- Joined
- Mar 23, 2018
- Messages
- 1,116
- Reaction score
- 2,170
- Points
- 113
OK, This is my third attempt at using a liquid yeast (Wyeast) and creating a starter with it. My problem is - It has been 3 days now and very little - if any - life has been noticed in the starter.
I followed a recipe on the Wyeast web site using one of their yeasts (Wyeast / Scottish Ale 1728) that I kept in the fridge since purchase and warmed it up to room temperature before smacking it. I left it for at least 6 hours but it never swelled up as they depict on their site. Yes it was well within date - BBE July 2021!!
Anyway... I decided to carry on with it and boiled up the required amount of LME with Yeast nutrient and the right amount of water, let it cool to room temp and dumped it all into a sterilised Erlenmeyer Conical Flask and left it for a day in the kitchen. Nothing... So I put it in my fermentation fridge at 18C and sat it on a plate stirrer on a timer.
The two pictures below show without the stirrer on and with the stirrer on.
When left to settle overnight without stirring I would have expected to see some activity - even a few small bubbles or a ring of froth would have been welcome but... nothing.
Have I wasted my time? What should I see - if anything - to prove it is all viable? Should I just leave it for longer before trusting it's viability in a brew I plan to do on Wednesday?
Any guidance would be most welcome. I am starting to think these starters - and using liquid yeasts - are a waste of time. Just pitch a dried yeast and get on with it.
Am I worrying unnecessarily?
I followed a recipe on the Wyeast web site using one of their yeasts (Wyeast / Scottish Ale 1728) that I kept in the fridge since purchase and warmed it up to room temperature before smacking it. I left it for at least 6 hours but it never swelled up as they depict on their site. Yes it was well within date - BBE July 2021!!
Anyway... I decided to carry on with it and boiled up the required amount of LME with Yeast nutrient and the right amount of water, let it cool to room temp and dumped it all into a sterilised Erlenmeyer Conical Flask and left it for a day in the kitchen. Nothing... So I put it in my fermentation fridge at 18C and sat it on a plate stirrer on a timer.
The two pictures below show without the stirrer on and with the stirrer on.
When left to settle overnight without stirring I would have expected to see some activity - even a few small bubbles or a ring of froth would have been welcome but... nothing.
Have I wasted my time? What should I see - if anything - to prove it is all viable? Should I just leave it for longer before trusting it's viability in a brew I plan to do on Wednesday?
Any guidance would be most welcome. I am starting to think these starters - and using liquid yeasts - are a waste of time. Just pitch a dried yeast and get on with it.
Am I worrying unnecessarily?
Last edited: