I hope it wasn't the bulk of the yeast that was laying in a sticky puddle at the base of my stir plate. I cold crashed last night and the yeast cake looks suspiciously small....
My starter erupted yesterday
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Damn!
Sorry, you probably lost half to the countertop. Make a new starter from what's left.
Did you add a drop of Fermcap-S? It keeps foaming down, but not entirely. Maybe it went off the spin, allowing it to krausen?
What size starter, what size flask are you using?
Sorry, you probably lost half to the countertop. Make a new starter from what's left.
Did you add a drop of Fermcap-S? It keeps foaming down, but not entirely. Maybe it went off the spin, allowing it to krausen?
What size starter, what size flask are you using?
OP
OP
I did a 1.5 L starter in a 2L flask. Worked out fine last time. This time it went bonkers!
That volume should work fine. I usually do 1.6 liter. Some yeast is just more vital and active, or the temps were higher.
The only times I had blow off like that (twice in a row with the same yeast) was when I didn't use a stir plate, using intermittent shaking/swirling and it always happened during the night hours. The other times were when the stir bar was thrown.
One drop of Fermcap-S per gallon (or 1.6 liter batch) is really helpful in preventing it, as well as boil overs during wort preparation.
BTW, I always boil my starter wort in an open stainless pot and put on a well sanitized lid at the end of boil and during chilling. The steam also helps with keeping the content pasteurized/sanitized. When chilled I pour it into the flask(s).
OP
OP
Oh, and it was still spinning nicely. 1318 is aggressive.
I think how much yeast you lost depends on how much liquid you lost. If it was mostly foam, you probably did not lose a significant amount of yeast.
