yeast starter

[OSUmoney83]

Just had my first pitch from a starter and wow am I impressed. I was directly pitching from wyeast XL smack packs thinking there was no point to a starter, but after seeing the bucket start to swell in 1 hour and bubbling in 2-3, I see why they are reccomended. From now on, I'm making a starter the night before I brew, and I reccomend this to all newer brewers like myself.

 

[Janx]

Right on. Glad you have seen the light. Starters are essential in my opinion.

Cheers!

 

[Dude]

Is a yeast starter supposed to be active?

I did my first one yesterday--made a small batch of wort and put it into a milk jug that was cleaned and sanitized, and added the White Labs yeast.

Its not doing anything. I think I can see some additional yeast in there, but I was expecting it to be bubbling and active, and big time yeast multiplying. No?

I'm due to pitch this yeast into another brown ale batch in about an hour.....I'm not stressing but just a gee whiz question I guess.....

 

[Janx]

It shows varying levels of activity depending on yeast strain, time, wort gravity, etc. Do you have an airlock on the jug?

Remember you can't *see* yeast multiplying because they're microscopic. But, yes, the starter does a fermentation just like a small batch of beer.

You'll still benefit as the yeast has certainly multiplied quite a bit. The yeast will multiply before begining to metabolize sugars, so it may well have multiplied even if you see no visible activity.

FWIW, I prefer about 48 hours for a yeast starter to be ready. I'm making one tonight for this weekend. But any jumpstart is better than none at all. Cheers!

 

[rightwingnut]

What does "FWIW" mean?

 

[Dude]

What does "FWIW" mean?

For What Its Worth....

 

[rightwingnut]

Gracias.