Goose
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Hi guys, found an thread on this topic but it was so ancient thought I'd start a new one.
I picked up a tube of whitelabs ale yeast that had been froze for 6 mths from a supplier that "accidentally" froze some stock and kept it that way. Contents were brown, and while not ideal thought I'd try to start it up and give it a go for an experiment.
To do this I prepared a wort of 4 litres with 440 g of DME, boiled with 1 tsp yeast nutrient and cooled to room temperature. I did a large volume because I only have a 8 litre jar with airlock and figured to do anything less may be too much headspace...
Anyway, after 4 days its definitely fired up, quiet a large deposit settled on the base of the jar and what looks like a healthy foamy mass on the surface as well. These yeasties must be tough little critters, everything I'd read suggests freezing would kill them off.
Now of course I'm a little reluctant to use this for a starter .... :huh: becasue I am not totally sure what I have started up.
How can I tell that the starter has not become infected or contaminated in anyway ?..... I'd hate to waste 5 hard hours of wort prep by ruining it with a wild yeast strain... :unsure: . I know I could taste it, but have read that the "beer" above a starter tastes pretty bad period.. so how ?
Goose
I picked up a tube of whitelabs ale yeast that had been froze for 6 mths from a supplier that "accidentally" froze some stock and kept it that way. Contents were brown, and while not ideal thought I'd try to start it up and give it a go for an experiment.
To do this I prepared a wort of 4 litres with 440 g of DME, boiled with 1 tsp yeast nutrient and cooled to room temperature. I did a large volume because I only have a 8 litre jar with airlock and figured to do anything less may be too much headspace...
Anyway, after 4 days its definitely fired up, quiet a large deposit settled on the base of the jar and what looks like a healthy foamy mass on the surface as well. These yeasties must be tough little critters, everything I'd read suggests freezing would kill them off.
Now of course I'm a little reluctant to use this for a starter .... :huh: becasue I am not totally sure what I have started up.
How can I tell that the starter has not become infected or contaminated in anyway ?..... I'd hate to waste 5 hard hours of wort prep by ruining it with a wild yeast strain... :unsure: . I know I could taste it, but have read that the "beer" above a starter tastes pretty bad period.. so how ?
Goose