Yeast near expiration date from local homebrew supply store

[wsmith1625]

In this case I think you may have made too large of a starter for the older packs. I personally would've babied it. Starting with 500ml 1.020 to wake it up. From there I would've stepped it up to 1L 1.040 to build up the cell count a bit then 2L 1.040 to beef it up a bit more and save some slurry for later. You may have been fine going with 1L 1.020 even. That starter does not appear to have taken off yet from the pics. I could be wrong though. All of my starters begin like yours looks then end up nice and milky, sometimes with a nice krausen, on the stir plate. Keep us posted on the starter!

The 2 liter starter was probably too much as all the calculators said I could have gone closer to 1 liter. It did take off on me though and the krausen became a bit of a problem. First time I had it overflow the flask. When all was said and done, I think I had a good cell count for my 5.5 gal batch. Active fermentation started in under 24 hours and looks near completed now. I'm gonna give it a minimum 2 weeks before I keg it.

 

[rtstrider]

The 2 liter starter was probably too much as all the calculators said I could have gone closer to 1 liter. It did take off on me though and the krausen became a bit of a problem. First time I had it overflow the flask. When all was said and done, I think I had a good cell count for my 5.5 gal batch. Active fermentation started in under 24 hours and looks near completed now. I'm gonna give it a minimum 2 weeks before I keg it.

Welp if it took off can't argue with that. Glad to hear it worked out. 080 is an awesome blend!