Starter = Fail

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FishinDave07

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I need your guys help to find out where i went wrong:

I made a starter yesterday using washed WY3068, 3/4 cup Extra light DME, and 1 quart of water.

I boiled the DME and water for 15 minutes and then cooled for 15 minutes in an ice bath

I made sure to sanitize my starter container (JD bottle) as well as my funnel.

Finally i pitched the yeast and shook the thing vigorously for 10 minutes.

The next day it has not done a thing and when i took an sg reading it is the same.

The only thing i can assume i guess is that i didnt harvest the yeast correctly and it died or something.

Any other ideas?

Dave
 
So this is yeast you harvested from a previous batch? How and how long did you store the yeast between harvest and reuse?
 
Wyeast 3068 is a 'fragile' yeast -- it is notoriously difficult to store. It is the only yeast I have had fail after freezing for more than 6 months, and it has a reputation for not storing well in the fridge either. Not sure why.
 
Sometimes it takes more than a day to fire up. It sounds like you did everything right, just keep stirring or shaking it and you might have a good starter going tomorrow or the day after.
 
How and how long did you store the yeast between harvest and reuse?

I stored it in the fridge. I harvested from a hefe i did back in early March.


Wyeast 3068 is a 'fragile' yeast -- it is notoriously difficult to store.

This sucks :(. Does this go for all hefe yeasts? How about WL300, i've heard a lot of good things about that strain, just wonder how it stores.

just keep stirring or shaking it and you might have a good starter going tomorrow or the day after.

...as we speak :rockin:
 
This sucks :(. Does this go for all hefe yeasts? How about WL300, i've heard a lot of good things about that strain, just wonder how it stores.
I don't know -- sorry. And I didn't mean to imply that your whole starter was dead. It may have just been knocked back a bit. Give it a bit of time to be sure that it didn't work.
 
Brew day is on!

Time paid off...but just in case i made ANOTHER starter from some more of the washed 3068.

Aerated (Newer one on the left)

P7230005.jpg


About an hour later
P7230006.jpg


Who thinks im going to have a rockin fermentation? :rockin:

Im starting to like RDWHAHB :tank:
 
Glad it worked out...Starters are just like beers, and sometimes they do the "fermentation may take up to 72 hours to start" thing as well.

I've found sometimes they don't take off till after I turn off the stirplate...
 
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