Bad yeast?

[Justintoxicated]

Made a starter 2 days ago, standard procedures. It's been sitting on the stir-plate, but I'm not seeing the usual bubbles swirling about.

I haven't seen any real signs of fermentation for 2 days now. Should I pitch it anyways or try to buy another vial and wait till next weekend to brew?

This was another vial that may have gotten pretty warm durring shipment, although the other yeast it shipped with was still viable. It's WLP-001.

I do have some east I washed WLP-085 Engilsh Ale Blend. Would that be a good substitute for a spiced porter?

 

[TreeBridge]

It sounds like the vitality of that yeast has been compromised. I would not use it. I don't think it would be worth the chance of it not fermenting. If it did it may produce uncharacteristic flavors for that yeast.

I think the English yeast would work well for the spiced porter assuming you are going for more of a malty profile.

 

[Justintoxicated]

Is there a way to verify it is compromised? it seems like 1/2 the yeast I buy does not work. I never imagined yeast would be so hard to get right...

 

[Obliviousbrew]

Is there a way to verify it is compromised? it seems like 1/2 the yeast I buy does not work. I never imagined yeast would be so hard to get right...

That is one of the reason you make a starter.

 

[Justintoxicated]

That is one of the reason you make a starter.

Yea, but since I'm still pretty new to this. Sometimes I wonder if I'm over reacting when I make my starter and tossing out perfectly good yeast.

 

[Unibrow]

You can always check gravity of the starter after 24 hours to see if it's gone down...also look for tiny bubbles going up the side, sometimes you need a flashlight and magnifier glass to see them

 

[JLem]

You can always check gravity of the starter...

^this

 

[Justintoxicated]

I didn't take an original gravity for the starter. Is that something I should be doing? I use 100g DME per 1000ml of water.


yeast by Glamisduner, on Flickr

Thats the results after I stuck it in the refrigerator last night.

I'm going to check the gravity now, but I don't know the staring gravity.

edit: it's 1.009-1.008 am I good to go then?

You can definitely see a layer of white around the outer edge and under in the middle / bottom that the yeast is gray.

 

[JLem]

I didn't take an original gravity for the starter. Is that something I should be doing? I use 100g DME per 1000ml of water.


yeast by Glamisduner, on Flickr

Thats the results after I stuck it in the refrigerator last night.

I'm going to check the gravity now, but I don't know the staring gravity.

edit: it's 1.009-1.008 am I good to go then?

You can definitely see a layer of white around the outer edge and under in the middle / bottom that the yeast is gray.

Looks like a nice slurry of yeast there. At 1.008 you're good to go. 100 g of DME in 1L will yield you a 1.040ish wort.

 

[Justintoxicated]

Looks like a nice slurry of yeast there. At 1.008 you're good to go. 100 g of DME in 1L will yield you a 1.040ish wort.

thank you sir, you saved my brewday. I will make a note in my log about lack of visible fermentation i the starter with this yeast.