Is it too early for a yeast starter...

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ZenFitness

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I'm planning to brew on Saturday, and today is Tuesday. I'd like to make a 2L yeast starter tonight, let it go at room temp for Wed/Thurs, and then put it in my fermentation fridge next to a beer that will be cold crashing at that point (so that the yeast can cold crash Friday). I will then pull it out on Saturday a few hours before pitching, dump the liquid off the top, and pitch when the time is right.

Is this schedule too early? Should I wait a day or two for the starter?
 
that schedules looks fine. If anything you would want to start earlier to make sure to give the yeast enough time. Even if you cold crashed the started for a week, that would still be fine
 
Without a stir plate you're about right. With a stir plate you only need 12-18 hours before crashing. Either way a few days in the fridge before using it won't hurt.
 
1 day to early. Make the starter tomorrow night, let it run on a stir plate 24 hours until Thursday night, put it in the fridge and cold crash, on Saturday remove from fridge and pitch after the starter warms back to pitching temp.

If you are not using a stir plate, then you are fine.
 
Sound fine to me, I brew on Saturdays or Sundays and make all my starters on Monday evenings. I use a stir plate and the week allows me single or two step starters with plenty of time to crash and decant when necessary.
 
Okay something strange here... I've made a starter before, and I swear it started up relatively quickly. I made this one last night and I see no activity the next morning. It's a 2L starter in a glass gallon jug with an airlock... I boiled 1 cup of DME for 15 minutes, cooled it in an ice bath quickly, poured it into the jug and pitched the yeast. This morning I can see yeast on the bottom but no krausen. Does this potentially mean it's not going?

I should add that the yeast on the bottom is a very thin layer, like a thin ring around the perimeter of the bottom.
 
I follow the same method you do when making a starter, but I use foil on top as it will allow more oxygen in for yeast reproduction.

Did you shake up the starter before pitching? What strain if yeast did you use?
 
I did shake it and have swirled a few times this morning. This is WLP041. Thanks for the reply!
 
Okay, maybe I'm tired... even though I don't see a krausen in the jug and things look calm, the airlock is bubbling about once every five seconds. I didn't check the airlock earlier. This is a gallon jug with 2L of wort with the yeast, and I opened the airlock briefly to refresh the O2 in there this morning. If the airlock is moving now I'm guessing the yeast is doing its thing.
 
Remove the airlock, then cover with some sanitized foil. This should help get it started quicker. You should be okay. Good luck!
 
Remove the airlock, then cover with some sanitized foil. This should help get it started quicker. You should be okay. Good luck!

Definitely remove the airlock, the yeast needs o2 to multiply, simply place a sanitized piece of foil loosely over the top. Just like beer though, bubbles don't mean much and it's quite possibly done. Once the yeast have fermented out the beer/starter should look a nice creamy consistent color, possibly even chunky depending on the strain. Little to no krausen may be visible, normal. IME 18-24 hours is typical for completion.
 
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