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Author Topic: Starter question  (Read 998 times)

Offline Erik_Mog

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Starter question
« on: July 09, 2016, 08:46:09 am »
I made a 1.25L starter Tuesday afternoon, and let it go on the stir plate until Thursday night when I got home from work, then put it in the refrigerator, to settle out for my brew day tomorrow.  While it was on the stir plate, ther appeared to be a tiny amount of krausen, and some condensation  formed on the inside of the flask, indicating to me, that the yeast at least did something to generate heat.  Today I took a look at it, and it has dropped clear, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of yeast.  I made 75oml starter for my last brew, and there seemed to be more yeast in bottom of the flask.  It smells fine to me...like a really yeasty beer.  I used 1 pack of WY1450 pitched into 1.25L starter wort made with 125g of DME.  Do yo think that the starter will be fine to use, even though there doesn't look like a lot of yeast (it could be just an optical illusion since there is 500ml more liquid than in my previous starter), and I am just worrying about nothing, or should I just pick up a couple of packs of US-05 to use instead (or to have as a go to solution should the starter not work)?
Bottled/Drinking:  Born Again Heathenweizen, Mongrel Belgian
Fermenting:  None
Future:  Undecided...too many to choose from

Doggie Mutt Brewing Co.
"Beer....Because people suck."

Offline 69franx

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Re: Starter question
« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2016, 09:04:24 am »
If the pack was fresh and swelled upon smacking, you should be fine.
Frank L.
Fermenting: Nothing (ugh!)
Conditioning: Nothing (UGH!)
In keg: Nothing (Double UGH!)
In the works:  House IPA, Dark Mild, Ballantine Ale clone(still trying to work this one into the schedule)

Offline Erik_Mog

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Re: Starter question
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2016, 10:45:15 am »
What had happened was....when it went to bust the smack pack, I wound up breaking the seal on the pack as well as breaking the inner pouch...got a little heavy handed because it didn't want to break.  So, I am not sure if it would have swelled or not, so I pitched it into the flask rather than waiting to see if it was going to ooze out of the package.  It was packaged on 11 May 2016, the same date as the pack I used 2 weeks ago.
Bottled/Drinking:  Born Again Heathenweizen, Mongrel Belgian
Fermenting:  None
Future:  Undecided...too many to choose from

Doggie Mutt Brewing Co.
"Beer....Because people suck."

Offline brewinhard

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Re: Starter question
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2016, 12:58:49 pm »
You will be totally fine. Do not worry. Do you see a "whitish" layer on the bottom of your starter container? That is fresh, healthy yeast ready to rock and roll in your next batch waiting to be brewed. Sometimes the yeast can floc out really well and compact on the bottom of the flask making it appear that there is not a lot. Sometimes the starter container size/shape can also fool you a bit as well. The more starters you make, the more you will become comfortable with knowing what a healthy yeast pitch looks like for different gravity sized beers you are planning on making.
Good luck, and let us know how it turns out. Be sure to sanitize the opening/lip of your starter container prior to decanting the spent wort and pitching your yeast slurry into your cooled batch.