Too big of vessel for starter?

[ctufano]

I'm getting ready to brew my 2nd batch of beer this Saturday or Sunday, and I wanted to make a starter this time!

I took a gallon carboy I have (i use for my blowoff receptacle normally) and sanitized it with star san, as well as the stopper, funnel, and airlock.

I boiled up around 3 cups of water to ~1 cup light DME, cooled in water, put in carboy, added yeast, shook like hell, added airlock.

Is this too much headspace for the starter? I have always seen them in beer bottles etc, but didnt know if it would be enough space

My assumption is not to worry, since headspace on fermenting beer is fine in that the co2 displaces all oxygen

Pic for reference

 

[mojotele]

That's fine.

The more oxygen you get in your starter the better, actually. It's a starter, so who cares how it tastes? You just want the yeast to reproduce and get healthy, and they can do that really well with lots of oxygen.

 

[ctufano]

True that. I'm having an issue with the airlock staying lodged in -- the bottle neck interior, and the stopper, are both wet so its sliding out

Any suggestions on how to dry it off while staying sanitary?

 

[mojotele]

I'd just take it out altogether and put a sanitized piece of aluminum foil over the top. I never airlock my starters. You want oxygen to get in.

 

[erkwist]

I recently made my first starter in the same type of jug your using. I decided to go with the sanitized aluminum foil instead of the airlock, worked just fine. I just kinda crimped it down over the mouth of the jug, not air tight of course, but for the short time the starter is going to be out, and the small amount of wort, I didn't really worry about contamination.

 

[ctufano]

Ya? Interesting. Tempting, but seems scary to me!

It seems like the airlock has stuck in place. I may just let it ride with that...

Erkwist, where about in Atlanta are you?

Also, this starter was my first boilover so far. Was startin to fill sink with cold water and took eye off the boil and there it went! Just finished cleanin it up, wasnt too bad. At least it smells sweet

 

[r_flagg]

I just use 1/2 gallon growlers, screw the lid on, then unscrew 1/2 a turn to let air in/gas out. Stick it up on top of the fridge and let it go go go!

 

[eagle83]

I would guess with that much headspace you should have enough O2. Next time you can try wiping some alcohol on it before you put it on. It will dry really fast, so it won't be slick when you put it on the jug.

 

[mojotele]

Ya? Interesting. Tempting, but seems scary to me!

It seems like the airlock has stuck in place. I may just let it ride with that...

That's cool. But, for the future, give it a go. I've done so many starters that way that I've lost count, and I've never had a single infection.

I've heard of one dude getting a fruit fly in there, but that's about it.

 

[japhroaig]

Foil is scary?! In MY day, you started yer fermentation with a dead Rat! Okay, only for the ciders, and yer fine. If you look at photos of many older breweries you'll see completely open air fermenters, and while over the course of months the beers would get sour, it did take a long time.

 

[ctufano]

Hah amen.

Now, I know this starter will ferment out pretty quick and its more than likely I will miss it.

Question is though, what should I look for incase I dont see any activity, but it has finished and is active and healthy?

My main concern for this starter is that it was a liquid vial that got stuck in shipment in trucks and warehouses.

I realize its more than likely fine, but wanna make sure its happy before brew day

 

[japhroaig]

My first choice? Nothing. If i'm feeling antsy? teaspoon of white sugar.

The sugar doesn't help the yeast, it helps my mental state

 

[ctufano]

I dont understand -- I do realize you're kidding, but what would putting white sugar in it for you to see represent? Yeast?

 

[japhroaig]

I apologize, sometimes my attempt at wit gets in the way of me being helpful

When your starter 'finishes', it isn't actually finished when it comes to yeast. They are still plenty alive and plenty healthy. As long as you don't wait weeks and weeks, a starter like yours should initiate a healthy fermentation in a few hours even if the starter hasn't been bubbling.

I included the part about the white sugar because it will make your starter bubble again. But that doesn't have anything to do with how your fermentation will end up, it only reaffirms in the brewers mind, "My yeast are still alive"--when they have been the whole time.

All in all, you are doing everything correctly.

 

[japhroaig]

I guess as a tangent to my last post is this: yeast is *hard* to kill. It doesn't peter out and die like we would if we were dry-frozen, bottled, and stuck in a fridge. You will get a fermentation out of a bottle of yeast that was kept in less than adequate storage.

If you are worried about off flavors from potentially mishandled yeast (which is rare), then do in essence what sourdough bakers do. Make a starter, get it going good, and discard half. Add sterilized malt and water, get it going good, and discard half. Add sterilized malt and water, get it going good, and pitch. This should be completely unnecessary though as long as your starter doesn't smell like ass, so I don't recommend it.

The reason sourdough bakers basically do what I described is to discard unwanted bacteria, and let the fast growing beneficials take over the race. This can include Lacto* bacterium, so it won't help with sourness at all. Then again, if you have a sour starter, then I don't know what to tell you.

 

[r_flagg]

I just use 1/2 gallon growlers, screw the lid on, then unscrew 1/2 a turn to let air in/gas out. Stick it up on top of the fridge and let it go go go!

Errrr, scratch this one. I just got my yeast starter going for the weekend last night and when I checked on it this morning, the lid had gotten sticky and sealed itself, even though it was cracked a little bit. When I opened the lid, it went from zero krausen to almost blowing out the top! Instant krausen just add oxygen!

 

[erkwist]

Errrr, scratch this one. I just got my yeast starter going for the weekend last night and when I checked on it this morning, the lid had gotten sticky and sealed itself, even though it was cracked a little bit. When I opened the lid, it went from zero krausen to almost blowing out the top! Instant krausen just add oxygen!

That sounds like an awesome trick to show someone!

 

[r_flagg]

That sounds like an awesome trick to show someone!

Yeah, let me do a wiki on it and we'll get everyone krausen-bombing!

If anyone's interested, it was Wyeast German Ale which I had already started, then refrigerated because I decided to use another strain on an ale past. I let it warm up last night and added 2 cups of wort to get it going again. Guess it really liked it! I just checked it a minute ago and it had mostly settled and left a nice 1" layer of yeast in the bottom! Time to do a big beer!

 

[ctufano]

woo! With all this reading of stir plates and such, may be worth swishing it around to keep it off the bottom for a few minutes before pitching, dunno if itd really be any benefit but *shrug*

Guess a stirplate is next on my list I've been wanting an immersion chiller, but I can cool my wort down in maybe 25 or 30 minutes in an ice bath in my sink, constantly changing water and ice. Bag of ice from store, no problem!

 

[japhroaig]

woo! With all this reading of stir plates and such, may be worth swishing it around to keep it off the bottom for a few minutes before pitching, dunno if itd really be any benefit but *shrug*

Guess a stirplate is next on my list I've been wanting an immersion chiller, but I can cool my wort down in maybe 25 or 30 minutes in an ice bath in my sink, constantly changing water and ice. Bag of ice from store, no problem!

Just my own experience, but I use my immersion chiller at least 10x more than my stirrer. Stirrers are great for harvesting and propagating yeast from a very small sample (and they look effing fantastic paired with a nice Erlenmeyer flask), but the chiller is just a great all round tool. Again, just my 2 cents, and in the interest of full disclosure I also purchased a stirrer before a chiller

 

[ctufano]

haha ya i hear ya. i think id use em the same, but probably the chiller would be more useful/beneficial in terms of cost per value. i'm not really in a rush to get either, more so to get bottles so i can get my conditioning packed out

 

[homebeerbrewer]

I use the same size carboy as you for my starters. I use aluminum foil, and I swirl it several times a day for at least two days. I then stick it in the fridge for a day, and then decant most of the liquid off before pitching the slurry. I usually have a layer of krausen by morning.

 

[japhroaig]

get both then

 

[mojotele]

Whenever you decide to get a stir plate, they are really easy to build yourself and cost a lot less if you do so. Check the DIY section. If you don't have a lot of spare computer hardware lying about, the hardest thing to get is the magnet. But, you can order that off the internet.

They become an absolute godsend when you are doing high gravity beers or lagers or, god forbid, high gravity lagers.

 

[DeusInnomen]

woo! With all this reading of stir plates and such, may be worth swishing it around to keep it off the bottom for a few minutes before pitching, dunno if itd really be any benefit but *shrug*

Guess a stirplate is next on my list I've been wanting an immersion chiller, but I can cool my wort down in maybe 25 or 30 minutes in an ice bath in my sink, constantly changing water and ice. Bag of ice from store, no problem!

Here's a How To for making your own stir plate for REAL cheap: http://www.donosborn.com/homebrew/stir_plate.htm