BeerFerret
New Member
I made a yeast starter last night, and there is still not much activity, and I am starting to wonder- was my yeast pack a dud?
Full story:
I plan on making an oatmeal stout. I bought a pack of Wyeast London Ale Yeast Last (1028) last night for this purpose, popped the nutrient pack at 10PM. Heard some fizzling inside, but not as much as I have heard in formerly used Wyeast packs (though different strains). 3 hours later, the bag was maybe slightly inflated, but not really that much. I still could hear a little fizzling inside, but not much. Checked the pack, said the expiration date (I assume it's the expiration date? Or is it the packing date?) was "MFG 22Nov2009." Anyways, decided to pour it into 2 pints of starter wort I had prepared earlier. Starter wort contained 1/4 cup dry dark malt extract, and 1 spoonful of light malt extract syrup, plus a pellet or two of hops (side question: should hops be put into the starter wort? I was just thinking that it might be good to replicate the conditions of the larger batch of wort as closely as possible, now I have my doubts...). Now it is almost 3 PM the next day, i.e. 14 hours since the yeast was pitched to the starter wort, 17 hrs since smacking the Wyeast pack, and I can see very little to no activity in the starter! No bubbling (although swirling results in some brief, moderate activity) and no kräusen.
So, are these yeast duds? Or should I wait some more/add more starter wort to get things going?
Full story:
I plan on making an oatmeal stout. I bought a pack of Wyeast London Ale Yeast Last (1028) last night for this purpose, popped the nutrient pack at 10PM. Heard some fizzling inside, but not as much as I have heard in formerly used Wyeast packs (though different strains). 3 hours later, the bag was maybe slightly inflated, but not really that much. I still could hear a little fizzling inside, but not much. Checked the pack, said the expiration date (I assume it's the expiration date? Or is it the packing date?) was "MFG 22Nov2009." Anyways, decided to pour it into 2 pints of starter wort I had prepared earlier. Starter wort contained 1/4 cup dry dark malt extract, and 1 spoonful of light malt extract syrup, plus a pellet or two of hops (side question: should hops be put into the starter wort? I was just thinking that it might be good to replicate the conditions of the larger batch of wort as closely as possible, now I have my doubts...). Now it is almost 3 PM the next day, i.e. 14 hours since the yeast was pitched to the starter wort, 17 hrs since smacking the Wyeast pack, and I can see very little to no activity in the starter! No bubbling (although swirling results in some brief, moderate activity) and no kräusen.
So, are these yeast duds? Or should I wait some more/add more starter wort to get things going?
