I started my yeast starter on Thursday. I'm making 1000 ml starter out of a Wyeast smack pack. On Friday evening, I noticed a "lump" swirl by on the stir plate. I figured it was a little clump of DME that didn't dissolve completely, but didn't worry about it.
Last night, the lump still swirled by, so I got curious. I turned off the stir plate, and let it sit for a minute. I took the foil off of the yeast starter, and there on top were three little clumps of clear goo. At first I thought, "Uh oh! Rope infection!" but I used a sanitized spoon and took out the little goo balls. Very small, under pea sized, and soft and smooshy. I thought the starter was toast, but decided to keep it going.
Today I turned off the stir plate and inspected it through the glass. No goo balls, just a nice white yeast on the bottom. I took off the foil. There may be a very slight hint of a sour-ish smell, but I didn't use any hops in my starter and it's not really sour like lacto may be.
The thoughts I had were it's either an infection, or a side effect of the Fermcap I used. I used quite a bit more than the instructions call for- because my 1000 ML starter was inclined to boil over more than once. I added it until it stopped threatening to boil over. My question is just that- is this an early infection process and do I need to dump this starter? Or could it somehow be coagulated goo from the Fermcap?
Any thoughts?
I'd hate to throw out $8 of yeast, but I'd hate even more to throw away a whole batch of beer!
Last night, the lump still swirled by, so I got curious. I turned off the stir plate, and let it sit for a minute. I took the foil off of the yeast starter, and there on top were three little clumps of clear goo. At first I thought, "Uh oh! Rope infection!" but I used a sanitized spoon and took out the little goo balls. Very small, under pea sized, and soft and smooshy. I thought the starter was toast, but decided to keep it going.
Today I turned off the stir plate and inspected it through the glass. No goo balls, just a nice white yeast on the bottom. I took off the foil. There may be a very slight hint of a sour-ish smell, but I didn't use any hops in my starter and it's not really sour like lacto may be.
The thoughts I had were it's either an infection, or a side effect of the Fermcap I used. I used quite a bit more than the instructions call for- because my 1000 ML starter was inclined to boil over more than once. I added it until it stopped threatening to boil over. My question is just that- is this an early infection process and do I need to dump this starter? Or could it somehow be coagulated goo from the Fermcap?
Any thoughts?
I'd hate to throw out $8 of yeast, but I'd hate even more to throw away a whole batch of beer!