[jhart94949]

Well, I made a 2 liter starter yesterday at noon for my Belgian Abbey Yeast. Put it on the stir plate everything was going well. Went to bed and woke up to a gooey doughy mess spilling over my beaker.

Making a 5 gallon batch or Belgian Blonde. Is there enough yeast left?

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[Pinski]

I'd do my best to clean it up and close it off with starsan from a spray bottle around the stopper.  I'd also go for it with your pitch as well for a 5 gallon batch, I bet you'll be OK.  Try a little fermcap in your starter next time. I've had great luck with it keeping starters in the flask when there's not much headspace to work with.

[jhart94949]

Thanks, I did use a drop of fermcap, or AIH's equivalent. It spelled just like bread dough. Crazy, I have done a few starters and never had this happen   

[69franx]

I'd do my best to clean it up and close it off with starsan from a spray bottle around the stopper.  I'd also go for it with your pitch as well for a 5 gallon batch, I bet you'll be OK.  Try a little fermcap in your starter next time. I've had great luck with it keeping starters in the flask when there's not much headspace to work with.

What is a little fermcap for a starter. I also made a 2.5 liter starter of WLP001 and had massive loss, have not used fermcap before, but will be picking some up along with yeast for my next batch. Thanks for any thoughts.

[morticaixavier]

how much headspace are you giving your starters? if your using  flask and filling it all the way up, even if you don't get blowoff you're doing your yeast a disservice because the low volume to surface ratio means that not a lot of o2 is dissolving.

I like a .5 gallon mason jar for 1 liter and a 1 gallon jug for 2 liters. Course, I just shake my starters when I notice them (5-10 times a day) rather than a stir plate so I don't have to worry about bottom geometry.

[69franx]

This was a 1 gal jar, no stir plate. Pitched 1 vial WLP 001 to 1 L, crashed after 3 days, decanted, added 1.5 L and woke up with dough all over bottle and counter. SWMBO not happy and neither was I. Left me with less yeast sediment at bottom of bottle than before I re-pitched

[morticaixavier]

This was a 1 gal jar, no stir plate. Pitched 1 vial WLP 001 to 1 L, crashed after 3 days, decanted, added 1.5 L and woke up with dough all over bottle and counter. SWMBO not happy and neither was I. Left me with less yeast sediment at bottom of bottle than before I re-pitched

that's a bummer for sure.

[69franx]

Planning on same effort s for upcoming IPA, another link. How much fermcap should I add to starter and when to avoid this? Have not used fermcap before.

[Pinski]

Planning on same effort s for upcoming IPA, another link. How much fermcap should I add to starter and when to avoid this? Have not used fermcap before.

3-4 good drops has always worked for me in a 2 liter starter.  I would not advise doubling that for "good measure". The stuff works and it doesn't take much.

[bdrinkrow]

I had the same thing happen with WL810 even with fermcap when my stirplate threw the bar overnight.  I would use it and not worry about it.  This is one reason I always try to overshoot my approximate number when doing starters.  Also, because there is always a bit left in my flask and jars I keep it in. 

I do 4L starters in a 5L flask all the time and using 4 drops of fermcap, and now that I have my stir plate dialed in perfectly, it works.  If you don't get much of a vortex on your plate you can still get a krausen like that, the vortex will suck it down.  Before I had my stirplate fixed, I wouldn't get a big vortex in 4L and had issues like these even when I doubled the fermcap amount.

If you aren't getting a strong vortex, try shimming under your flask with something small and building it up.  That fixed my problem.

[jhart94949]

Ok, last question.....I didn't get to brew because I got sick. My starter has been sitting in the fridge for a week....is that ok ?

[Stevie]

In my opinion, As long as it is cold and sanitary you'll be fine.

[Pinski]

I'd think you're fine. All things sanitary.