Making A Starter

west1m

west1m

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I had three jars of yeast from a december brew. I made a starter today , the first jar had a couple ao darker spots on the lid that looked just wrong. when I opened the second one it looked clean as a whistle so I used that one. My sniffer isn't the greatest but it did not smell foul or anything.
My question is actually about process, how long do you leave it spinning circles on the mixer?

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Until the krausen drops two days maybe three depending on how strong fermentation goes.
Then slap it in the fridge to compact the yeast.
 
Or dump it in, whatever works. If it's been in the fridge a few months a couple days would be good to get it built back up.
 
I made the starter and let it spin for about 24 hrs. turned it off and let it sit over night. Got up bright and early this morning and started making a "Dead Ringer IPA" . Took a look at my starter and no real sign of activity at all. Used the refracto thing and still about 1.046. while I did not measure it when I made it I know this is about where it runs when I have made it in the past. I guess the yeast took Dead Ringer to heart. Had to use some 05 I had stashed away .
 
west1m said:
I made the starter and let it spin for about 24 hrs. turned it off and let it sit over night. Got up bright and early this morning and started making a "Dead Ringer IPA" . Took a look at my starter and no real sign of activity at all. Used the refracto thing and still about 1.046. while I did not measure it when I made it I know this is about where it runs when I have made it in the past. I guess the yeast took Dead Ringer to heart. Had to use some 05 I had stashed away .
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An easy way to know your starter is viable is a clear krausen ring around the flask.
Obviously you saw also a clear white creamy ring of yeast sitting at the bottom of the flask as well?
If the flask is still heaps cloudy your starter isnt complete and you've not got cell divisions your looking for which is the whole purpose of a yeast starter in the first place eh;).

24hrs is a bit quick in my books but what the heck im often wrong:rolleyes:
 
I made starters before out of my saved yeast and never had any problem seeing lots of action overnight and using the next day . This yeast was dead, just plain dead. It's been in the fridge since December and as I mentioned the first one I opened did not look right.
 
west1m said:
I made starters before out of my saved yeast and never had any problem seeing lots of action overnight and using the next day . This yeast was dead, just plain dead. It's been in the fridge since December and as I mentioned the first one I opened did not look right.
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Makes sense then. Dont even pitch it if it smells or looks wrong has been my experience.
 
west1m said:
I made the starter and let it spin for about 24 hrs. turned it off and let it sit over night. Got up bright and early this morning and started making a "Dead Ringer IPA" . Took a look at my starter and no real sign of activity at all. Used the refracto thing and still about 1.046. while I did not measure it when I made it I know this is about where it runs when I have made it in the past. I guess the yeast took Dead Ringer to heart. Had to use some 05 I had stashed away .
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That's dissapointing for sure, but 05 is a beauty, old faithful, never had a bad ferementation with it, always finishes up where it should for me. Hope it turns out for you!
 
It did not let me down after freezing my Urkel Lager yeast accidentally. Good to have some emergency supplies on hand. Mine are:
- A packet of US-05
- DME. Never run out of DME
- Table sugar
- Magnum and Hallertau hops
- (if you still use fire) An extra propane tank
- Now that I have a crusher, some base grain, either 2-row or Pilsner
- Some boiled, cooled dechlorinated water
 
Reminds me, need to refill a couple propane tanks, and get busy working on my electric HLT...
 
I'm not a fan of dry yeast, at least not 1st gen, but if you like the Safale 05, then you'll love the BRY-97.
Try it, you'll like it!
Cheers,
Brian
 
BRY-97 is the shizz. Love that stuff.
 
As noted in another thread, when shopping at lhbs yesterday, I was unable to obtain my usual US-05 yeast. Their supply of all yeast was quite low. The clerk at the shop said it might be a while before their supply is replenished. So I resolved to harvest yeast from my most recent brew, which I just bottled this morning. Never having done this before, I am winging it based on info gleaned from John Palmer’s book How To Brew. There are four small jars of harvested US-05 slurry settling in the fridge right now. Some of that harvested yeast will be used when I brew tomorrow. I don’t plan to make a starter, rather I’ll just pitch slurry directly. Wish me luck, unless you have some good advice.
 
Herm_brews said:
As noted in another thread, when shopping at lhbs yesterday, I was unable to obtain my usual US-05 yeast. Their supply of all yeast was quite low. The clerk at the shop said it might be a while before their supply is replenished. So I resolved to harvest yeast from my most recent brew, which I just bottled this morning. Never having done this before, I am winging it based on info gleaned from John Palmer’s book How To Brew. There are four small jars of harvested US-05 slurry settling in the fridge right now. Some of that harvested yeast will be used when I brew tomorrow. I don’t plan to make a starter, rather I’ll just pitch slurry directly. Wish me luck, unless you have some good advice.
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Check the yeast calculator on this site but I'm sure 1ml of slurry equates to a billion cells 100billion per ale batch so about 100 or more ml will get you off and running.
That's for clean slurry.
I'd probably double it if there is a lot of trub caught up in with it...
 
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