[Caddywhompusbeer]

I made my first yeast starter last night using 1pt of water, 1 cup of DME, and wyeast 1388 belgian strong ale. 3 1/2 hrs before pitching I activated my smack pack, yet it barely inflated by pitching time. My research tells me this happens often and is ok. So I shook my mini-wort well and pitched yeast then covered with foil. I have no stir plate so this morning I went to shake it again which caused a few inches of foam to appear, I assume from co2 coming out of solution. I saw no krausen ring around my growler but there is a yeast cake at the bottom of my starter. Could it have fermented out already? If so wouldn't there be a krausen ring? Or is it behaving normally? I'm just curious about the yeast cake at the bottom and want to make sure it'll be ready for my 1.080 beer this saturday.

[Slowbrew]

A small starter can finish that quickly.  Many of my starters do not have a krausen ring.  I usually see some foam in the jar but not always.

If you don't need it right away just let it sit, it will be fine until you use it.

Paul

[hoser]

It is not uncommon for a starter to finish quickly as the volume of yeast is quite large in relation to the volume and gravity of the starter.  I will say that if you are making an ale with an OG of 1.080 and doing a simple starter with a volume of 1 pint without oxygenation, agitation, or stirplate that you willl be underpitching if you are brewing 5 gallons of beer.  It may be worthwhile to chill, decant, and step up your starter one more time.

[Caddywhompusbeer]

I will say that if you are making an ale with an OG of 1.080 and doing a simple starter with a volume of 1 pint without oxygenation, agitation, or stirplate that you willl be underpitching if you are brewing 5 gallons of beer.  It may be worthwhile to chill, decant, and step up your starter one more time.

Do you think another liter would suffice? Mr Malty says I need 4.5 liters, but I don't have a vessel big enough for that, aside from a 6 gallon carboy.

[denny]

Another liter would be better than nothing, but it's a long way from optimal.  In addition, your original starter seems like it was awfully strong.  You want to shoot for a 1.030-1.040 starter gravity.  Try to pick up a larger container for your starters.  I use a gal. glass jug that originally held apple juice.

[hoser]

I will say that if you are making an ale with an OG of 1.080 and doing a simple starter with a volume of 1 pint without oxygenation, agitation, or stirplate that you willl be underpitching if you are brewing 5 gallons of beer.  It may be worthwhile to chill, decant, and step up your starter one more time.

Do you think another liter would suffice? Mr Malty says I need 4.5 liters, but I don't have a vessel big enough for that, aside from a 6 gallon carboy.

As Denny said, it would be better than nothing and your starter needs to be of a lower gravity.  Hard to say how big of a starter you need without knowing the age of your yeast. Also, you are likely counting your yeast viability from your initial starter so that is likely why the yeast calc tells you to make a 4.5L starter.  You are going to need a larger vessel for sure because if you do step it up it will likely overflow a pint jar due the yeast activity.  Do you have a growler?  Otherwise you can buy a quart mason jar or something similar...

[Caddywhompusbeer]

Another liter would be better than nothing, but it's a long way from optimal.  In addition, your original starter seems like it was awfully strong.  You want to shoot for a 1.030-1.040 starter gravity.  Try to pick up a larger container for your starters.  I use a gal. glass jug that originally held apple juice.

I had read that 1pt to 1/2 cup was about 1.040, but I didn't check the gravity so I don't know. I will add another liter tonight with less than a cup and see what its gravity is. My dad used to have dozens of old whiskey bottles & gallon jugs of carlo rossi sangria. I'll have to see if he still has any of them or if his wife finally made him get rid of them.

[Caddywhompusbeer]

I will say that if you are making an ale with an OG of 1.080 and doing a simple starter with a volume of 1 pint without oxygenation, agitation, or stirplate that you willl be underpitching if you are brewing 5 gallons of beer.  It may be worthwhile to chill, decant, and step up your starter one more time.

Do you think another liter would suffice? Mr Malty says I need 4.5 liters, but I don't have a vessel big enough for that, aside from a 6 gallon carboy.

As Denny said, it would be better than nothing and your starter needs to be of a lower gravity.  Hard to say how big of a starter you need without knowing the age of your yeast. Also, you are likely counting your yeast viability from your initial starter so that is likely why the yeast calc tells you to make a 4.5L starter.  You are going to need a larger vessel for sure because if you do step it up it will likely overflow a pint jar due the yeast activity.  Do you have a growler?  Otherwise you can buy a quart mason jar or something similar...

I have a one liter starter in a growler, and the date on the yeast is from Aug 8th of this year. And hopefully my dad has one of those wine jugs left to serve for next time. Lol I bought one of those 1000mL flasks a while back but never had occasion to use it. Now I wish I'd saved my money. Don't know how much good 1000mL would do for a big beer.

[beersk]

Another liter would be better than nothing, but it's a long way from optimal.  In addition, your original starter seems like it was awfully strong.  You want to shoot for a 1.030-1.040 starter gravity.  Try to pick up a larger container for your starters.  I use a gal. glass jug that originally held apple juice.

I had read that 1pt to 1/2 cup was about 1.040, but I didn't check the gravity so I don't know. I will add another liter tonight with less than a cup and see what its gravity is. My dad used to have dozens of old whiskey bottles & gallon jugs of carlo rossi sangria. I'll have to see if he still has any of them or if his wife finally made him get rid of them.

That's what Palmer recommends.  I make 1 liter starters, typically, and use a cup of DME.  Always works out pretty good for me. 

[Caddywhompusbeer]

 Thats exactly where I got it from lol, Palmer's How to Brew.

I added another quart of wort to my growler a bit ago. 1 qt to about 3/4 cup to see how that works out. Forgot to take a gravity reading on it, but I'm not too worried about it. Hope its enough yeast to get the job done.

[denny]

I had read that 1pt to 1/2 cup was about 1.040, but I didn't check the gravity so I don't know. I will add another liter tonight with less than a cup and see what its gravity is. My dad used to have dozens of old whiskey bottles & gallon jugs of carlo rossi sangria. I'll have to see if he still has any of them or if his wife finally made him get rid of them.

Don't measure the extract, weigh it.  I use .75 oz./cup of water.

[beersk]

I had read that 1pt to 1/2 cup was about 1.040, but I didn't check the gravity so I don't know. I will add another liter tonight with less than a cup and see what its gravity is. My dad used to have dozens of old whiskey bottles & gallon jugs of carlo rossi sangria. I'll have to see if he still has any of them or if his wife finally made him get rid of them.

Don't measure the extract, weigh it.  I use .75 oz./cup of water.

I think I may try this my next starter.  I usually try to measure out a cup, bounce it a little to settle the DME, and add more.  Level cups, as they say in baking.

[hoser]

I use 1gram/10mL of water, so 1L starter is 100g of DME.  OG is generally 1.030 everytime.

[Caddywhompusbeer]

I had read that 1pt to 1/2 cup was about 1.040, but I didn't check the gravity so I don't know. I will add another liter tonight with less than a cup and see what its gravity is. My dad used to have dozens of old whiskey bottles & gallon jugs of carlo rossi sangria. I'll have to see if he still has any of them or if his wife finally made him get rid of them.

Don't measure the extract, weigh it.  I use .75 oz./cup of water.

Think I'll try that next time. Thanks for the tips everybody.

[Caddywhompusbeer]

Brewed my golden strong ale yesterday, pitched my 2 quart starter. Theres good activity in the carboy this morning, already a krausen head. Hopefully it does the job.