Drinking your starter

[Argyll Gargoyle]

It’s common for folks to make hop teas in order to learn about a new hop or to train their palate. I’ve recently started doing the same thing for yeast to learn more about what flavors the yeast brings to the party.

When I cold crash my yeast starter and decant off the liquid, I drink it! Since my starter is just 1.040 light dme, this would seem to provide an ideal blank canvas for these flavors. I have a temperature controlled stirplate, which lets me replicate the fermentation a little better.
I’m sipping on some wy1469 currently…

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Haha, sounds horrible but who knows. You should post that in the "what are you drinking now" thread. I decant my starters directly down the drain, but that's just me. I suppose I could give it to my dogs, they like beer and it has no hops so it won't hurt them... maybe after the dogs had enough of it and I had enough homebrew they would tell me what the yeast characteristic is like... I see your point though, I did the hop tea thing before, meh. Not for me.

 

[Ridenour64]

I always drink a portion of the starter. As you said, it gives me a preview of what to expect with the beer I’m brewing. I guess not necessary if your using a yeast your very familiar with.

 

[Golddiggie]

Spent starter wort is sacrificed to the beer gods. I have no desire to drink it. If I wanted to compare different yeast strains, I'd simply brew the same recipe with only that changing. Since I get solid information as to what the yeast will do for the beer, I don't feel the need. Also, with starters fermenting at temperatures above what your beer will ferment at, what you might taste in the spent starter wort is not guaranteed to be present in the beer the yeast goes into.

 

[Falstaff]

I drink my starter when I'm making a wild starter from grain in order to make sure it doesn't taste like vomit or aceto, as well as generally tasting "good".

 

[MaxStout]

I probably should sample the decanted starter beer, just to make sure that nothing's wrong. But I just don't care to taste that nasty stuff. I do decant as much as possible, leaving just enough in the flask to allow me to swirl it before pitching.

 

[Golddiggie]

IME, the smell of the starter (once finished) is a good indication of anything 'wrong' with the yeast. I have had one, so far, that got tossed due to the bad smell (was frozen, but I had the freezer fail that did it in). Every other starter has always smelled 'normal' to me.

I also decant as much of the spent starter wort as possible. Mixing up what's left to make a slurry that will flow easily enough. Just remember to capture the stirbar before pouring in. Well, unless you have spares and/or plan to clean that fermenter before you need to make another starter. I use rare earth magnets to keep the stirbar from going into the fermenter.

 

[Argyll Gargoyle]

My stir bar is currently at the bottom of my fermenter. Drat…

 

[Jayjay1976]

My stir bar is currently at the bottom of my fermenter. Drat…

I've done that. Use another magnet on the outside to maneuver it up to the neck, then grab it.

 

[Golddiggie]

I've done that. Use another magnet on the outside to maneuver it up to the neck, then grab it.

I have several stir bars on hand. Some straight, some cross, several different sizes. I usually pick the size for the largest starter size for the recipe (when doing stepped starters). I've only let one go into conical in the past two years. Since I have others, it wasn't worth the effort to retrieve it before cleaning out the conical.

With most things, including stir bars... One is none, two is one.

 

[MaxStout]

I have several stir bars on hand. Some straight, some cross, several different sizes. I usually pick the size for the largest starter size for the recipe (when doing stepped starters). I've only let one go into conical in the past two years. Since I have others, it wasn't worth the effort to retrieve it before cleaning out the conical.

With most things, including stir bars... One is none, two is one.

I've had the stir bar end up in my fermenter a couple times. And once, I forgot it was there and dumped it out with the trub.

Good to keep spares on hand.

 

[Golddiggie]

I've had the stir bar end up in my fermenter a couple times. And once, I forgot it was there and dumped it out with the trub.

Good to keep spares on hand.

One of the reasons I like the conical fermenters. I do cleanup in the driveway (same level as the basement and garage) so I can see/find anything that goes in that I want to save.

 

[Tom R]

I've taken apart the trap in my brewery sink to get my stir bar back. Twice, and counting.

 

[bracconiere]

@Argyll Gargoyle how long do you let it settle? seems like it'd be yeasty?

 

[Argyll Gargoyle]

I cold crash the starter the night before. Then, during the boil, I decant and give it some time to warm up prior to pitching. The Wy1469 I used today tasted a lot like a cider! I don’t think I let the starter go long enough because it had a slight residual sweetness.
But you could do an interesting side by side comparison if you ran starters of 2-3 different strains. Pitch the one you like best..

 

[Golddiggie]

I've taken apart the trap in my brewery sink to get my stir bar back. Twice, and counting.

Time to get something like this: 2 PCS Stainless Steel Sink Strainer 4.5" Diameter, Mesh Metal Drain Strainer, Fine Mesh Kitchen Sink Strainer, Hair Basket Drain - Fits Most Kitchen Sink, Bathroom Bathtub, Shower Drains - - Amazon.com
I have one in the drain of my kitchen sink now. Helps keep QD parts from doing into that void.

 

[Spivey24]

I always have a few sips of the starter beer to make sure it’s not bad. Surprisingly it doesn’t usually taste awful. I am not sure I can taste the flavors of the yeast though, but I guess I haven’t paid much attention. I would hate to ruin a whole batch due to a bad starter.

 

[mendelec]

I've done something along the same lines as OP and posted about it. Decanted starter supernatant, with whole cone hops added to get a quick sense of what flavors were there. The general response was one of horror. But, I found it a pretty darn clean and refreshing way to get a sense of hop and yeast flavors and aromas and not a bad approximation of what to expect from a dry hop, without the malt backbone in the way. I'll definitely do it again. Don't knock it 'til you try it is my advice.

 

[beerisyummy]

Haha, sounds horrible but who knows. You should post that in the "what are you drinking now" thread. I decant my starters directly down the drain, but that's just me. I suppose I could give it to my dogs, they like beer and it has no hops so it won't hurt them... maybe after the dogs had enough of it and I had enough homebrew they would tell me what the yeast characteristic is like... I see your point though, I did the hop tea thing before, meh. Not for me.

Wait I didn’t know hops was bad for dogs? Not that I’m giving them any beer…

 

[IslandLizard]

Hi!
My name is IslandLizard.

Hi IslandLizard!​

I'm a fervent Starter Drinker...

 

[Miraculix]

I bottled and carbed the last starter I made

Was pretty good tbh!

 

[DBhomebrew]

Wait I didn’t know hops was bad for dogs?

Seriously so. Google 'dog hops' then give your pup a big hug.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Wait I didn’t know hops was bad for dogs? Not that I’m giving them any beer…

I dont "give" them beer, they clean up my spills though and definitely enjoy doing it. I dont know how much hops exactly but I just know they are bad for them. I imagine like in a concentrated form, as in if a dog eats a hop pellet or something like that. Might depend on the breed of dog too. I'm pretty sure my sisters lab was a trash compactor and somehow she lived a long, full life.

 

[Miraculix]

AFAIK, hops mean painful and slow death for dogs, so better keep any hop containing beer far away from them. They might not die because of a sip of beer (they actually might because of one pellet though), but they will suffer. They are our buddies and we don't want our buddies to suffer.

 

[beerisyummy]

I will be careful with the hop pellets, thank you!

(My aunt had two labs who were the "pre-rinse" cycle before the dishwasher lol)

 

[Cammanron]

I've taken apart the trap in my brewery sink to get my stir bar back. Twice, and counting.

Can't you just get a magnet on a stick like mechanics use?

 

[Tom R]

Can't you just get a magnet on a stick like mechanics use?

Nope, not smart enough to do that.