Recultured Cpa Yeast Starter...failed

[1974Alby]

made a yeast starter from a couple of CPA stubbies a few weeks back...it never really developed a krausen, just a thin creamy layer, but over time a fair bit of sediment/trub settled in the bottom of the 1.25 pet bottle I was using and last week I pitched it onto a Coopers Australian Pale Ale kit. It smelled and tasted ok when I pitched, but it would have been sitting dormant for a good couple of weeks or more before I pitched it and had absolutely zero sign of active fermentation when I pitched it..but i figured the dormant yeast would simply revive when introduced to 23 litres of sugary wort...

the fermenter did developed a weak krausen layer over the first few days, but I just gave it a sniff and nearly singed my nose hairs :huh: !!!

looks like I stuffed up...was I wrong in thinking the recultured but dormant coopers yeast would revive when introducd to the fermentor?

do i chuck it?

 

[Yob]

have a good listen HERE and HERE (Brewing Network Links) and also a goodly amount of yeast info HERE (Wolfy's Rinsing Yeast) + more about with a bit of a search.

:icon_cheers:

Yob

 

[Wolfy]

looks like I stuffed up...was I wrong in thinking the recultured but dormant coopers yeast would revive when introducd to the fermentor?

do i chuck it?

Yep and yep.
Even if you store it in the fridge a good % of the yeast will die after being stored a few weeks, and if you didn't put it in the fridge many of the cells in the starter would likely have died.
Give it a taste before you chuck it, but if it tastes as bad as it smells, it's likely that you under-pitched and allowed a wild yeast or bacteria to infect your beer.

 

[bignath]

When it comes to all topics yeasty, Wolfy is the man to get advice from, so whatever he says is the business..

Just wondering though as no one's asked yet, what did it smell like when it "singed your nose hairs"?

I've had a few smells over the years from fermenters that i thought were strange, and also made my nose twinge big time and haven't had too many infected batches...I've had really strong sulphur smells that when in high concentration can make you feel strange in the nose when you inhale it, and getting a great big gob full of the produced CO2 blanket is always nasty too....
Not that you'd get sulphur from a coopers yeast though.

Surprised no ones asked about the smell yet that's all.

Cheers,

Nath

 

[syd_03]

If it tastes ok it could just be the from the CO2 from fermentation burning your nostril hairs.

On the other hand you didn't really describe the aroma you were getting... so if by burning nostil hairs you mean solventy then probably a result of underpitching yeast.


Edit: Nath seems to covered the CO2 possibility and lack of smell description while I was typing.

 

[1974Alby]

maybe it was the C02 that I smelled...couldnt really describe the aroma...just sharp.

just had a taste and it tastes ok..not off, just fairly bland, so I chucked in a 12g of Pacific Jade and 12g of cascade hop flowers to freshen it up a bit . will leave it for another week and bottle it.

might have got away with shooddy practices this time, will look to improve my understanding of yeast starters in the future to really get a vigourous ferment going.

thanks for the links and advice...they will be a great place to start

Al

 

[Charst]

maybe it was the C02 that I smelled...couldnt really describe the aroma...just sharp.

just had a taste and it tastes ok..not off, just fairly bland, so I chucked in a 12g of Pacific Jade and 12g of cascade hop flowers to freshen it up a bit . will leave it for another week and bottle it.

might have got away with shooddy practices this time, will look to improve my understanding of yeast starters in the future to really get a vigourous ferment going.

thanks for the links and advice...they will be a great place to start

Al

I had similar thing with a coopers starter not firing up and i just made up a bit more fresh wort and then pitched a mix of the old starter, fresh wort and another longneck and BOOM went off its face! I get a sulphur smell off the fermenting coopers yeast but it's gone by the time the beer is served.

 

[BeerSwiller]

Might be slightly OT, but I no chill and what i do when using stored yeast from the fridge is syphon off 1.5lt of wort from the kettle into a glass vessel and let cool.
I then add a little of yeast slurry from the fridge and its fermenting great and ready to pitch into the brew the next day.
Ive done this for 2 reasons, I had a infected yeast that i pitched straight into 2 fermenters and ended up losing 50lt of brew and by using a starter i can taste/smell before actually pitching to the main brew, the second thing is that you get your main brew actively fermenting with minimal lag time.