Starting Wyeast

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I have just used my first smack pack wyeast 2124 Bohemian Larger. Followed Batz's directions as I don't have a stir plate and split it into two, one litres. One for the fermenter and the other to split into two for another day. The fermenter is bubbling away nicely so I know it must have worked for this beer so will see how i go with the stored ones next time I use them. Thanks again for all the info, with out it I would have probably just tipped the packet in even without smacking it or letting it grow.
Great info :beer:
 
Trying not to start a new thread so hopefully someone can answer this question even though it has been inactive for a a while :eek:

Just spit my wyeast starter, two 250 ml bottles in the fridge with plenty of white goodness at the bottom to build up again!

Can anyone tell me if it would be better to poor off the wort on top and replace it with cooled boiled water or saline solution.
 
I would just leave it as is, at least that way you can taste the beer on top of the yeast before you use it, and if it tastes rank you know something has gone wrong. But there are different ways and opinions on this, that's just the way I would do it at the moment with my current knowledge (always subject to change...).
 
I'd just leave it, BDB. Once it is fermented out it should store for weeks and even months like that in the fridge, just be sure to release any pressure regularly if it is in a closed bottle.
If you want to grow it out, then that's when I'd tip the excess off, sample it for flavour as Florian mentions.
 
thanks guys I will leave it.

I will keep an eye on the gas levels hadn't thought of that, ka BOOM!! brewing privales revoked by the minister of war..

Like the idea of tasting it too :D

Cheers BDB
 
beerdrinkingbob said:
thanks guys I will leave it.

I will keep an eye on the gas levels hadn't thought of that, ka BOOM!! brewing privales revoked by the minister of war..

Like the idea of tasting it too :D

Cheers BDB
Click to expand...
Surprised the minister will let you do anything after Saturday , Bob ...lol
I'd leave it...if u had a look in the fridge Sat , you would have seen about 7 plastic bottles of yeast /beer etc....
Cheers
Ferg
 
fergthebrewer said:
Surprised the minister will let you do anything after Saturday , Bob ...lol
I'd leave it...if u had a look in the fridge Sat , you would have seen about 7 plastic bottles of yeast /beer etc....
Cheers
Ferg
Click to expand...


Wish I read what i wrote, I think I'm still sloshed, privales.. what tha

Mate are yours all slurry or are they wyeast starter too, whats the longest you've left yours without any issues getting it started again etc?

Great day Saturday too mate :kooi:
 
Gents,

Thanks for all the great advice in this thread. Hoping for somefurther help, very exciting with this process and hoping for some success as I did the first steps of my first starter/yeast culture using Wyeast 2278 Czech Pils yesterday afternoon, followed all the instructions from the start of this thread with no problems. Got to this morning, 12 hours of fermenting and not sure where to go from here? I have the wort and yeast in a 5 litre glass vessel with stopper and airlock. There is not much surface activitiy a few white patches of krauser and there is a thick line of white sludge along the bottom which I assume is good. Wondering how long before I should get activity throught he airlock? and what temp I should be keeping it at, is room temp okay or do I need to put it in the frementation fridge at the ideal yeast temp?, Up here in Mackay the temp at night is about 16-18 and the day at about 25 - 27 at the moment. Just a little unclear on the next process before bottling into 6 stubbies?

Apologies for the basic questions, and I may have missed these questions in the threads I have read, but hoping for some help and direction.

Cheers,

Mark
 
Markv said:
Gents,

Thanks for all the great advice in this thread. Hoping for somefurther help, very exciting with this process and hoping for some success as I did the first steps of my first starter/yeast culture using Wyeast 2278 Czech Pils yesterday afternoon, followed all the instructions from the start of this thread with no problems. Got to this morning, 12 hours of fermenting and not sure where to go from here? I have the wort and yeast in a 5 litre glass vessel with stopper and airlock. There is not much surface activitiy a few white patches of krauser and there is a thick line of white sludge along the bottom which I assume is good. Wondering how long before I should get activity throught he airlock? and what temp I should be keeping it at, is room temp okay or do I need to put it in the frementation fridge at the ideal yeast temp?, Up here in Mackay the temp at night is about 16-18 and the day at about 25 - 27 at the moment. Just a little unclear on the next process before bottling into 6 stubbies?

Apologies for the basic questions, and I may have missed these questions in the threads I have read, but hoping for some help and direction.

Cheers,

Mark
Click to expand...
Sorry I'm not sure what you are trying to achieve?
Are you going to split the starter into stubbies to store some before using the rest to ferment a batch of beer?
Or are you making the starter to use directly in a batch of beer?

Most people/literature suggest fermenting starters 'close' to the 'recommended' temperature range for that yeast, between 12 and 15C for a lager yeast starter would be suitable - a little warmer is OK (to encourage cell growth), but alot warmer is not a good idea.

Starters are different to fermenting a full batch of beer, you may not see any airlock activity, krasuen, or any other signs of fermentation, sometimes it's over before you even notice it starts. The 'growth phase' of the yeast (mostly) happens before fermentation starts, so when you see krasuen, signs of fermentation or airlock activity, (most of) the cell growth has already been completed. For most yeast/starters the maximum growth will occur within about 12-24 (maybe 48) hours after pitching.
 
Wolfy said:
Sorry I'm not sure what you are trying to achieve?
Are you going to split the starter into stubbies to store some before using the rest to ferment a batch of beer?
Or are you making the starter to use directly in a batch of beer?

Most people/literature suggest fermenting starters 'close' to the 'recommended' temperature range for that yeast, between 12 and 15C for a lager yeast starter would be suitable - a little warmer is OK (to encourage cell growth), but alot warmer is not a good idea.

Starters are different to fermenting a full batch of beer, you may not see any airlock activity, krasuen, or any other signs of fermentation, sometimes it's over before you even notice it starts. The 'growth phase' of the yeast (mostly) happens before fermentation starts, so when you see krasuen, signs of fermentation or airlock activity, (most of) the cell growth has already been completed. For most yeast/starters the maximum growth will occur within about 12-24 (maybe 48) hours after pitching.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply Wolfy,

I am hoping to split the starter into 6 stubbies all going well. Perhaps I have missed the show but am not sure, could have been slow to start, will put it in the fridge tonight at 14c and see how it looks tomorrow, I am assuming by 48 hours I should be looking at putting into the stubbies, bit usure I can rely on it for for my next brew. Am confident with the sanitation the only doubt I have is I only let the pack expand for four hours it had noticably expanded but perhaps not enough?

Cheers, Mark
 
I think you're relying on airlock activity unneccessarily. If as you say, there is a layer of krausen then the beer has started fermenting. That means the yeast is viable and how much the pack swelled is unimportant. Let it ferment out, decant the top wort, rinse the slurry with cooled boiled water into your 6 stubbies, cap and refrigerate. Sounds fine.

If you're making a starter (for immediate use rather than growing and splitting then storing for later use) you want to get it to the cell level you need then pitch when it's actively fermenting (which yours is).

In all cases smell and even taste first to make sure it tastes like yeast rather than poo.
 
Markv said:
...
I am hoping to split the starter into 6 stubbies all going well. Perhaps I have missed the show but am not sure, could have been slow to start, will put it in the fridge tonight at 14c and see how it looks tomorrow, I am assuming by 48 hours I should be looking at putting into the stubbies, ...
Click to expand...
Not sure that there would be enough food for the yeast in a starter pack to
generate enough CO2 - but certainly for those who collect trub/yeast for reuse
to be wary of creating potential bottle bombs by storing in glass jars/bottles
where the lid could jam or be too tightly closed - see homebrewtalk.com
article. I've always twisted the lids to where it starts to close and undo slightly.

Wolfy said:
...
Starters are different to fermenting a full batch of beer, you may not see any airlock activity, krasuen, or any other signs of fermentation, sometimes it's over before you even notice it starts. The 'growth phase' of the yeast (mostly) happens before fermentation starts, so when you see krasuen, signs of fermentation or airlock activity, (most of) the cell growth has already been completed. For most yeast/starters the maximum growth will occur within about 12-24 (maybe 48) hours after pitching.
Click to expand...
Does this mean the best time to pitch a starter into a brew is as soon as krausen
or airlock activity becomes evident? Or is it better to pitch some way into the
growth phase so that the yeasties just keep on growing in the brew? What would
be the signs of growth - increasing deposits at the bottom of the starter vessel?

T.
 
MaltyHops said:
Does this mean the best time to pitch a starter into a brew is as soon as krausen
or airlock activity becomes evident? Or is it better to pitch some way into the
growth phase so that the yeasties just keep on growing in the brew? What would
be the signs of growth - increasing deposits at the bottom of the starter vessel?
Click to expand...
Follow correct procedures, be sanitary and careful and no signs are really needed, the yeast will simply do what it does, and as a result there should be a visiable increase in the amount of yeast once it settles. However, to maximize cell-growth, constant oxygenation is very useful, which means a stir plate or shaking the jar every time you remember, which in turn means that you won't see the yeast settle out in order to compare it.

The conventional wisdom is to pitch the starter at high krausen when the yeast is most active, but then you get into the debate of pitching the entire starter or letting it settle and pitching only the yeast... etc. ;)
 
A starter is just that - a starter to help start quickly. Best time for that is when active fermentation is taking place. To make a starter you should build up the necessary cells first or begin with them. People seem to confuse step ups with starters quite often.

Active fermentation in a small wort may not show huge fermentation signs that we are used to in full beer batches. I think screwtop posted some images of the co2 bubbles you can see forming when you hold the starter to the light.
 
I always do my starters (Wyeast, or starting up some stored yeast out of a bottle) in Schott Lab bottles with the screw top open just a crack, and I rarely get a miniature version of a full size fermenter brew. Usually the only time I can tell there's anything going on is when I swirl the bottle and the wort rises and there's a definite 'hiss' out of the bottle, then it settles back down again. Another way you can tell is to look across the surface of the wort and you can see the CO2 fizzing and 'prickling' the surface of the wort as it escapes.
 
Or you could go to the chemist and get some specimen jars for $1 a piece. And that way you can see what is inside. That is what i use anyway.
 
Are they hard to get without a bulk buy?

I might try a couple of specimen jars to begin with. How big are yours? How do you step up the samples for their size?

Cheers
 

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