dropped my vial in my starter!

[damian07]

so i made a 1.3 Liter starter today and while I was pitching the yeast into it, i dropped the vial in there as well by accident... should I go and buy a new vial and make a new starter given that it might be infected/contaminated?

 

[theredben]

Was this a homemade vial or WhiteLabs? If it was commercial then you should have sufficient yeast cell count to compete with the small bacterial load.

If you worry about that kind of thing though, you should just start from scratch. Peice of mind is priceless.

 

[damian07]

it was whitelabs... it started fermenting within 5 or 6 hours... but I think i'm just gonna go get some yeast tomorrow... would rather not risk it. I saw a similar thread where people claim to have had no problem, but I would rather err on the safe side

 

[2morrow]

Did the exact same thing last month. I tossed it for the peace of mind.

 

[theredben]

If it has already started fermenting then you are ok. 5-6 hours is a normal lag time and indicates a healthy fermentation. I would not pitch a new vial since fermentation has begun, but if you taste it you can make the call.

 

[Houblon]

I soak everthing in starsan when making starters, if I get a bug or two at the beginning it just gets worse over time.