Hi All,
I have a bit of a situation and would like your thoughts, please:
I made a yeast start of Wyeast American Ale for an IPA I am making. I live overseas so my yeast choices are limited.
Anyhow, the starter was going fine and I was swirling it in the flask every time I walked through the kitchen... Well, after a few hours I did not pay attention and went to swirl the flask, and the yeast foamed right over the sides. Not a problem, BUT I stupidly covered the top with my hand and stuck the foam "cork" that had fallen on the ground right back into the flask!!! I just acted on instinct without thinking that anything coming out is going to be sterile but anything going in is going to be contaminated!
I let the yeast sit overnight and continue to do its thing. This morning I noticed that it has settled and was done multiplying, so I went ahead and poured out just the DME and added a new batch of DME to get the yeast going again, which it is doing now bubbling away. I am trying to get the yeast count really high as the last five gallon batch I made may have under-attenuated.
So, what do you think? Is my starter a hotbed of nasties? Will increasing the cell count help fight off any contamination?
Tomorrow is a free day for me so I am leaning towards not worrying about it and just making my first batch of all-grain IPA, for which I am thankful for this forum as I got the recipe from here!
Thanks for any input you might have.
Ruben
I have a bit of a situation and would like your thoughts, please:
I made a yeast start of Wyeast American Ale for an IPA I am making. I live overseas so my yeast choices are limited.
Anyhow, the starter was going fine and I was swirling it in the flask every time I walked through the kitchen... Well, after a few hours I did not pay attention and went to swirl the flask, and the yeast foamed right over the sides. Not a problem, BUT I stupidly covered the top with my hand and stuck the foam "cork" that had fallen on the ground right back into the flask!!! I just acted on instinct without thinking that anything coming out is going to be sterile but anything going in is going to be contaminated!
I let the yeast sit overnight and continue to do its thing. This morning I noticed that it has settled and was done multiplying, so I went ahead and poured out just the DME and added a new batch of DME to get the yeast going again, which it is doing now bubbling away. I am trying to get the yeast count really high as the last five gallon batch I made may have under-attenuated.
So, what do you think? Is my starter a hotbed of nasties? Will increasing the cell count help fight off any contamination?
Tomorrow is a free day for me so I am leaning towards not worrying about it and just making my first batch of all-grain IPA, for which I am thankful for this forum as I got the recipe from here!
Thanks for any input you might have.
Ruben
