My first yeast starter, did I do this right?

[ukdkbr]

This is the first time making a yeast starter and I hope I did this right, hopefully you guys can help me out.

I went to my lhbs yesterday and picked up one of the more beer 1000ml yeast starter kits.

I boiled the included packets of DME and yeast nutrients for 15 min and poured the wort back into the sanitized flask. I let it cool down to 70 degrees and dumped in my vile of White Labs California Ale V yeast in and covered the opening with some foil. I do not have a stir plate so I manually swirled the yeast in, the included instructions said if not using a stir plate I should swirl often, so every other hour or so I would give it a good swirl.

After I did all this I started reading up on making a yeast starter (I should have done this before hand!) I notice that everyone says that I should see a krausen form, well It's been about 24hours and I don't see anything. I do see some activity, lots of tiny bubbles flowing up the flask from the bottom. Does this sound OK? Is the reason no krausen is forming because I keep swirling it?

Thanks, Joe

 

[LCTitan]

You should have seen some activity and bubbling at least. Looks like one thing you forgot to do is shake rapidly after you add the yeast and then swirl periodically. The ones I have made so far I have prepared 24 hours in advance and there has been active fermentation prior to pitching. How much DME and water did you use and what was the temp of the room you were fermenting in? Take a look at this video thare are several others on YouTube you can view that will help as well.

 

[ukdkbr]

I did shake it and have been swirling it, but still see no signs of krausen or anything else on the surface. The room temp was about 70-72. Here's how it looks right now:

 

[JonK331]

This is the first time making a yeast starter and I hope I did this right, hopefully you guys can help me out.

I went to my lhbs yesterday and picked up one of the more beer 1000ml yeast starter kits.

I boiled the included packets of DME and yeast nutrients for 15 min and poured the wort back into the sanitized flask. I let it cool down to 70 degrees and dumped in my vile of White Labs California Ale V yeast in and covered the opening with some foil. I do not have a stir plate so I manually swirled the yeast in, the included instructions said if not using a stir plate I should swirl often, so every other hour or so I would give it a good swirl.

After I did all this I started reading up on making a yeast starter (I should have done this before hand!) I notice that everyone says that I should see a krausen form, well It's been about 24hours and I don't see anything. I do see some activity, lots of tiny bubbles flowing up the flask from the bottom. Does this sound OK? Is the reason no krausen is forming because I keep swirling it?

Thanks, Joe

Sounds good. I rarely get krausen on my starters. If you use a stir plate you won't see any krausen at all. Before you pitch, chill in the fridge overnight and poor the starter beer off the top. Then let it come to room temp, swirl, and pitch into your wort.

 

[JonK331]

I did shake it and have been swirling it, but still see no signs of krausen or anything else on the surface. The room temp was about 70-72. Here's how it looks right now:

See all that good stuff on the bottom. That's what you want, you're all good!

 

[JonK331]

You should have seen some activity and bubbling at least. Looks like one thing you forgot to do is shake rapidly after you add the yeast and then swirl periodically. The ones I have made so far I have prepared 24 hours in advance and there has been active fermentation prior to pitching. How much DME and water did you use and what was the temp of the room you were fermenting in? Take a look at this video thare are several other on YouTube you can view that will help as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08-0JdmLXn0

Sometimes all you really see is that there's a layer of yeast on the bottom, starters don't behave the same way as a whole batch. Fermentation can happen very quickly.

 

[ukdkbr]

Thanks, everything went well, I pitched the starter into my Stout I brewed today and the thing is already fermenting like crazy!

 

[jerkstore]

Sounds good. I rarely get krausen on my starters. If you use a stir plate you won't see any krausen at all.

I've gotten plenty of krausens before with my stirplate.

 

[kryolla]

I've gotten plenty of krausens before with my stirplate.

so have I, so much I can't see the whirlpool. If there is no krausen then I see it start to turn color like coffee with a lot of cream as the yeast multiply