It ain't happenin'

[Woodland]

24 hours after I made a yeast starter with WL California Ale yeast (recycled from July) there does't appear to be a rumor of activity. If I don't see any activity tomorrow morning,I'm heading to the hombrew store during lunch as I need to brew tomorrow night. Midwest Flat Tire to be exact. I wanted to try the Trappist yeast anyways...

 

[Pappers_]

Is there a layer of yeast on the bottom?

 

[Woodland]

Yes, but I think its just the trub from the beer I harvested the yeast from. Kinda dirty and hoppy looking.

 

[McGarnigle]

So how did you do this? I'm trying to figure out how you made a starter from a batch who's trub is on the bottom of the new batch.

 

[DeafSmith]

Are the yeast getting enough oxygen? Don't put an airlock on it - just fold some sanitized aluminum foil loosely over the top and if you don't have a stir plate, swirl the container as often as you can to get oxygen into solution.

 

[Woodland]

I harvested the old yeast from the bottom of an old batch on bottling day back in July. I washed it best I could and got two specimens. The other worked fine back in July. Apparently I didn't wash it very efficiently and the recycled yeast still had some bits of trub in it. At any rate, I fed the specimen 1/2 cup of DME boiled in 2 cups of water, cooled to 70 degrees then pitched the recycled yeast. I did the whole sanitized foil bit and 24 hours later, nada. I gave it shake tonight, maybe that will help. If not, no biggie, that's why I gave it a starter, to see if it's viable.

 

[McGarnigle]

I harvested the old yeast from the bottom of an old batch on bottling day back in July. I washed it best I could and got two specimens. The other worked fine back in July. Apparently I didn't wash it very efficiently and the recycled yeast still had some bits of trub in it. At any rate, I fed the specimen 1/2 cup of DME boiled in 2 cups of water, cooled to 70 degrees then pitched the recycled yeast. I did the whole sanitized foil bit and 24 hours later, nada. I gave it shake tonight, maybe that will help. If not, no biggie, that's why I gave it a starter, to see if it's viable.

OK. I was afraid you hadn't cleaned the bottom of your carboy since the last batch.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I had the same thing. even posted I was giving up on it. next morning it had taken off and did well. be patient and build a stir plate. easy as pie to make.

 

[Homercidal]

Washed yeast can have a very low viability factor, depending. I'd swirl it up and keep being patient. Unless of course you are running out of time...

 

[Woodland]

Finally! Three days later it finally takes off. Too bad I brewed my beer yesterday...

I decided to take a long lunch and head down to a LHBS and pick up some WL Trappist yeast for my Flat Tire Belgian. Many recommend double pitching the Trappist, using a starter, or both. I double pitched last night and now I wait. I also picked up another vial of WL California, which is what finally took off in the starter today. DOH! What really smarts is that the LHBS charged $9 per vial x 3 three vials, OUCH! $27 bucks for yeast, I hope the Trappist is worth it. I have a growing collection of Nottingham dry yeast packets, never had the guts to try the cheap stuff, I've never used anything but WL, I'll have to try Wyeast somtime.

 

[malty_sam]

Nottingham is excellent. Just hydrate it first.

 

[RM-MN]

Nottingham is excellent. Just dump it in (sprinkle maybe) on top of the bubbles from aerating the wort.

 

[Stauffbier]

At any rate, I fed the specimen 1/2 cup of DME boiled in 2 cups of water, cooled to 70 degrees then pitched the recycled yeast. QUOTE]

Do you aerate your starter wort before pitching?

 

[Woodland]

I just give it a shake, no stir plate or aeration.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

WOODLAND- seriously go look at some of the threads on building a stir plate. If you have an old computer laying around you can steal a fan and magnets from, you can build one that looks professional for under 20 bucks. I am completely iliterate when it comes to building stuff or electronics and I can slap one together in a few minutes now. It literally takes longer to align the magnets than to build the stir plate.

. ALSO I would recommend that you read up on yeast washing. it is as easy as falling off of a log and will save you a TON of money ( woulda saved you 27 bucks today lol) I bought a vial of trappist high gravity yeast a while back.. brewed a batch of beer and now I have 5-6 vials of trappist ale yeast.....same with s-04...s-05...notty and a few others.

 

[Woodland]

I've washed yeast, that's how I wound up with the starter that this thread was all about! I just couldn't get it going in time for brew day and found myself heading to my LHBS for more when it looked like the WL California might be a dud. I figured it would be good to try the Trappist, I'll wash that one as well after this batch. Stir plate sounds like a good idea, I'll look into it.

 

[drummerguysteve]

I'd also recommend checking with your local breweries. They grow yeast ten-fold with every batch, and mine is always happy to provide a GREAT pitch of yeast for me.

 

[bigbeergeek]

Washed yeast can be stored for a surprising length of time, you just have to plan for low viability and a slow start of the first "step" of your starters. Three days is (clearly) not unusual.

 

[djfriesen]

We used Notty on our EdWort's PA Tuesday night. Threw it in the carboy and dumped cooled wort through a strainer on top of it. Fermentation was going like mad today. 6 bubbles/sec out of a 1 inch blowoff. Great stuff.

 

[Stauffbier]

Before I made my stir plate (which IS super easy like ohiosteve said) I always aerated my starter wort with a sanitized whisk. My theory is.. If you have to aerate your beer, you should aerate your starters.. Just my opinion..

 

[BigTerp]

I have some washed WL California Ale on my stirplate as we speak. I started with 500 or so ML of starter wort last night and plan to step up to 2L in a few days. I plan to use this in a nut brown I'll be brewing on Wednesday. Made the starter almost a week ahead of time to be sure the yeast will be viable and give me time to step it up. Give yourself a bit more time next batch.

I also have some Nottingham fermenting away EdWorts Pale Ale right now. Plan to wash the Nottingham as well. Can never have enough "free" washed yeast on hand.

 

[Woodland]

I'm making a batch of Northern Brewer Nukey Brown Ale next Friday. I'll use the starter I made this week for that batch. Fermentation in the starter is dying down and I plan to put it in the fridge in a day or so. Should I just leave it in the milk bottle with the foil on it, or should I sanitize a mason jar and cap it? I'm guessing on brew day next week I'll just take it out of the fridge in the morning and give it a shake and let it warm up for a few hours before pitching. I would think that at this stage making another starter with it is probably unnecessary, as I just brought it back from hibernation this week.

 

[Stauffbier]

If it were me I would indeed put it in the mason jar and in the fridge. On brew day take it out of the fridge for 2 to 4 hours before pitching, but don't shake it! Right before you pitch it decant the "un-hopped beer" that was made in your starter. Just leave enough (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch) and then shake up the yeast to loosen it up, and pitch away...