Slow Ale Starter

[Tom5151]

Hey guys,

I am new to the forum and still pretty new to brewing.

I just started doing yeast starters. Have done 2 of them so far. I may not have an issue at all but wanted to ask.

Just last night I made a starter for a Pumkin Ale I am brewwing this coming Sunday afternoon. I used one liter of a light DME. I used White Labs 0001 California Ale yeast in a vial. I pitched the yeast into the DME about 9:00pm last night. This morning at 6:00am I still see absolutely no activity and no bubbles in the airlock. I do see a small layer of build up at the bottom of my flask.

My only other starter was for a Hefe that I made and it started bubbling in 10 hours or so.

I am just wondering if this yeast may take longer to start showing signs of activity?

I plan to brew Sunday afternoon. I have to leave tonight for a short trip and will not be back until Sunday afternoon. So my questions are:

If I see activity tonight before I leave should I cold crash it and leave it in the fridge until Sunday and then take it out and let it get to room temp before I brew? Or since it's seems to be such a slow starter should I just leave it sit at room temperature while I am gone and then use it "as-is" when I get back Sunday.

Thanks for your help.

 

[samc]

Starters don't always show a lot of activity. Best thing is to take a hydrometer reading. When you say you used 1 liter of light DME I assume you mean 1 liter of H20 and the appropriate amount of DME. I usually cold crash my starter and decant the liquid off of it.

 

[Tom5151]

Hello samc,

Yes, you are correct. 1 cup of DME dissolved in 1 liter of water and boiled for about 20 minutes.

Thanks

 

[Got Trub?]

First take the airlock off your starter. You want air (ie oxygen) in the flask with your yeast so they happily reproduce. Cover with foil instead and every time you walk past your starter give it a good swirl. I use a stir plate but the only clue I get that all is well is the starter turns a lighter tan colour. Sometimes there is noticeable bubbling and a slight krausen ring but it is not glaringly obvious even when it occurs.

GT

 

[Tom5151]

Thanks for the help all,

It was just a little slow. After about 16 hours my starter was off and running. Pitched it into my pumpkin ale last night and in less that 10 hours I am getting strong fermentation in the primary....after reading a lot of the threads here, I am not going to secondary on this brew. I have always done a secondary but this time going to leave it in the primary for 3 to 4 weeks and see how it turns out.

Thanks again