Yeast starter blowout

[ChadRabbit]

So I'm making this yeast starter right... 32 oz water to 6 oz. DME started into a 64 oz. growler. No stir plate, just simple agitation. The plan was to pitch this beast into an IPA the next day.

Everything went fine of course until the next morning when I went out to discover a travesty strewn about my brew room.

I ended up brewing the IPA anyway and tried to salvage as much yeast as I could. My question? If some yeast came out of the airlock and spewed all over the place would I still have sufficient yeast in the slurry? I'm sure it's near impossible to answer without seeing it. Any insight from the seasoned vets would be appreciated.

I pitched it either way and it seems to be fermenting just fine. I don't want to have under pitched and create off flavors though. I'm also wondering if I should throw in a second vial. I used WLP001. My apologies for the long post.

 

[eltorrente]

Yeah, you lost some yeast in the blow-out, but at least most of it was left behind for a starter. I wouldn't worry about pitching another vial. As long as the wort was well aerated, and your controlling the temperature, you should be fine.

I would suggest that you use "Fermcap" next time. It's a product that only costs a few bucks and lasts a long time. You just put in two drops per gallon and it helps prevent blow-offs and boil-overs. I put 2 drops in my 2L starters when I'm boiling it, and it makes a huge difference. Well worth the investment..

 

[Brew-Jay]

So I'm making this yeast starter right... 32 oz water to 6 oz. DME started into a 64 oz. growler. No stir plate, just simple agitation. The plan was to pitch this beast into an IPA the next day.

Everything went fine of course until the next morning when I went out to discover a travesty strewn about my brew room.

I ended up brewing the IPA anyway and tried to salvage as much yeast as I could. My question? If some yeast came out of the airlock and spewed all over the place would I still have sufficient yeast in the slurry? I'm sure it's near impossible to answer without seeing it. Any insight from the seasoned vets would be appreciated.

I pitched it either way and it seems to be fermenting just fine. I don't want to have under pitched and create off flavors though. I'm also wondering if I should throw in a second vial. I used WLP001. My apologies for the long post.

If it's fermenting just fine, I would leave it. Even if you lost some yeast they were obviously very ambitious so they'll probably be ok.

 

[ChadRabbit]

Yeah, you lost some yeast in the blow-out, but at least most of it was left behind for a starter. I wouldn't worry about pitching another vial. As long as the wort was well aerated, and your controlling the temperature, you should be fine. I would suggest that you use "Fermcap" next time. It's a product that only costs a few bucks and lasts a long time. You just put in two drops per gallon and it helps prevent blow-offs and boil-overs. I put 2 drops in my 2L starters when I'm boiling it, and it makes a huge difference. Well worth the investment..

Thanks for the tip on the Fermcap. I'll snag some of that for sure. I'll keep up on the status of the brew and see what happens later. The temperature of the room is at a constant so we'll be set there.

Thanks guys!