[jtoots]

Hey all,
I've been working on my starter game and would like to ask for feedback on how I handled this weekend's batch:

Friday night I pitched a starter for a 10 gallon batch of Belgian IPA to be brewed Sunday.  3 liters, 2 vials, 1.032, stir plate.

Saturday I kept an eye on it and never saw it reach a really high krausen.  I did see a thin layer of activity on the top, just not a real thick layer like I usually do.

Typically I'll toss the starter in the fridge at high krausen, but in this case I kept it on the stir plate through Saturday night, didn't fridge/decant, and pitched the entire starter.

What do you think?  Would it have been better to refrigerate at 24 hours or did I play this the best way possible?  I didn't want to refrigerate before high krausen (risk of negating the benefit of a starter), and I didn't want to have it chilling for less than 24 hours (risking an incomplete decanting and dumping active yeast down the drain).

I'm thinking this is a RDWHAHB scenario, again just looking to further dial in my starter game.

Thanks all!!

[rgonzalez_me]

Hey man, I did the same thing with the WLP530 for a Belgian Brown Ale. I didn't fridge/decant and it took it 72 for this yeast to kick off. But it went berserk eventually.

[69franx]

I think you will be fine as far as pitching the entire starter. I have no experience with that yeast, but I did recently pitch full starters into a split 10g batch of pilsner(different yeast for each half.) Both fermented do to the exact same final of 1.010 from 1.053. My samples at bottling looked a little hazy but tasted as great as the previous batch where I had split 6g the same way. They have been in bottles for less than a week now, and will still need to lager for a month but I am very confident and am looking forward to cracking a couple open. Good luck and let us know how your brew comes out and if you notice any issues that you think may have been caused by the pitch

[jtoots]

Thanks gents, words of encouragement much appreciated.  Last night (at 24 hrs) we were bubbling away with a healthy krausen.  This morning (at 36 hrs) things are getting nice and intense in the fermenter.  Blowoff tube may or may not be needed this evening.  I'm at 17 degrees C (62 degrees F), planning on holding it there until signs of slowing, then allowing it to rise up towards 70.

BTW this yeast smells absolutely amazing upon opening the vial.  I'm really looking forward to this one.  Bittering hops were Sorachi Ace, then added Citra and Galaxy with 5 left and some more steeped at 170 degrees, will dry hop at kegging.

[brewinhard]

The only issue I see with pitching your whole starter between your 10 gallon batch is that you added back oxidized wort that you did not decant that was created by the stirplate action of your starter.  I would say that 99% of the time I cold crash my starters and decant most of the spent wort so as to minimize any off-flavors from a higher temperature yeast starter (excessive phenols/esters, or oxidation).  But keep in mind, I am sure others do things differently with great results.  I am only indicating how I do things.  YMMV.

[jtoots]

Thanks Brewinhard, this is in line with the feedback I was hoping for... that is, looking for the minor improvements.

Understanding that every yeast is different, I have two follow-up questions:
-How long does it typically take for high krausen to hit? (Cooling the starter down before high krausen surely isn't a good thing)
-What do you consider the minimal amount of time to refrigerate in order to decant?  Is 18 hours too little?  (Dumping good yeast down the drain while I think I'm decanting would surely not be a good thing)

Thanks!!

[brewinhard]

Thanks Brewinhard, this is in line with the feedback I was hoping for... that is, looking for the minor improvements.

Understanding that every yeast is different, I have two follow-up questions:
-How long does it typically take for high krausen to hit? (Cooling the starter down before high krausen surely isn't a good thing)
-What do you consider the minimal amount of time to refrigerate in order to decant?  Is 18 hours too little?  (Dumping good yeast down the drain while I think I'm decanting would surely not be a good thing)

Thanks!!

Reaching a high krausen depends on starter size, yeast freshness/viability and strain.  I am no yeast expert, but I would think that most strains would reach their peak krausen stage within 12 hrs or so (epecially on a stirplate).  As far as cold crashing is concerned (and I am sure others will chime in here with their ideas and expertise) you just need enough time and cold temps to drop out most of the yeast to the bottom of the container.  Once again, depending on yeast strain and starter size, it could be anywhere from 12 hrs to 36 hrs.

[jtoots]

As far as cold crashing is concerned (and I am sure others will chime in here with their ideas and expertise) you just need enough time and cold temps to drop out most of the yeast to the bottom of the container.  Once again, depending on yeast strain and starter size, it could be anywhere from 12 hrs to 36 hrs.

Great, this is the timeline I was thinking of when I decided not to crash - at less than 36 hours I would have potentially been decanting a starter that had not yet dropped.  Typically I try to get my starters going before Friday night, but the work week drove this schedule.  I suppose next time I could get away with crashing Saturday at noonish (roughly 18 hours in), more than 24 hours before pitching in the wort Sunday evening.

Thanks again!