Stir Plate Help - I Cant See Fermentation

[bear09]

Hi All.

My first crack with a stir plate and I have a serious question. Its been 36 hours on the go now with a coopers reculture (4 stubbies in 1 Litre) and I see NO activity. None, zipo, nada, F-All. This has never happened to me before. Usually after 4 stubbies in and 36 hours there is plenty of activity. The only thing I have changed is the stir plate.

When using a stir plate does it mask activity? I turned it off for a few mins but there was not even one bubble in there - no acitivity at all.

Experienced stir plate users - please advise.

Cheers.

 

[adryargument]

Is it in a bottle with a lid on?
Pressure will mask activity. Just dont shake and open it fast - i learnt the hard way cultivating yeast at work... still have the little buggers in the grooves of the monitor.

 

[Silo Ted]

Do you still have the bottles handy ? Check the 'best after' date, may be an old batch of Coopers.

I always dig to the back of the fridge when buying Coops for yeast harvesting.

 

[bear09]

Its in a flask with foil over it - not pressurized at all.

In regards to the age of the yeast - I do still have the bottles and will check that.

Does using a stir plate mask fermentation though?

 

[Silo Ted]

Its in a flask with foil over it - not pressurized at all.

In regards to the age of the yeast - I do still have the bottles and will check that.

Does using a stir plate mask fermentation though?

No. The 8 yeast varieties I have observed with a stir plate agitation always go nuts. Check the gravity - and start again if time allows.

My last Coopers starter was stepped up three times from a single longneck bottle over a week, and I had a huge amount of yeast, enough for the two batches I pitched onto. That then hit krausen on those beers in about 8 hours after pitching.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

No bubbles= no activity. Unless you just missed the action, some times I need to shine a torch on my flasks to see the bubbles as there is no krausen.
GB

 

[bear09]

Thanks all - much appreciated.

Bugger - im out of time. I planned to brew on Thursday night. being Tuesday with no activity I know I wont get it there.

Cheers.

 

[chadjaja]

Has it changed colour? Would of started our more brown and if its gone a more milky colour then you may have missed all the action. Starters on a stir plate don't always show heaps of signs of activity.

 

[raven19]

With a stir plate, you are growing the yeast. When you switch the stir plate off, and let the starter settle, is there more yeast settling to the bottom of the vessel? If so you are probably ok.

Taste the 'beer' on top also.

I have read previously that the Coopers yeast can take a while to kick off too. There may be some serious lag time, however a stir plate would surely reduce that lag time. Never brewed with this yeast personally.

 

[Wolfy]

Putting the dregs from a few bottles into 1L of starter wort is a huge step.
Most likely you have had activity, but you just have not seen it, because the yeast have already done all they will do in that big a starter.
Turn it off for a little while and see if there is a layer of yeast that settles to the bottom.

While I know that some people pitch the bottle-dregs directly into 1L, it's much better to start with a small starter and to step it up over a few days.

 

[Effect]

4 stubbies in 1 litre is pushing it IMO...however, in saying that every time I have pitched with coopers yeast it goes mental nearly straight away and dies down about just as fast. Funnily enough, I am just in the process of making a 1 litre starter of the same yeast (however, I am using a vial of whitelabs aussie ale).

Just as the others have said, turn it off and see what happens when everything settles. If there is some yeast at the bottom then you could pour off the top layer of 'beer' and fill it up with some more extract.

But if I was in your position, I would be grabbing 3 longnecks of pale and starting a new starter at 250ml tonight, and then topping that up on wednesday night to 1 litre. Brew on thursday and you should be able to pitch that night...or if you are happy with your level on sanitation, very early friday morning.

Cheers
Phil

 

[bear09]

Thanks for the help everyone.

Would you bloody believe it - I come home tonight from work and there are bubbles froth and foam going nuts in there. The stir plate is swirling around in symphany - looks great.

Ill step it up to 2L tomorrow and brew Thursday!

Cheers all - love this joint for a quick help out - give and get.

 

[Effect]

Thanks for the help everyone.

Would you bloody believe it - I come home tonight from work and there are bubbles froth and foam going nuts in there. The stir plate is swirling around in symphany - looks great.

Ill step it up to 2L tomorrow and brew Thursday!

Cheers all - love this joint for a quick help out - give and get.

Pitched a full vial into a 1 litre starter yesterday afternoon...no sign of fermentation to the naked eye, but starter is milky. Am confident that there is nothing wrong going on at all. Either it has been and gone (did start to froth up a little after an hour on the plate - but I was out all afternoon and night so could have missed the main event) or will go mental tonight like it has for you.

Cheers