Overactive Starter

[TR6]

So Im using Wyeast American Ale Yeast 1056.
It was an older expired smackpack that I used a month ago for the last beer I made that turned out really well. I made a 1 liter starter and stepped it twice for that beer. It acted weird in that there was no krausen for the most part. Beer turned out very well, and I wanted to do a quick turn around and make the same beer and repticth the yeast from the collection ball. This morning I made a 1.5 litre in a 4 litre jug starter from my collection ball. At six hours the foam is flowing out top top of the tinfoil covered jug. I have a starsan spritzer that I sprayed around the top of the over flow after I wiped it. But this might just be a yeast nutrient from what Ives seen. was planning on brewing tomorrow. Can I save this, and use it or should I dump it? I don't want to swirl it any more!

 

[TR6]

by dump it I mean dump the starter, over concerns of infected yeast at this point.

 

[IslandLizard]

Don't dump it, it's just active, unless you have evidence it's infected (smell, taste).
Do you have a stir plate? It promotes growth by incorporating Oxygen into the starter wort. It also prevents overly foaming due to CO2 removal.

Do you have Fermcap around?
That prevents (excessive) foaming, and boilovers. Just add one drop to a gallon (or a lesser volume) when preparing your starter wort.
You could add a drop to your starter now. I would add it to an ounce of boiling water (microwave) first, to sanitize it. Let it cool before adding to the starter.

Without a stir plate (or shaker) the foaming surely can ruin the day as you may lose as much or more yeast to blow off as is being grown. Been there.
In lieu of a stir plate, do you have another gallon or half gallon jug/growler, so you can split it?

 

[TR6]

no stirplate, no shaker, no femcap and Im sure the brew supply places are closed. this is my third attempt of using a starter after 20 years of brewing. I split the starter into two clean sanitzed jugs.. Smells good and the color is good. Lets see what happens

 

[IslandLizard]

I split the starter into two clean sanitzed jugs.. Smells good and the color is good. Lets see what happens

You can pour off half into another jug or jugs, leaving the other half in your existing 4 liter jug...

Foam is actually good for growth as the yeast encapsulates the millions of little air bubbles, creating a huge surface area.
Look up the "shaken-not-stirred" starter method.

 

[TR6]

i was mostly worried abut foam overflow infecting the starter. i think we are good now. Thanks for the tips in a moment of panic.

 

[TR6]

so splitting it really calmed it down. Now acting like I expected it to initially.

 

[IslandLizard]

i was mostly worried abut foam overflow infecting the starter.

What goes out won't infect your starter. But what has gone outside and goes back in might. So prevent that from happening.
Back in my early brewing days I've lost quite a bit of yeast to the countertop due to yeast overflowing the jar. Always during the night, because... no-one was swirling it...

Really, start thinking of building or buying a stir plate. You'll need a (2 liter) flat bottomed flask too, as the stir bar needs to be on a flat surface for best performance.

 

[TR6]

oh...ya Im thinking about it. Just not there yet. But its on my list of goodies for sure! Like I said, doing starters is new and revolutionary for me. Thanks man!

 

[day_trippr]

It's prudent to invest in a bottle of Fermcap - for many reasons, but explosive starters on the desktop is atop the list (especially a 5 liter starter run amuck. Woof! )

Cheers!