Starter from 8 month old washed yeast.

[Hartwa]

Hi guys this is my first attempt at making a starter from yeast i started and fortunately the yeast was collected 8 months ago.

I used mr. Malty to determine the volume of slurry to put into the starter... it's been almost 48 hours now and there is just a little hint of fermentation...little pressure building up.

How long would you give it?? should I give up on it. It smells like sulfur when I cracked it open from being in the fridge for 8 months...I heard that is normal.

What do you think? .... I would just buy yeast if I had a local shop.

Thanks

Hartwa

 

[Hartwa]

Supposed to say "yeast I harvested" above.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

How long would you give it?? should I give up on it. It smells like sulfur when I cracked it open from being in the fridge for 8 months...I heard that is normal.

I'd give it at least a couple more days to wake up, especially if you are getting signs of fermentation.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

I just fired up 3 different strains that were stored under beer in my fridge for over a year! One took a couple of days to get up and running but it ran!

 

[Hartwa]

Ok...will do. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Hartwa]

I should have mentioned it is a lager...2206. Maybe it will take 4 days...

 

[flars]

When you say it is a lager yeast does that mean you have your starter wort at lagering temperature? Room temperature for a lager yeast in a starter wort is okay.

I may be nit picking your words but there should be no pressure build up when making a starter. The container should not be sealed. There needs to be a way for CO2 produced to escape and air to enter. A sanitized foil cap will keep out the stuff that may infect the wort.

 

[Mer-man]

Try it and see. You'll want to start with a small sample and grow it up iteratively with stepped (i.e. increasingly larger) starters. Maybe 2 or 3. Starting small will prevent significant carryover of old trub/dead yeast.

 

[ultravista]

I have created starters from old Chico and Conan strains with no problem using the shake method (5L bottle). To me, if the yeast is still creamy white and smells good, it's OK to use.

 

[Hartwa]

I had the starter at 60 degrees F I decided to move it to a different room that is at 68 degrees F.

I have an airlock on the starter ....when I say pressure build-up that means that the top of the airlock is starting to move up...

If I can get this to show some obvious signs of fermentation I'll probably do another starter to build it up as you had suggested.

 

[Yeastieboy]

I have created starters from old Chico and Conan strains with no problem using the shake method (5L bottle). To me, if the yeast is still creamy white and smells good, it's OK to use.

Define "smells good". I just made a starter from some 3.5 month old harvested WLP830 that was in my fridge at 34F. Visually it looked white and creamy. Upon opening, there was a slightly sour but yeasty smell. It didn't smell like a fresh vial but it also didn't strike me as bad or foul. The starter has been going for 24 hours and I will give it a whiff later today. If it smells like yeast, I guess I'll use it!

 

[Hartwa]

Mine smelled like sulphur right away but then was yeasty... I'm talking as soon as I open the jar after being in the fridge for 8 months. I would be a little worried about a sour smell. My starter ended up taking off very well after 5 days and the beer tasted just fine....

 

[Yeastieboy]

It smelled better today. I crashed it last night and decanted off the spent starter. The remaining yeast looks nice. Going to make a final starter from it for my beer this Friday.