So after how many days on a stir plate do you go hmmmm when something starts up?

[befus]

If you pitch a standard vial/pack into a starter and put on a stir plate and nothing happens for 72 hours and then there is activity, do you ever wonder just exactly what is fermenting in there (especially in summer)? I mean is there a point at which you just can't take a chance pitching whatever is in there into your wort?

 

[chickens4life]

I would smell and taste the starter wort before pitching a yeast that took that long to get going.
Could still be your yeast though, and that would be a shame to throw away.

 

[befus]

I would smell and taste the starter wort before pitching a yeast that took that long to get going.
Could still be your yeast though, and that would be a shame to throw away.

Will do. I just put it in the fridge to flocculate out and I'll take a gravity reading and see how it tastes.

 

[duboman]

Are you sure nothing happened? Starters will usually ferment quick and you may not even notice. The wort should be clear and you can usually see a very fine line where the krausen was but thats about it, oh, and the yeast cake should appear to be bigger on the bottom

 

[av8er79]

Are you sure nothing happened? Starters will usually ferment quick and you may not even notice. The wort should be clear and you can usually see a very fine line where the krausen was but thats about it, oh, and the yeast cake should appear to be bigger on the bottom

I have wondered what to look for in a starter that has "started".

 

[befus]

Are you sure nothing happened? Starters will usually ferment quick and you may not even notice. The wort should be clear and you can usually see a very fine line where the krausen was but thats about it, oh, and the yeast cake should appear to be bigger on the bottom

Took gravity after two days......nothing, probably. I shoot for 1.040 starters and this one was at 1.036. I didn't take an OG just boiled some water and added the usual amount DME and tossed in the smack pack. Something started about 70+ hours as when I looked this morning it was very cloudy with a half inch white krausen with the stir bar turning.

 

[befus]

Checked gravity and it was down to 1.016. Starter did not taste bad, but definitely had a little clove in it? Don't know ir that means anything or not. Went ahead and decocted some of it and poured the rest with the yeast layer into a sterile jar until I decide what to do.

 

[Bamsdealer]

It's probably fine, but I know what you mean about thinking long and hard before taking a risk on an entire batch of beer. I'm thinking there might not have been much viability in the yeast pack and it just took a lot longer to get going. The clove might just be an off flavor from fermentation at room temp or the yeast strain. Maybe step it up once more to ensure enough yeast and make sure nothing bad took over.

My last few brews I've gotten in the practice of doing "real wort starters". Say for a 1.5 L starter, I'd take a liter of 1.06 wort and add a half liter of chilled spring water to get it to 1.04. My wort chiller gets my brew down to 80-90 quickly then I toss it in a swamp cooler or fridge to bring it down to pitching temps. 8 hours later my starters are usually going so I just aerate and pitch when the krausen begins to develop. Everything I've read, most of the yeast reproduction has taken place by this time.

 

[kh54s10]

Fortunately for me, I guess, I have never had a starter that did not start overnight. Most of the time I run mine for 12 - 18 hours then pitch.

I have started some from slurry saved in the fridge for over 2 months and also 5 ml frozen vials. The frozen ones I do with a step starter starting with .25 liters of 1.020 wort then .5 liters of 1.040 wort then the final step at the proper sized for my beer.