Silly Me An The New Stirplate

[williewtb]

So i DIYed a stirplay today, so damn excited about using it.. so i took the yeast cake out of the fridge, made and starter wort and pitch away. Place the flask onto my stir plate, nice vortex and it forms up slightly.

About an hour later, still forming about 2 inch, so i decided to stop the stirplate and let the form settle to find out whats going with my starter. Left it alone for 15mins, came back to check and it was bubbling like crazy even without the stirplate spinning. WOW i thought, so curious as a cat i went to turn and the stirplate, not sure why i did that, maybe hoping to make a bigger starter and immediately the starter gushes out of my aluminium foil, made a damn mess, i out about 200ml, from 800ml to 600ml left now, not sure whats lost, but im guessing a lot of yeast as it was bubbling anymore when i stop the stirplate.

I turn the stirplate back on after cleaning up, hoping to recover my lost

 

[Wolfy]

Nothing too unusual about an active starter crawling out of the top of a flask:

However, it does sound like you used the stir-plate simply because you had to, rather than for any yeast-growing-type-reason.

If you have a fresh-yeast cake (and it does appear that your yeast was very fresh and healthy) then you don't need to make a starter or use a stir plate, simply pitch the slurry directly into your next beer.

When you have only a small amount of yeast (either a small volume or unhealthy yeast (stored for some time)) that's when you need to grow it up in a starter. Then usually that takes some time for it to reproduce before it starts fermenting, so if you do have over-flow its most often some hours or even days after being pitched, not almost immediately like your case.

But at least your stir-plate works well.

 

[bigfridge]

So i DIYed a stirplay today, so damn excited about using it.. so i took the yeast cake out of the fridge, made and starter wort and pitch away. Place the flask onto my stir plate, nice vortex and it forms up slightly.

About an hour later, still forming about 2 inch, so i decided to stop the stirplate and let the form settle to find out whats going with my starter. Left it alone for 15mins, came back to check and it was bubbling like crazy even without the stirplate spinning. WOW i thought, so curious as a cat i went to turn and the stirplate, not sure why i did that, maybe hoping to make a bigger starter and immediately the starter gushes out of my aluminium foil, made a damn mess, i out about 200ml, from 800ml to 600ml left now, not sure whats lost, but im guessing a lot of yeast as it was bubbling anymore when i stop the stirplate.

I turn the stirplate back on after cleaning up, hoping to recover my lost

I would be more worried about using a cracked flask !

Unless you are autoclaving it you have a lovely place for bugs, and their spores, to live long and prosper !

 

[CosmicBertie]

I would be more worried about using a cracked flask !

Unless you are autoclaving it you have a lovely place for bugs, and their spores, to live long and prosper !

I cant see where he mentioned cracking the flask....

Foiled lab-glass flask on the hob, boiling the starter wort for 15mins will kill most bugs....I always do this and i've never had any issues with my starters, even from smack packs 6 months old.


As Wolfy says, no need to stirplate a yeast cake. If you want to, just put a small portion of it in the flask to build it up.

 

[seravitae]

Initiating stirring again caused nucleation of dissolved CO2/carbonic acid, which came gushing out.

You basically threw a mentos into a diet coke there..... If stirring anything that effervesces, always continue stirring

 

[bigfridge]

I cant see where he mentioned cracking the flask....

Oh ...... cleans screen and glasses ......... well %^&* me !

It is just the foil stuck to the glass - I thought that it was a big chunk missing from the neck.

:unsure:

 

[williewtb]

well i figured this morning that what happen last night to the starter would render it useless or not so safe to use anymore, threw the lot away, dont want to risk a batch of goodie beer.

One question from the new guy, talking about freshness of yeast cake, how long in the fridge is it considered still "fresh"? Last night's starter was just 2weeks in the fridge, judging from the reaction it gave me i think its still pretty fresh. Also do you guys maintain a temperature while doing starters, are they ok at room temperature +-30degrees?

 

[raven19]

One question from the new guy, talking about freshness of yeast cake, how long in the fridge is it considered still "fresh"? Last night's starter was just 2weeks in the fridge, judging from the reaction it gave me i think its still pretty fresh. Also do you guys maintain a temperature while doing starters, are they ok at room temperature +-30degrees?

I tend to use a starter nowadays regardless, even if its only for 12 hours or so - unless pitching a whole heap of slurry (then its no stirplate, its straight to fermentor).

No exact answer - depends on your yeast health and handling, how its stored, etc etc... I would say pitch within a week, and taste the beer ontop first (if it tastes dry and clean you should be ok to reuse).

Starters are fine at room temp if you are then chilling down and pouring off the 'beer' on top prior to pitching.

You can set the temp in your fridge and run the stirplate in the fridge - I did this for my most recent lager (Results tba in a few months...)