Can I pitch this??

[Pancitboy]

This is my second time doing a yeast starter. I started this starter last night and stirring it up as often as I can. However, I noticed that the yeast cake is not as thick when I did my first yeast starter weeks ago. I followed the yeast starter guide from an online calculator (http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php). My plan for this starter was to decant half in a sterile mason jar and pitch the rest to a 3-gallon batch that I planned to brew later today.




Is this still okay to pitch? Should I wait tomorrow to brew in hopes to get a better yeast starter?

 

[Auger]

What kind of yeast? I don't see any obvious problems...

 

[flars]

If the picture was taken just after you swirled the starter wort the fermentation is done. There is no sign of a krausen or foaming from CO2 release. This most likely means the wort has fermented out. Most of your yeast is still in suspension. You could pitch the entire starter or cold crash to settle the yeast and then decant the starter wort.

It is a very short time for a starter to finish though. My starters using a stir plate aren't ready for about 48 hours.

 

[erick0619]

This is my second time doing a yeast starter. I started this starter last night and stirring it up as often as I can. However, I noticed that the yeast cake is not as thick when I did my first yeast starter weeks ago. I followed the yeast starter guide from an online calculator (http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php). My plan for this starter was to decant half in a sterile mason jar and pitch the rest to a 3-gallon batch that I planned to brew later today.


View attachment 337039

Is this still okay to pitch? Should I wait tomorrow to brew in hopes to get a better yeast starter?

Sometimes it all depends on the yeast you use and how floculent it may be. Some yeast will settle faster than others producing a thicker cake.

Glad to see you got your yeast starters going. Did you get the ferm chamber going?

 

[TheMadKing]

This is my second time doing a yeast starter. I started this starter last night and stirring it up as often as I can. However, I noticed that the yeast cake is not as thick when I did my first yeast starter weeks ago. I followed the yeast starter guide from an online calculator (http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php). My plan for this starter was to decant half in a sterile mason jar and pitch the rest to a 3-gallon batch that I planned to brew later today.


View attachment 337039

Is this still okay to pitch? Should I wait tomorrow to brew in hopes to get a better yeast starter?

I don't see any yeast cake at all, did you cold crash it?. The darker band near the top looks like the clear starter wort, so everything below that is thick with yeast.

If you plan on pitching all of the liquid into your beer then I'd say it's fine except there's no krausen so you might have a packet of dead yeast there.

 

[Pancitboy]

London Ale, 1028.

 

[TheMadKing]

If the picture was taken just after you swirled the starter wort the fermentation is done. There is no sign of a krausen or foaming from CO2 release. This most likely means the wort has fermented out. Most of your yeast is still in suspension. You could pitch the entire starter or cold crash to settle the yeast and then decant the starter wort.

It is a very short time for a starter to finish though. My starters using a stir plate aren't ready for about 48 hours.

You do not want to let your starters "ferment out."

http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php

Jamil aka Mr. Malty shows that yeast propagation is complete at 18 hours meaning past that point the yeast are not multiplying but setting to work on metabolizing the available sugars in the wort.

If you leave your starters past 18-24 hours, the only thing you're making is crappy starter beer and unwanted alcohol. You aren't making any new yeast cells. They only multiply to maintain their density in cells/mL and cannot increase past that point.

The fact that he has no krausen or foaming at this point indicates that the yeast is dead. I would make a fresh starter just to be safe.

OP was there ever any sign of yeast activity? Since you don't use a stir plate, there should have been obvious foaming and a krausen that formed.

 

[Pancitboy]

I don't see any yeast cake at all, did you cold crash it?. The darker band near the top looks like the clear starter wort, so everything below that is thick with yeast.

If you plan on pitching all of the liquid into your beer then I'd say it's fine except there's no krausen so you might have a packet of dead yeast there.

There are bubbles coming through around the edge of the wort. I swirled it and let it settle for about 30 minutes when I took the picture.

 

[TheMadKing]

There are bubbles coming through around the edge of the wort. I swirled it and let it settle for about 30 minutes when I took the picture.

Oh ok, if there's bubbles I think you're fine to follow your original plan.

My typical starter schedule is 18 hours on the stir plate, 48 hours in the fridge, decant the starter wort except for a few mL, let it warm to pitching temp, swirl vigorously then pitch.

Without a stir plate you are getting about half as many cells/mL as you could be, so I think it's a very worthwhile investment.

 

[Pancitboy]

Oh ok, if there's bubbles I think you're fine to follow your original plan.

My typical starter schedule is 18 hours on the stir plate, 48 hours in the fridge, decant the starter wort except for a few mL, let it warm to pitching temp, swirl vigorously then pitch.

Without a stir plate you are getting about half as many cells/mL as you could be, so I think it's a very worthwhile investment.

Thanks. That lifted my concerns and I can brew today Stir plate is my next DIY.

 

[m00ps]

What kind of yeast? I don't see any obvious problems...

That is most definitely sideways. How can he get the yeast to settle for decanting if its all along the side of the flask?

 

[flars]

You do not want to let your starters "ferment out."

http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php

Jamil aka Mr. Malty shows that yeast propagation is complete at 18 hours meaning past that point the yeast are not multiplying but setting to work on metabolizing the available sugars in the wort.

If you leave your starters past 18-24 hours, the only thing you're making is crappy starter beer and unwanted alcohol. You aren't making any new yeast cells. They only multiply to maintain their density in cells/mL and cannot increase past that point.

The fact that he has no krausen or foaming at this point indicates that the yeast is dead. I would make a fresh starter just to be safe.

OP was there ever any sign of yeast activity? Since you don't use a stir plate, there should have been obvious foaming and a krausen that formed.

I looked at this old article again. Basically a discussion on pitching a starter at high krausen rather than letting the starter finish in a low ABV wort, decanting and pitching.

 

[TheMadKing]

I looked at this old article again. Basically a discussion on pitching a starter at high krausen rather than letting the starter finish in a low ABV wort, decanting and pitching.

No, it is a complete tutorial on starters and the reasoning behind why we do things the way we do.

from the article:

"Wyeast says starters reach their maximum cell density within 12-18 hours, which sounds about right to me. Some sources suggest that maximum cell densities are not achieved until 24 hours and others as much as 36, but the return on waiting that long is minimal. Let's just say that the bulk of the yeast growth is done by 12-18 hours."

Another experiment here shows the effects of different nutrients on yeast growth but all agree that peak growth is reached right about 22 hours and the population levels off at that point. This was performed by maltosefalcon.

White labs and Wyeast websites also agree that 18-24 hours is the idea amount of growth time.

I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but I don't see how the age of the data makes it any less valid. It is a proven fact that yeast growth levels off well before complete fermentation is achieved. Whether you choose to cold crash at 18 hours or 36 hours is totally arbitrary because the difference in cell counts is minimal as Jamil stated. However, by letting your starter fully ferment, you are essentially just adding dead yeast cells and alcohol to your starter. It's not any more or less work either way, and the quality of beer probably doesn't differ either way either. I just like to make my starters on Thursday for a Saturday brew instead of on Monday. To each their own I suppose, as long as we all make good beer.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]

[...]

Do you recall what "Nutrient #4" was?

Cheers!

 

[TheMadKing]

Do you recall what "Nutrient #4" was?

Cheers!

He called it "amino acid/peptide based nutrient" as opposed to diammonium phosphate which is the standard wyeast nutrient

 

[Moose_MI]

I'm not sure what everyone else is seeing but that looks a like a starter that hasn't....yet. If you can wait...I would wait until you see obvious signs that it is healthy....like a krausen..at least a little one. I guess if you have to then pitch it all but I would not be surprised if you have some serious lag time.

Good luck!

 

[day_trippr]

He called it "amino acid/peptide based nutrient" as opposed to diammonium phosphate which is the standard wyeast nutrient

Ah, ok, thanks! The former is typically derived from yeast itself and is actually a common ingredient in a whole catalog of yeast nutrient products...

Cheers!