starter

[Glot]

I had some spare time so thought I would pre make some starter solution with LDME. Calculated it out and made a mix for about 1040. Boiled it for 15 minutes. Covered with cling wrap and the vented lid. Let cool in some water. Cleaned and sanitised some PET soft drink bottles. Then re sanitised. Did the funnel. Sanitised the bench top. Sprayed a bit of Glen 20 into the air. Bottled the liquor. Stored in my ferment fridge sealed. Just had a look after a couple of weeks. One is pressurised so into the bin that goes. Both have quite a bit of sediment.
I think I will go back to making it fresh. I don't know what else I could have done to avoid contamination. If anyone has any suggestions I would be happy to hear. Maybe it was just bad luck. I am not 100% about the second bottle either. I will keep it longer and monitor it as it had a minute amount of white on top. This may have just been from the LDME as it soon vanished when disturbed.

 

[elcarter]

I've do pretty much the same thing, pale malt and water on the stove in an erlenmeyer flask. I use the quantities stated on brewers friend for what ever starter I want.

I just use star san in a spray bottle and go nuts with it after it's boiled and sealed.

No issues so far but I do leave it in the erlenmeyer flask in the top of my ferment fridge / freezer for not much more than a week.

I do spray star san inside before closing the compartment but thats probably overkill.


Was the Pet bottle from a previous beer brew? I can only think that maybe some nasties are hiding in the cap or a scratch in the bottle.

Possibly go glass instead.

I think you might have just been really un-lucky.

 

[Glot]

Yeah. Have been thinking glass would be better. I could boil it to sterilise it.

 

[MartinOC]

You could always make-up a big batch of starter wort, hot-pack it into stubbies/bottles, cap them & pasteurize in a pot of water on the stove. Then you've always got sterile wort for your starters whenever you want it.

 

[Camo6]

I bought a 6L? electric pressure cooker from Aldi. Fits about 4-5 pasta sauce jars in it. I primarily use it for sterilising water for yeast rinsing but have used it several times for starter wort. Just make up a 1040ish wort in each jar, leave the lids loose and cook for 15-20 mins. Let it cool down for 1/2 hour, don some welding gloves and goggles and pull them out one by one and tighten lids. Important bit is to let them cool at ambient temps as you don't want to chuck them in water while they're hot. As they cool the jars seal perfectly ( you'll hear them click) and I've found they keep for ages. I've rarely had a lid seal 'pop' and only then from overtightening. These are great for stepping starters as you can leave them next to your starter so their temps are even and bung em straight in when needed. Works for me anyway.

Edit: cooker was $50 from Aldi a couple years back.