Slow yeast starter OK to pitch?

[rwing7486]

Friday night I made a yeast starter from one packet of WY1028 London Ale for a beer I brewed yesterday. This morning after 2.5 days on the stir plate I do not see signs of any krausen but I do see some signs of fermentation from the co2 condensation on the neck of the flask. Before leaving for work I placed the flask in the refrigerator to cold crash the yeast so I can decant prior to pitching when I get home later this evening. I am a little nervous about pitching this starter after seeing very little signs of fermentation while on the stir plate. The yeast was 90 days old so I made a 1.9L starter @ an OG 1.040. I have 5 gallons of 1.057 wort waiting at home in my fermentation chamber but do not know if I should use this starter or just grab some Notty or S04 on the way home and use that instead. any feedback is appreciated

 

[LLBeanJ]

Cold crash the starter for a bit and take a gravity reading to see if the starter fermented out. If so, pitch it. If not, get more yeast. Might be a good idea to go ahead and grab the dry yeast in the meantime just in case.

 

[bucketnative]

FYI - That's not CO2 condensed on the walls of the flask. It's water vapor (and maybe some alcohol vapor if fermentation is occurring). CO2 sublimes from solid to gas (think dry ice... it's not wet, because it goes right to gas phase), and deposits from gas to solid. that doesn't occur until -78.5°C at atmospheric pressure.

 

[rwing7486]

think im safe to drop my hydrometer into my flask? I dont want to get it stuck lol

 

[kh54s10]

think im safe to drop my hydrometer into my flask? I dont want to get it stuck lol

I doubt that the flask is deep enough to float your hydrometer.

You will see very little sign of fermentation in a starter on a stirplate compared to a beer in a fermentation vessel. They do not act the same.

When it is fermenting on the stirplate, get a flashlight and look very closely for tiny bubbles rising through the liquid. You should also have a color change. It should go from a translucent brownish to a milky tan color.

I see yeast in your picture. The milky ring about 1/2 inch down is the top of the yeast. Cold crash it at least overnight. You should have a creamy white layer on top of darker trub at the bottom, below the "beer". It will be between a 1/16" and 3/16" thick, usually.

I bet it is fine to proceed.

 

[rwing7486]

I doubt that the flask is deep enough to float your hydrometer.

You will see very little sign of fermentation in a starter on a stirplate compared to a beer in a fermentation vessel. They do not act the same.

When it is fermenting on the stirplate, get a flashlight and look very closely for tiny bubbles rising through the liquid. You should also have a color change. It should go from a translucent brownish to a milky tan color.

I see yeast in your picture. The milky ring about 1/2 inch down is the top of the yeast. Cold crash it at least overnight. You should have a creamy white layer on top of darker trub at the bottom, below the "beer". It will be between a 1/16" and 3/16" thick, usually.

I bet it is fine to proceed.

Oh i know that it fermented some based on above. But my concern how much it ferment and did it produce "enough" viable cells to pitch.

 

[kh54s10]

I think it is good. The size seems good for the age of the yeast and gravity of the wort. It might not be a bad idea to pick up some dry yeast as a backup, just in case. But I would go with the starter.