First Starter Problems/Questions

[tele_powder]

This is my first starter and am worried... So i made starter using 1quart water, 1/4 cup DME, yeast nutrient and yeast energizer (nutrient and energizer used recommended amount). It bubbled in the airlock from about hr 6 to 24 then quit. There appears to more yeast on the bottom of the growler than when I pitched the starter. But I never got a kraussen ring, only saw bubbles on the surface.

The guy at my shop said to prepare the starter 30-40 hrs prior to when I want to ***** my batch. The part that is worring me is he said its better to go on the early end then on the later end so the yeast is active.

Now that all bubbling is complete in my starter and I got this yeast layer should I brew later today pitch it or wait and get a new fresh batch of yeast from the store?

Thanks in advance:rockin:

 

[Brew-boy]

Your fine go ahead and decant and pitch that slurry into your wort. I usually do two days on the stir plate then chill and decant then pitch.

 

[boo boo]

Pitch it. What I do is cold crash the yeast and just pitch the slurry.

 

[Sacdan]

I don't use airlocks. The yeast needs Oxygen. I use a sanitized piece of foil. You may get more yeast without the airlock.

 

[tele_powder]

I did shake the crap out the cooled starter wort in the growler after pitch to aerate. I will try the sanitized tin foil on the next batch though...

Also I only got about 3/8" of yeast on the bottom of my growler from a WLP002. Is this the normal amount from my size of starter (1qt H2O & 1/4 cup DME)?

 

[electric_beer]

You want your starter to have an OG of around 1.040 I believe. You can go to a recipe calculator to find out how much DME you need for whatever size starter you choose.

 

[ajf]

I don't think that 1/4 cup DME is right for 1 qt H20. That would give a gravity for the starter of about 1.012, but you need 1.030 - 1.040.
I would suspect your yeasts have eaten all the sugars and won't do any more. They wil have multiplied some, but will also be accustomed to fermenting at a very low gravity and will be shocked when you introduce them to the wort.
If it were me, I would put of the brewday for a week, and take that week to step up the starter. Chill and decant your current starter, and add the slurry to another quart of water with 1 cup DME. You have plenty of time to do this before next weekend.

-a.

P.S. It's not unusual for starters to produce very little (if any) krausen, because there isn't sufficient volume.