Is My Yeast/starter No Good?

[symphony1975]

hello

ok so we are brewing tomorrow. a dunkelweizen using wyeast 3068 (weihenstephan weizen) and a weizenbock (OG1078) using wyeast 3056 (bavarian wheat). the 3056 had a manufacture date 5th may 2010 and due to the high gravity, my LHBS guy advised making a bigger starter.

so on wednesday night i made 2 starters for them, 3 litres each. i smacked the packs and was about 5 hrs before i pitched em....the 3068 had expanded but the 3056 was still as flat as a witches......pitched them.....next moring the 3068 was active with a big krausen but the 3056.....nothing....so yesterday morning (friday) i shook the 3056 and last night there was some activity on the surface, not much. this morning all is calm, there is a cake of slurry and some brown crustys in the sides just above the wort line which shows there was krausen, right?

with brew day tomorrow i dont want to pitch it into my weizenbock (with an OG of 1078) if she is struggling. i plan on chilling them tonight and siphoning off the wort and pitching the slurry.

so my question is....is my yeast 3056 stuffed or is it good to go?

i went and got a packet of Safbrew WB-06 yesterday just in case.

cheers

 

[Kleiny]

What does the wort smell/taste like? if you cant detect any off aroma or flavour it is probably ok.

You could try repitching that slurry into another starter, you said the yeast pack was a bit old, thats not really an issue it just means you need to step it up to an appropriate starter, 500ml, 2L then 4L or something along those lines to get the appropriate cell count.

My experience is that 3068 ferments strong with a big krausen and 3056 a some what less active krausen. so this could make up the difference you seen in the starter flasks.

1078 is getting a bit higher than normal OG but is by no means out of the scope of the yeast, just make sure you pitch a healthy slurry.

Kleiny

 

[manticle]

Starters are like beer. The activity of each is different. Because you are fermenting such a small amount the activity may easily be missed. You suggested that the 3056 has shown some fermentation activity and given you some yeast growth so if you've calculated any step ups necessary and the starter itself smells/tastes like yeast then all sounds good.

Just like beer (because it is) the gravity of a starter will drop so you can measure (better with a refractometer since the amounts are so tiny to begin). That said I just rely on visible signs - just don't expect monster krausen for each.