Big 2 Week Starter

[Hopsta]

I've had a WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale starter going for nearly 2 weeks now, i keep having to put off my brew day due to work so i've been tipping half the starter into stubbies putting it in the fridge and then topping up my 2ltr starter bottle with fresh wort its been going fine, except since yesterday i topped it up and the starter now has a very high gravity ( i dont want to get exact measurements for fear of infecting it) and has a pretty thick concentration it is bubbling like mad but there is NO KRAUSEN, it smells fine, do you think it will be okay to pitch?

 

[Green Iguana]

Sounds like it's gone into the attenuation phase after initial fermentation. Should be fine to directly pitch if you use it immediately.
If not then spilt it again and add fresh wort to get it building to Krausen once more. In a perfect worl its best to pitch at high krausen, however I beleive that you can pitch a starter that has passed krausen, it just increases the lag time for the yeast to shift back into primary fermentation. I have never noticed any off flavours.


Cheers

 

[Hopsta]

Cool thanks for the reassurance GI.

 

[NRB]

Why does the starter have "very high gravity"?

 

[sosman]

If it truly is "high gravity" then maybe you are adding sugars faster than the poor buggers can ferment it. Give them a break.

If your starter gravity is "too high" then you are not doing your yeast any favours. Figures of 1.040 or thereabouts are often quoted as a reasonable gravity.

 

[Hopsta]

I havnet been topping up the starter with fresh wort until the krausen has fallen, but your probably right i'll take a gravity reading when i get home and see. I plan on brewing this thursday anyway so hopefully it will be fine.

 

[NRB]

What I'm getting at is this.

Let's say you have a 1.040 starter wort, ferment it a little, add more 1.040, it ferments more, you add more 1.040 etc. It's never going to have a higher gravity than 1.040, right?

 

[Hopsta]

What I'm getting at is this.

Let's say you have a 1.040 starter wort, ferment it a little, add more 1.040, it ferments more, you add more 1.040 etc. It's never going to have a higher gravity than 1.040, right?

[post="82206"][/post]​

Yes that would be correct providing i was waiting an equal amount of time between top ups and adding equal amounts of wort when topping up, which i wasn't. Im not as exact with my measurements as much as i probably should be sometimes.

 

[NRB]

Actually, I beg to differ on the provision you've listed. It wouldn't matter when or how much 1.040 you added - it would never increase in gravity after an addition; it would always decrease through dilution leaving you with 1.040 at most.

 

[Darren]

Actually, I beg to differ on the provision you've listed. It wouldn't matter when or how much 1.040 you added - it would never increase in gravity after an addition; it would always decrease through dilution leaving you with 1.040 at most.

[post="82414"][/post]​

That is correct

 

[Hopsta]

Yes that would be correct if i was adding 1040 top ups, perhaps i wasnt being clear enough. The top ups could have been 1050- 1060 who knows i just chuck a few hand fulls of DME into the boil, its only a starter after all! Anyways the starter now has Krausen it just needed a couple of days to chew through the sugars! Thanks for your thoughts all.

 

[NRB]

Ahh..

 

[Airgead]

I've had a WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale starter going for nearly 2 weeks now, i keep having to put off my brew day due to work so i've been tipping half the starter into stubbies putting it in the fridge

Of course the real question is what you are doing with all those stubbies of starter you now have in your fridge...

I'm sure there are a few people around who could take them off your hands (me included B) ).

Cheers
Dave

 

[Hopsta]

I've had a WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale starter going for nearly 2 weeks now, i keep having to put off my brew day due to work so i've been tipping half the starter into stubbies putting it in the fridge

Of course the real question is what you are doing with all those stubbies of starter you now have in your fridge...

I'm sure there are a few people around who could take them off your hands (me included B) ).

Cheers
Dave

[post="82515"][/post]​

No worries Airgead your local no hassel at all.

 

[Airgead]

No worries Airgead your local no hassel at all.

[post="82635"][/post]​

*SCORE*

:super:

I'll shoot you a PM and we can arrange something.

Cheers
Dave