Chimay Starter

[dans6401]

Started reculturing some yeast from a couple of chimay stubbies.
Sorry if this has been asked before (did a quick search). and before i'm flamed i took a 1hr+ trip to grape and grain to grab some equivalent wyeast and starsan, (both were "out of stock") Just my luck.
Anyway purchased 2 stubbies of chimay to reculture as i've done many times before with coopers. Managed to get my hands on a stir plate, made a starter and was fussy about sanitization. The starter was 200ml 2 tablespoons to begin then 500ml to 5 tablespoons, then 500 x 5 again.(about a teaspoon of yeast nutrient) The problem is there is no krausen apart from a slight ring around where each previous level was. Is this normal? Really don't want to go to all the trouble if it's not worth it.
No problem tasting the starter to see if it's right. (been going for about 5 days) but would prefer to be safe than sorry. The ants around here have enough to eat.
Any feedback from you guys would be most appreciated.

 

[absinthe]

Started reculturing some yeast from a couple of chimay stubbies.
Sorry if this has been asked before (did a quick search). and before i'm flamed i took a 1hr+ trip to grape and grain to grab some equivalent wyeast and starsan, (both were "out of stock") Just my luck.
Anyway purchased 2 stubbies of chimay to reculture as i've done many times before with coopers. Managed to get my hands on a stir plate, made a starter and was fussy about sanitization. The starter was 200ml 2 tablespoons to begin then 500ml to 5 tablespoons, then 500 x 5 again.(about a teaspoon of yeast nutrient) The problem is there is no krausen apart from a slight ring around where each previous level was. Is this normal? Really don't want to go to all the trouble if it's not worth it.
No problem tasting the starter to see if it's right. (been going for about 5 days) but would prefer to be safe than sorry. The ants around here have enough to eat.
Any feedback from you guys would be most appreciated.

do you have a refractometer? you can test to see if you have a drop in sg.

but i doubt you would have much active yeast left after the length of time in the bottle with the slow stock movement of this kind of beer in oz plus the long transport times.

even cooper yeast i have had trouble culturing if its slightly older.. try as many bottles of dregs as you can handle in to starter

 

[white.grant]

It's been done, but the yeast can be slow to start - linky
It's also had a hard life in a high alcohol environment so it is unlikely to be at its best.

Wyeast 1214 is the Chimay strain and is widely available.

cheers

grant