Always label your starters

[gmac]

I put on two starters last night.  One in a 4L jug, the other in a 1L mason jar.  But, for the life of me I can't remember which one is which.
One is a California lager that was over the due date and my intention was to step it up in the jar but then I started to second guess myself and I can't remember if I decided to do it in the big starter or little.
The other was Wyeast 3711 French Saison which should be pretty easy to pick out by smell alone but I'm not getting much difference when I smell them.
And of course the one in the little jar is going strong which makes me wonder if it was the over age one or not. The one in the big jug is much slower.  I'm gonna go ahead and use them but I may end up making California Saison and French Common.

Anyway, the message here is "Label your Starters!"

[Slowbrew]

I've had this happen.  The beers turned out good so it worked out but it was frustrating.

Paul

[snowtiger87]

Isn't that what the grease pen is for? (to label the flask).

[gmac]

Isn't that what the grease pen is for? (to label the flask).

Sure, now you tell me...

[euge]

I write on tape and affix to the appropriate vessel.

[jmcamerlengo]

I write on tape and affix to the appropriate vessel.

+1
 Its not to bad if its 2 entirely different yeast strains, usually i can smell a subtle difference.  However try mislabeling Wy1056 and WLP001....ouch!

(I often pitch the same strain from different suppliers to see subtle nuances between companies, youd be amazed at the results if you havent tried it!)

[bluesman]

I write on tape and affix to the appropriate vessel.

I do this with my kegs but will work for starters all the same. Easy on...easy off.

[tschmidlin]

Have you tried tasting the starters?  It might help.

[oscarvan]

Welcome to old age.

[hopfenundmalz]

Graham, I label all of my starters and the finished kegs too.  If your production reaches stupid high amounts at one time, you have to label.

[mtnrockhopper]

We mixed up fermenters once. We had made a corona clone for my father-in-law and a wit - bottled the corona thinking it was the wit - WORST WIT EVER!  A few days later we bottled the other one and realized our mistake.

[gmac]

I smelled the starters, then I had the wife smell them, then I had my neighbour smell them.  Both my wife and I chose the same "probably saison" and my friend had no idea.  Based on this extremely accurate analysis (and the fact that I was too chicken to drink any), I made a saison today...maybe.

[euge]

You probably chose correctly. Report back!