Cultured Yeast

[slacka]

I made a baby beer (~150mL) on Sunday and tipped the dregs of a Coopers pale ale into it (best after:March 2008) hoping to make a starter.

Tuesday evening I made a batch of beer (OG:1.048) and whacked it in the fermenter hot.
It was still pumping out heat Wednesday morning so I didn't pitch my starter till Wednesday evening. The starter tasted fairly bitter/hoppy but not sour or bad in any way.
Today when I got home from work, the air lock was bubbling away as if I threw some 24hr turbo yeast in there. The fermenter looks like a big glass of beer with the bubbles rising to the surface.

At this rate I'll kegging it on the weekend.

The temperature is a sneaky bit warm at 22C

Is it normal for your brew to go spastic like this when you use a starter?
Am I brewing a big tub of apple cider or is Coopers yeast really aggressive?

Is it too late to save it?

 

[Adamt]

Where are you measuring the temperature?

If it's one of the stick-on thermometers, it's likely a few degrees warmer on the inside.

Sounds like a good healthy fermentation... though Coopers yeast will throw a lot of banana at you if you brew it at that temperature, so it may be banana split instead of apple cider. Try and cool it down and leave it for a few days after it looks like it's finished.

If the krausen (foam) is spewing out of the airlock, that's when you can call it "spastic".

 

[Wolfy]

What you're describing seems to be the same as what the recultured yeast in my CPA clone has done, nice krausen after only about 24 hours and after 4.5 days when I transferred it to secondary, it was down from 1.048 to 1.008. However, even at 18-19Deg I noticed a fair amount of fruity banana so try to keep the temp's under control if you can.

 

[braufrau]

My cooper's yeast is sulking today but usually it takes off fast but is well behaved. Doesn't bubble out the airlock like belgian and german yeasts! :

 

[slacka]

... it's likely a few degrees warmer on the inside.

You're absolutely right. Not only that but by 5am the temperature had risen.
My precious, you're going straight into the laundry sink with some ice and a capful of idophore to keep the mould at bay.

Have to say that I do like the aroma coming out of that airlock.

 

[slacka]

Now that this bevy has been in the chilla for a week, it's time to taste the results of my first cultured yeast.

I like the finish, much better than I expected ... but ewww there is a plastic taste in there.
Shucks ... lesson learnt about putting boiling wort into the fermenter.

I'm not sure if I should waste space lagering it to see if the flavour subsides or not.
Although I probably should be more worried whether it is now carcinogenic or not.

 

[Swinging Beef]

Huh?
Plastic?
Doesnt everyone making kits throw boiling water in their fermenter?

 

[raven19]

Huh?
Plastic?
Doesnt everyone making kits throw boiling water in their fermenter?

Absolutely. I know I do, never had a plastic taste issue either.

Flavour should mellow with time, Slacka - are you using a standard fermentor?

 

[citizensnips]

if you have bottled, leave them to age as long as you can wait, 2 months or longer if possible and hopefully by then the flavour should have subsided. Just try them every once and a while and see what you think.
eddy

 

[Fourstar]

I like the finish, much better than I expected ... but ewww there is a plastic taste in there.

Get your fermenter and do a few good washes with sodium percarbonate, with full rinses in between then leave the fermenter OPEN to dry. if it still smells you can always leave it out in the sun and let the UV break it down.

any cubes or fermenters i get, 2-3 cycles of washing with sodium percarbonate always does the trick