Overactive Yeast Starter

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Hello all,

I made a yeast starter last night and I woke up this morning to yeast on my stir plate, going down the outside of the flask. Im glad my yeast are very happy but am I losing my cell count due to this krausen coming out the top of my flask? Any methods to keep this krausen controlled? Thanks.

 

[microbusbrewery]

What size flask and what size starter? The obvious answer is use a larger flask as that will give you more room. A little FermCap S can help if you have minimal headspace in your flask.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

What size flask and what size starter? The obvious answer is use a larger flask as that will give you more room. A little FermCap S can help if you have minimal headspace in your flask.

I have a 2 liter flask making 2 liter starters, so yes there is limited head space. I think I am going to get some of that FermCap S and see if it makes a difference. Just one drop in the flask? Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[microbusbrewery]

I've never used it in a starter, but I did use it during the boil back when I only had an 8 gallon pot. It seemed to work well. The dosage says a few drops per gallon for the boil and two per gallon for a fermenter, so I would think one drop in a starter would work.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I've had some Belgian yeasts and Wyeast 1010 (wheat) that routinely give me big starters. A single drop of Fermcap does wonders. Highly recommend.

 

[Murphys_Law]

FWIW: I have a 2L flask and keep my starters <1.6L and usually 1.4. If I need a bigger starter I'll use a 2 step process.