeast.

Also did the same for a German Ale and a San Diego Super yeast. All 3 yeast are clean with no domantant flavors being produced if kept at opt temps.


Stir plates are worth their weight in gold. :mug:
 
InkBird 300

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