Yeast starter... not started

[jonnymorris]

I brewed a Brooklyn Brown Ale today from a recipe I put together a few weeks back... http://thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=39436

Yesterday I made up a 1L starter with 100g of DME and some washed US-05 from my previous brew. It's been on a stir plate since 11pm last night and I was expecting high kraeusen after 12-18hrs. OK, so it's only been 17hrs but still no obvious sign of activity...



This is my first time making a starter so am just looking for reassurance that it will kick off. What do you reckon?

 

[Robbo]

I made a starter just earlier with 1/4 pint of warm water, 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient , 1/2 tsp of citric acid and yeast, 15 minutes later it was bubbling in the jug.

 

[mike77]

I don't have a lot of experience with starters as I have usually just pitched slurry if I was reusing yeast. I did do a starter on my last two brews. The first was showing no sign of activity at the point when I needed to pitch it so I pitched it anyway and the beer was fermenting nicely the next morning. That being said if the yeast had been US-05 and I had a pack of 05 sitting about then I might have pitched the pack as opposed to the starter rather than risk a whole brew.

 

[jonnymorris]

18hrs no change. I have a pack of US-05 (albeit only the one). Should I revert to dried yeast?

 

[Robbo]

I don't know about beer but when I have a sluggish fermentation in wine I add a Vitamin B1 tablet, it's a yeast energizer.
Gives the yeast a kick start. Or you could try more yeast nutrient, 1/2 a tsp

 

[graysalchemy]

personally I would pitch it and then you can always add the packet later if no action by the morning. I quite often find yeast takes a good 48 hrs to get going. I usually get my starters going 3-4 days beforehand. :thumb:

 

[jonnymorris]

That's more encouraging GA. I've not used any nutrient which would clearly have helped but I may just bung it in regardless as suggested and see what happens.

 

[graysalchemy]

You shouldn't need nutrient as wort is nutrient rich unlike wine and cider must. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[jonnymorris]

I think Jamil recommends yeast nutrient in his book, Yeast. Either way, my non starting starter, which I tipped into my brew last night, started. Result.

 

[brewtim]

Looking at the photo of your starter it looks like it is fermenting, it might even be high Krausen. Mine tend to foam a little and then die back so it looks like not much has happened. My latest starter looked like it was reaching high Krausen (very little foam though) after 22 hours (pitching 40billion cells in 2 litres) and died down by 31 hours before chilling ready this morning for brew day Saturday.

Remember a starter is to create 200billion cells from 100billion or less in ~2litres of clean wort, so the high Krausen will be far less than the high Krausen of 200billion cells in 23litres of wort creating ....what? 1000's of billions of cells.

Does anyone know how many billions of cells are floating around in a 23l batch at high Krausen?

Anyway, it sounds like your starter worked :thumb:

 

[jonnymorris]

The box in the photo is my stir plate and the photo was taken whilst it was on so the bubbles are just 'cos it's moving. I'm pretty sure it wasn't fermenting when I added it (maybe high krauesen came and went overnight?). I do, however, take your point that it won't be as obvious in 1L as it is in 23L of wort.