Yeast starter weirdness....did I flub it?

[mikeysab]

Keep in mind, this is my second starter, which i'm doing with my 5th batch. And my first 3 were coopers kits. So I'm brewing a Winter Warmer from NB which I chose the option for the wyeast 1728 scottish ale yeast. Smacked it, and it bulged 4 hours later. The OG for the kit says 1.069, so I figured a starter would be in order. This is one of those times where I did first and thought later.....here's what I did:

Boiled 3 cups of water
added 3/4 cup of light DME
added what was about 1/16th of a teaspoon of yeast nutrient.

Boiled for 10 minutes, cooled to 70 degrees and pitched yeast.

the next step was the thinking part, which I think is what led to the weirdness. I thought to myself "A smack pack is yeast and NUTRIENT, so why the hell did I add nutrient"?

So I let it go for about 20 hours, and it was still fermenting. swirled it a couple of times in the 20 hours, and it kept going. At roughly the 20 hour mark, I crashed it, or at least TRIED to crash it, by placing it in the fridge, which the temp is set to 37 degrees. It sat in the fridge for about 4 hours, but never stopped fermenting. The airlock kept bubbling, and bubbles kept rising from the bottom. The yeast seperated to the bottom, but the action was still there. So what I did was boiled another 3 cups of water, 3/4 of a cup of light DME, decanted the liquid in the starter, and pitched the wort into the yeast, this time with no nutrient.

So my question is this: Why was it still fermenting after 4 hours in a 37 degree fridge, or WAS it? Did I step up the starter the right way, and did I even need to?

I'm not really worried about the starter, I'm more interested in what went on, and how I should have handled it. This is only my first stepped up starter, and i'm just curious as to the procedures. When mrmalty tells me I need a 3 liter starter, does that mean I need 3 liters of liquid, or a triple stepped starter? Any answers are greatlyl appreciated.

 

[JuanKenobi]

No need to step up. If you have a fresh pack of yeast you can go straight to 3L no problem. The yeast nutrient isn't a mistake either. Maybe not necessary, but I always use 1/4 teaspoon in my starters. 4 hours in the fridge probably isn't long enough to get an active fermentation down to ambient temperature. So, it could have still been fermenting (and probably was to some extent), or the airlock activity could simply be a function of pressure. The temp inside your starter vessel is warmer than the air in the fridge so the pressure forces gas out. As others will surely let you know, airlock activity is not a gauge for fermentation.

The main thing to get out of this is that you shouldn't have an airlock on your starter. Just sanitize a piece of tin foil and cover your starter with that. It will allow for gas exchange.

 

[mikeysab]

This is the problem I have with the 3L starter thing. Well, problem UNDERSTANDING it. So if it says I need a 3L starter, how exactly do I go about doing it? I made about a 1 liter starter, so I used 1 liter of water to 3/4 cup of DME. So to make a 3L starter, would I use 3L of water, and 2 1/4 cups of DME, then decant the liquid and pitch the slurry?

My wacky step up method set my brew day back one day, so if the 3L starter I just described is how to do it, then I know I could make a proper starter in just 24 hours or so. Also, while we're on the topic, do I pitch an ACTIVE starter, or crash it, decant, THEN pitch it. I forgot where I read it, but somewhere said pitching an ACTIVE starter is better than pitching a sleeping starter. Which way is the better way? Thanks a ton for your help

 

[sudbuster]

This is the problem I have with the 3L starter thing. Well, problem UNDERSTANDING it. So if it says I need a 3L starter, how exactly do I go about doing it? I made about a 1 liter starter, so I used 1 liter of water to 3/4 cup of DME. So to make a 3L starter, would I use 3L of water, and 2 1/4 cups of DME, then decant the liquid and pitch the slurry?

My wacky step up method set my brew day back one day, so if the 3L starter I just described is how to do it, then I know I could make a proper starter in just 24 hours or so. Also, while we're on the topic, do I pitch an ACTIVE starter, or crash it, decant, THEN pitch it. I forgot where I read it, but somewhere said pitching an ACTIVE starter is better than pitching a sleeping starter. Which way is the better way? Thanks a ton for your help

A starter is simply a way of increasing the yeast cell count before you pitch to the wort. When first starting out in this hobby, it does seem overwhelming at times. You did good with a 2 step buildup. Since you are using DME, decant, and pitch the slurry by pouring out most of the thin liquid after the yeast settles. Resuspend the yeast by swirling the flask, and pour into the cooled wort. Right now , the best way is the way that will work for you, and this will work. Some of the techniques you read on here are more specialised
cases. Just get your yeast in your wort in as sanitary means as possible, put on a sanitary airlock, and let nature take it's course. Don't fret over it. Just watch. It will ferment out and the yeast will settle to the bottom. Then you can rack to secondary or not etc.
cheers

 

[mikeysab]

I didn't really think I messed it up, so the point of my thread was maybe to punctuate to myself that I did it right. And as an afterthought, to give someone trying this for the first time a decent reference to start at. A lot of this forum is teachers and a lot of this forum is students, so by being a student maybe what I learn will teach someone else with the same questions. I can't really give great advice yet, so maybe my experiences could be someones tutor. Starters are something I've been told should ALWAYS be done, so a good ol' Q&A on the subject would be a good starting point. I know some of the Veterans get a little frustrated by threads like this, but the questions aren't always clear in old threads, so it may take a customized answer to make it clear. Either way, I'm grateful as always that there's someone here to help.