Sediment in Canned Yeast Starter

[alfista]

Hi All,

I just tried canning wort for future starters and feel surprised at how much sediment is in the jars.

I boiled some DME at 1.044, transferred to four mason jars, and then pressure cooked for about 1/2 hour and let it cool.

Two questions:
1 - is this normal?
2 - how is the risk of infection much more serious with canned wort than with washed yeast, which obviously isn't heated to over 250 degrees? I assume the yeast kills it?

Thanks!

Jason

 

[medusa1066]

2 - Botulism! Anaerobic environment

 

[rellot]

I always have sediment in my canned wort. Think about it, if a hard boil drops out protein, pressure cooking does it even more. Look how clear the wort is in the jar.

 

[AmandaK]

I always have sediment in my canned wort. Think about it, if a hard boil drops out protein, pressure cooking does it even more. Look how clear the wort is in the jar.

+1 to this

 

[theredben]

1) Yes, it is very normal. Does not affect anything, don't worry about it.

2) The infection you are worried about is Botulism. That stuff will kill you. It is not about infected beer, since beer will kill the Botilism bacteria, but the extremely poisonous toxin that it leaves behind is what you are concerned about.

 

[chuckjaxfl]

I'm jumping on the "yup, it's normal" bandwagon.

Mine look like there's lump of soggy, chewed-up-and-spit-out bread in the bottom of each of them.

 

[rellot]

soggy, chewed up and spit out bread -- that's a very good description

 

[Clementine]

I also can my wort for starters, I decant off the sludge and I even pressure cooker my flask (1000ml) with wort (up to 600ml) stir bar and aluminum foil already on to and this way I end up with a completely sterile system to pitch yeast into for small starting steps of yeast production. I wish I had a pressure cooker big enough for my 2000 and 5000ml flasks.

Once the wort has been pressure cooked once this extra hot break drops forms and when I re pressure cook it in a flask it does not form.

Canned wort is the cleanest medium you can get for your yeast to grow in and definitely beats washed yeast in terms of lower risk of infection.


Clem

 

[joeybeer]

soggy, chewed up and spit out bread -- that's a very good description

I'll second that, mine look exactly the same

 

[SpartanBrew]

In attempt to resurrect this old thread... I'm just curious if the rest of you who have canned wort pour the whole thing in your starter or do you try to only get the clear wort and leave the sediment behind?

I'll post a pic of one of my jars.

 

[rellot]

I've done both before. Don't know if it matters, unless you just want to keep that out of your beer. It settles out with the rest in the primary.

(It is sad you have to give a disclaimer to comment on a thread that is more than a month or so old. But people like to jump on that for some strange reason.)

 

[chuckjaxfl]

I try not to, just so the only sediment in my flask is actual yeast.

It is sad you have to give a disclaimer to comment on a thread that is more than a month or so old. But people like to jump on that for some strange reason.

I'll second that. I've never followed closely enough to see if those are the same people that respond with "This has been discussed many times, use the search function".

 

[SpartanBrew]

Thanks for the responses. Yeah, I wasn't sure if the proteins in that sediment were needed to get the maximum yeast growth. I know with standard DME starters it's usually suggested that you include some of the hot break from the pan and alternatively it will be there by default if you boil directly in an Erlenmeyer flask...

Chuck, good point about it adding to the yeast sediment. I also thought about that sediment adding to the yeast cake thus throwing off my estimate for how many milliliters or ounces of yeast I'm pitching...

As promised, here's a pic of one of my cans. I ended up canning about 20 quarts and I'm loving the ease of whipping up starters! BTW, I know the sediment is normal if you've seen the Basic Brewing video where they show their cans. They just never mentioned how they pitch those starters (if they include the sediment) which is why I asked.
Look for: September 14, 2011 - Canning Wort

Cheers!