What does the yeast starter look like???

Raffie · May 4, 2007

I got one in a 22ozbottle with airlock.

I can see the bubbles in sirlock and its all bubbly in the bottle like pop but not seeing the chunks of yeast like in the fermentor.

Am I doing it right or wrong?

rdwj · May 4, 2007

it will eventually settle to the bottom, but it sounds like you've got a perfect starter going

Raffie · May 4, 2007

I can see stuff on the bottom, is that yeast or dead yeast?

pa-in-utah · May 4, 2007

My starter looks like a mini batch of beer. Made it Wed night and had krausen on Thursday morning. Still lots of krausen today. Will it all settle when I put it n the fridge tonight?

Made the starter with 1/2 DME and 2 cups water. Plan to decant before pitching tomorrow afternoon.

Yooper · May 4, 2007

Don't put it in the fridge until the krausen falls. You want to wake up the yeast, not stun it. Once the krausen falls, you can stick it in the fridge. If the krausen is still going tomorrow, just chuck the whole thing in.

Edit- here's a picture of a yeast starter that I stole from Yuri_rage's gallery:

https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=925&catid=searchresults&searchid=598

This shows a starter that is all done, with the yeast on the bottom. If it looks like this when you go to pitch, you can decant the spent wort off. If it's not done, then the whole thing should be pitched.

Bugeaterbrewing · May 4, 2007

Raffie said:
I can see stuff on the bottom, is that yeast or dead yeast?

That's live yeast. Give it a swirl every couple of hours to keep it in suspension and keep growing. By the way, an airlock is not advised for a starter. The yeast needs O2 for reproduction so you need to have some air exchange going on. Most folks just loosely cover the top with a sanitized piece of foil. All you need for a top is something to keep things from falling in, microbes won't crawl up.

For an excellent discussion on starters check out www.mrmalty.com. I'm not affiliated with his site, but I have sampled a bunch of his excellent beers.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company