Did I mess up my Starter?

[boralyl]

So I'm brewing my 6th batch (a RIS) on Saturday. Last night I made 2 starters from 2 vials of White Labs California Ale WLP001. I used a growler for each starter with sanitized aluminum foil over the top. I used starsan to sanitize the growlers. I had a small amount of starsan solution in each grolwer and capped it and swished it around so it touched all surfaces. The problem is for the first starter I forgot to dump the starsan solution before pouring in the wort and yeast.

I checked on them both this morning and the one that had starsan solution in it didn't have a krausen like the other. Should I just pitch that starter and buy some more yeast for brew day that I will not make a starter with?

Also what is a good dry yeast substitute for White Labs California Ale WLP001? Would Safale US-05 work?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[mojotele]

Star-San loses its effectiveness as a sanitizer very easily when over-diluted. If you made a 1L starter or so, I imagine that's more than enough wort to bring the pH of the Star-San up to a harmless level if the amount of Star-San you have in there is as low as you say it is.

So, basically all you did was lower the gravity of your starter wort, which is probably why you see the difference. The yeast is probably just fine.

 

[boralyl]

Thanks for your response. It was indeed a 1 liter starter and the amount of starsan was minimal. So sounds like I should be good to go for tomorrow.

 

[Revvy]

Starsan residue becomes "yeast food" and is actually a good thing to have in the bottom of your flask, fermenter or bottle.

Just like in the fermenter, fermentation isn't always dynamic...It doesn't matter one blip in your fermenter or your starter flask if the airlock bubbles or not (if you are using an airlock and not tinfoil,) or if you see a krauzen. In fact starter fermentation are some of the fastest or slowest but most importantly, the most boring fermentations out there. Usually it's done withing a few hours of yeast pitch...usually overnight when we are sleeping, and the starter looks like nothing ever happened...except for the little band at the bottom. Or it can take awhile...but either way there's often no "activity" whatsoever....

I usually run my stirplate for the first 24 hours, then shut it down, if you are spinning your starter it is really hard to get a krausen to form anyway, since it's all spinning, and there's often a head of foam on it from the movement.


All that really matters is that creamy band o yeast at the bottom.

As it is I've only ever seen two krausens actually on my starter, and the evidence of one on the flask at the "waterline" once. But I've never not had a starter take off.

And Us-05 isn't a SUBSTITUTE for Cali ale yeast, it's the SAME strain only in dry form.

 

[ctufano]

Hmm, I had a bunch of starsan foam in my 1gallon jug, reason to be concerned?

 

[Revvy]

Hmm, I had a bunch of starsan foam in my 1gallon jug, reason to be concerned?

See my answer above.

 

[ctufano]

See my answer above.

Ya was gonna edit my post, saw yours after then had to read a work email

Do you have any pics of these yeast rings on the bottom I should look for, out of curiosity? I'll try searching as well

Edit: i see some in your picture you posted -- hadnt loaded the first time I saw your post

 

[boralyl]

Thanks for your reply Revvy, I didn't look close enough to see if there was a ring of yeast at the bottom...it's also hard to see in the growler. I've made starters before so I don't expect any problems, i was just concerned about the starsan, which looks like is no cause for worry. Thanks!