Starter doesn't look promising

[FreudianSlip172]

Hi all, hoping to brew a ~1.045 stout this evening but I'm not sure I trust the yeast I want to use.

Ordered the yeast (WLP-004, White Labs Irish Ale) from Midwest Supply on 3 March. Got it in the mail yesterday since sometimes it takes forever to get things out here on Okinawa... there was still visible CO2 bubbling in the vial, and it has a "best before" date of 14 May, so I thought it might have a chance.

I made a little 2-cup starter last night with 1/2 cup DME, which I've done before a few times. I put that in a growler with aluminum foil & loosely secured it with a rubber band. After 20 hours in the jar and with frequent manual stirring & shaking, I've not seen any CO2 bubbling or krausen forming, so I'm wondering if this yeast is a "non-starter." Maybe it's just taking a while to come to life, but I haven't seen that in the few starters I've made before.

If I can't brew tonight then it'll probably have to wait a week. I have a pack of S-04 ready to go if necessary; should I press with the S-04 tonight, or give my starter some more time?

Thanks.

 

[flars]

I put your numbers into the Brewers Friends yeast starter calculator. I used 2.5 ounces as the weight of a half cup of DME. This makes a starter with an SG of 1.050. This SG is a little strong for aging yeast which may have suffered some poor handling. SG of 1.010 to 1.020 may have been better.

If this yeast does take off you will end with about 84 billion cells. Target pitch rate is 159 billion cells.

The yeast was stressed so I would give this yeast more time and then make a step up starter to get the full number of cells you need.
or
If the 04 will give you an acceptable flavor profile go with that since the liquid yeast will need a step up starter even if it does ferment out.

Save the liquid starter for another brew if it eventually ferments out.

 

[Queequeg]

What is the colour of the starter, usually you see a colour change as flocculation starts. You won't always get a krausen if you are shaking. It depends on the yeast strain and the level of agitation.

 

[FreudianSlip172]

Thanks for the replies! I punted to using the S-04 and everything looks copacetic now - don't know if it'll taste "right" but it's a new recipe to me anyway.

The "non-starter" is still sitting inert three days later. Color is dark amber with the yeast flocculated into a layer on the bottom. I'm considering finding some other way to test that yeast to see if maybe it simply fermented so fast I didn't notice it - I'm a rookie but I've heard of it happening.

 

[Jayhem]

Best of luck on this batch.

If I were you I would just stick with dry yeast if shipping takes that long! Dry yeast can take temperature shocks much better than liquid yeast.

 

[Hello]

I was about to start a thread on this myself. OP: I hope you don't mind me piggy-backing on your thread.

I made a starter with an OG of 1.040 for a beer that will be 1.080. Yestery, I swirrled the flask and yeast shot out of the foil top (that has holes), I just used new foil dipped in star san and cleaned up.

My starter size is 1.5l, I used 5.75 oz of DME which I realize is slightly under pitching based on yeastcalculator.com. Wyeast 1098 is the yeast I used, I did smack the smack pack. My color is light amber and like the OP's, there doesn't seem to be evidence of krausen. The temp is about 72 where it is at today. I planned on cold crashing today and pitching it tomorrow if I had time to brew.

The yeast is dated 25 Feb 14, which I only figured out when I opened it. Sadly, the shop that sold it to me has only been open 2 weeks to the day. Figure that.

Anyway, I can always pitch another smack pack to the brew but based on the above, with shaking, could my starter still be useable?

 

[Queequeg]

The "non-starter" is still sitting inert three days later. Color is dark amber with the yeast flocculated into a layer on the bottom. I'm considering finding some other way to test that yeast to see if maybe it simply fermented so fast I didn't notice it - I'm a rookie but I've heard of it happening.

How thick is the yeast layer. Its sounding like it fermented and flocc'd out when you wasn't looking.