Washed yeast problem

[st034]

I am very new to brewing but have read extensively on this forum. My first batch 2 weeks ago was an extract IPA kit using Nottingham dry yeast. I washed the yeast from the primary per the great tutorial by Bernie Brewer. I refrigerated 4 pints and planned to use a starter for an all grain Blond Ale today. Yesterday I made up 5 quarts of all grain sterile wort at 1.045 and pressure canned them at 250 degrees for 20 minutes; after cooling to room temperature I opened one quart jar and pitched the yeast slurry from one of the saved pints that I had warmed to room temperature. Within 2 hours I had visible fermentation and 2 hours later bubbles coming from the airlock. For some reason I thought adding some yeast nutrient would help things along. I removed the cover and dropped in about 1/8 teaspoon of crystals. Activity in the jar increased dramatically from top to bottom for about 20 minutes then stopped altogether. Now, 14 hours later, everything is at a complete standstill. It looks like all the yeast died and settled to the bottom. Can anyone help me understand what I did wrong and is there anything I can do to resurrect the starter or should I just start over

 

[dwarven_stout]

Sounds like your starter has fermented out. 1 pint of solid yeast is not going to take long to ferment 5qt of weak wort. Crash cool it in the fridge, take a hydro reading if you want to be sure, decant the spent wort, and pitch the yeast.

 

[Revvy]

When you opened it up to add the nutrient, you VOIDED out all the EXCESS gas, so the airlock doesn't HAVE TO blip anymore. An airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it's a vent, a valve to release excess gas. When you opened the fermenter all the excess gas escaped, so unless more excess gas is produced it won't need to blip anymore.